Our Way 1
MEET THE CREW After living in New York, Christine
is back in Stockholm. WE USED TO BE MORE SECRETIVE, BUT NOW WE TALK ABOUT ALL OUR GREAT INITIATIVES. Christine Lagergren I managed to find my new manager in the crowd.” H “I had been travelling for a while and came back home with no job. A friend had worked a season at Menhammar Stuteri and they had an opening for a girl who was on sick leave. I was supposed to stay there for three weeks, but those three weeks haven’t ended yet.” C “I can’t remember my first day 15 years ago, but when I returned, I remember that I was invited to a very pleasant lunch with my closest co-workers. I thought that was so nice.” What’s the most rewarding project you have worked on? H “Working in shipping, I have been involved in staffing two new vessels. That was both fun and instructive.” C “I am working on a lot of interesting, yet secret projects as part of Soya Group’s 90-year anniversary among other things. There are a lot of fun events coming up!” D “The most exciting project on my end is Wallfast’s new building Modellen 4, that I will manage when finished. A wooden building is a new experience for me.” What are the important factors necessary to succeed within Soya Group? D “I have experienced a real kindness where people make time for you to help out. To succeed here, I think you need to embrace that culture.” H “I agree. I also think you should be curious about all our different operations and keep an open mind.” 6 OUR WAY 1/2024 What makes Soya Group different from other workplaces? C “The people. I think this is a very sociable workplace where we appreciate the individual. You are not just someone working here – the company really cares about us! What you do, and who you are is important. We have great benefits such as being able to work out during lunch and other initiatives to improve our well-being.” D “The heart is in the right place here. Instead of just focusing on cutting costs, we are given the conditions to perform better. There is also a drive to collaborate that is new to me. People want to show others what they have done and be of help in different projects.” What are the biggest changes you have seen during your career at Soya Group? H “My work is concentrated at Wallenius Marine and one of the biggest changes I have seen was when we went from ship ownership to ship management in 2017. Now we’re going back to owning ships CHRISTINE LAGERGREN Role: Executive assistant Lives: Södermalm Family: Husband and a daughter Soya Group background: Executive Assistant at Wallenius Marine and Executive Assistant at AlfaWall PureBallast. again. Another big change is that today we’re better at telling the world what we do. I appreciate that we can be proud and pleased about our accomplishments.” C “Exactly! We used to be more secretive, but now we talk about all our great initiatives, such as our energy-efficient buildings and the Oceanbird concept.” THE HEART IS IN THE RIGHT PLACE HERE. INSTEAD OF JUST FOCUSING ON CUTTING COSTS, WE ARE GIVEN THE CONDITIONS TO PERFORM BETTER. David Karlsson