THE INVESTMENT IN DEVELOPMENT, global leadership and making people and opportunities visible has now proceeded to the next stage. After having completed seven Stena Leadership Programs (SLP) for employees in key positions, the turn has come for the next level of managers and specialists in the GROW program. “There is a clear connection between the two programs. To attend GROW, you have to also report to a manager who has completed SLP”, says Janine Sjöö, Manager, Stena Leadership Academy.

During the year, five GROW programs will be held for a total of 100 leaders and specialists with each program lasting a week. The content is specially designed based on Stena’s business activities and has two pillars, the business deal and leadership. The program includes, among other things, various group exercises in management and leadership and inspirational lectures where senior leaders at Stena share their experience.

“GROW has much in common with SLP, but contains more theory and practical tools for the participants to take back with them. One example is the segment called Investment Calculations which has been drawn up and is led by internal experts in the field and is much appreciated”, says Janine Sjöö. Furthermore, in the autumn, there will be yet another SLP following interest from more parts of the group. At the same time, the development of Stena Leader’s menu will continue. “The Stena Leader’s menu is for all leaders who need or are interested in expanding their expertise, not only those employees who have attended the Stena Leadership Program and GROW. We are continuing to develop the content of the programs and will provide further information in our communication channels”, says Janine Sjöö.

WE ASKED…

Philip Eriksson

Business Controller Stena AB, who is in charge of Investment Calculations in the GROW program.

What does the session consist of?

“We begin with an overview of the Stena Sphere and the reason why we are active in all these business areas. We then move on to Stenas’s finan-cial principles and guidelines, what profitability requirements we have and what we do to assess profit-ability in an investment. Finally, everybody gets to try out a simplified investment case.

Why is this an important area for a leader to keep an eye on?

“Stena, and in principle all comp-anies, has limited resources and this means that as a leader, you have to be able to select the investments that will generate the greatest value in the long term and that are in line with our profitability requirements. The financial return on the invest-ment is an extremely important factor in an investment decision and has to be taken into consideration together with, for example, strategic, operational and regulatory factors and risks coupled to these”.

What did you do to draw up good pedagogical material for this?

“We formed a group of 5-6 persons who were all working with invest-ments in one way or another. After a number of meetings, we felt that we had found a level for the material that would work for an hour’s presentation, but which we could also go back to and look at after-wards and have as a template”.

Sharon Kelly

Onboard Services Manager,
Fishgaurd-Rosslare

Why did you participate in GROW?

“I was nominated by my Route Manager, Ian Davies. At first, I was a little hesitant because he didn’t want to give me details; instead, he wanted me to experience what it was like. But he convinced me that it was an excellent opportunity that I would find very useful.

Jaroslaw Lomza

Onboard Services Manager,
Stena Spirit, Karlskrona-Gdynia

What will you take home with you to your co-workers?

“I won’t say anything but I’ll act differently. Among other things, I will work more on motivating and coaching my co-workers – which hopefully will be noticed.

Vidya Rai

Financial Director,
Nortern Marine in Mumbai

What did you think of the program?

“It was excellent, mainly because it was specifically designed for Stena and all the examples and coaching were based on our own business activities. The program contained several challenges that forced us to think outside our comfort zone and that was useful. This coupled with the fantastic prospects to network with our colleagues from other group companies made this program very interesting. We had many thought provoking conversations with colleagues from different companies / functions.”

AN ODE TO GROW

We all came as strangers to Stena’s grow,
And met lots of people we didn’t know,
Fastigheter, Bulk, Line, Clyde and Northern Marine,
Thrown into a room with a big projection screen,

We all were given a hard business case,
But all together this task we did face,
Lots of information for us to look through,
Then Carl Johan gave us even more to do,

We faced the board all together as a team,
It seemed more a nightmare than an actual dream,
But we pulled together and delivered our cause,
And at the end we all gained our applause.

We had to reflect each and every day,
And we were all given our opportunity and say,
We became friends so we were strangers no more,
As we ran in the morning until our legs were sore.

Long days and hard work we had to putin,
Afterwards we went off to the bar with a grin,
A few beers and wine, it was time to chill,
And of course run up an enormous bar bill,

But the laughter and comradery was great,
Such a great group together, it must have been fate,
Different nationalities, but how we did gel,
We got each other through our 5 days of hell.

So a thank you to you all for your laughter and fun,
I can’t believe our week is now officially done.
But I hope this isn’t the end and we will keep in touch,
As personally I have enjoyed meeting you all very much.

So I hope this is not goodbye, but the start of friendships new,
I guess now there is only one thing left to do,
So raise your beer or your glass of wine,
Best wishes to all of you from Isish Seas Stena Line.

Steven Harris

HR Training Partner Irish Sea