GRADUATES BLOG

Sweden to Denmark to Germany: Taking the long way to the Engage Training Week

Hi hi! My name is Alana Zeidler and I am a Production Management Graduate (PMG) from the 2023 batch. My home site is Upahl, Germany and this is where I spent my first rotation. In March the PMGs all moved on to our 2^nd rotation. For me, this meant that I moved to Arla’s biggest Swedish site: Götene!

When I started with Arla as a Production Management Graduate (PMG) 8 months ago I was incredibly excited, but didn’t know what to expect… so hopefully this little blog post can shed some light on what an (unusual) few weeks looks like for a PMG at the start of their 2^nd rotation. As I take a work trip road trip from Sweden to Denmark, and finally to Germany! Let me explain …

Götene, Sweden to Aarhus, Denmark

The start of April marked my “one month anniversary” on site in Götene, Sweden. Most of my first month consisted of onboarding and introductions: getting to know the site, getting to know the people and getting to know my project. My project is around digitalisation in the Cheesery. In order to make progress, the next step was to gain some technical knowledge to support my work. So, the 2023 PMG batch gathered at Arla’s HQ in Viby, Denmark for a 2 day workshop to deep dive into the new software that we have been tasked with rolling out at our 8 respective sites across Sweden, Denmark, Finland and England. This was this first time we PMGs had met in person since starting our 2^nd rotation so there was lots to catch up about.

During the workshop we focused on getting the software set up and ensuring everything was working as it should, before really getting into the details on Day 2. This is where sitting side-by-side in one room and with Specialists from the Digitalisation& Optimised Production (D&OP) team, really helped!

In-person workshops like this at Arla’s HQ are an incredible opportunity to strengthen our network across Arla. For me, I also took the chance to have a coffee with my mentor! A welcome change to our usual Teams calls.

Of course, we wrapped up our Workshop with a well-deserved group dinner in Aarhus! If you have already read some of the other blog posts you will notice that the Graduate Futures team keep us very well fed...

Aarhus, Denmark to Upahl, Germany

The PMG’s next official event was our Engage Training week which was being held in Düsseldorf, Germany the following week.

Personally, I decided to travel directly from Denmark to Germany. This allowed me to make a bonus stop at my home site: Upahl in northern Germany! Here I spent a sunny Friday catching up with colleagues, chatting about what was currently happening on site and sharing what I am up to currently in my new role in Sweden. I have found it really nice to keep in touch with my colleagues from my first rotation. They are a valuable network of support and expertise. As you can maybe tell, I am very much looking forward to being back in Upahl for my 3^rd rotation in September!

Upahl, Germany to Düsseldorf, Germany

Next stop in my trip: Düsseldorf! Home to Arla’s German Headquarters, and for one week only, hosting the 2023 batch of F15s and PMGs for our ENGAGE Training Week.

This was our 2^nd Training week and the fabulous Graduate Futures team had carefully assembled a packed Agenda for us. This time we were focusing on Arla’s Engage leadership competency. For me, Engage is about being people-focused. It's about showing authenticity in your leadership and bringing people with you on the journey by building positive relationships, fostering commitment, and embracing change. This training week is all about what this means to us as future leaders in Arla and how we can personify Engage in our work.

ENGAGE TRAINING WEEK

DAY 1

The focus of Day 1 was getting to know Arla Germany. Germany is on of Arla’s core markets and accounts for 15.7 % of Arla’s EU revenue (only 0.1% less than Denmark!). The dairy industry in Germany is very fragmented meaning there are lots of different brands competing for market share. Competition is fierce but this also means that the growth potential for Arla is huge. It will be very exciting to see the dairy industry in Germany develops over the next few years!

In the afternoon we split off into groups and went on store visits with some of the Field Sales Team. I will be honest, I was not expecting to learn much on the store visits because I have lived in Germany and I thought I had a good overview of the products that Arla sells in Germany. However, the Field Sales team really opened our eyes to the value of professional relationships when working with our customers (the supermarkets)! I will never look at supermarket shelves in the same way …

DAY 2

Day 2 was opened by Tino Gottschalk, Vice President for Finance Germany, sharing his Leadership story with us before opening the floor for questions which quickly developed into some very interesting discussions. You can always rely on the Grads to ask questions!

Next on the Agenda was an (almost) full day Hogan Workshop with Tom Cook, the Hogan (a personality test) Expert. Naturally we started with blind portrait drawing, there was a method to the madness, Tom had his reasons, and the exercise did link back to Engage (I don’t want to spoil it for anyone so I won’t elaborate 😉). As someone driven by science (Hogan Score of 100/100) I initially had my doubts about the Hogan when it was first introduced to us because I didn’t understand it. However, I have learnt to love and treasure it as a valuable tool. It has helped me become more aware of my own personality and how it can affect my work and relationships, both positively and negatively. Every time we spend time with Tom I learn something new about myself.

DAY 3

On Day 3 Kristian Koch joined us from Denmark and we spent the day working on our Presentation skills! Presentation skills are vital for effectively communicating information to a large number of people, whether this be a presentation to senior stakeholders or to introducing a new tool to operators on the shop floor. Kristian did an excellent job breaking down the theory and giving us loads of tips and tricks for how to transform this theory into practise, while avoiding the common ‘traps’. A key learning was the importance of body language and to always try and “make each other look good” when presenting in a group.

DAY 4

On our penultimate day, Day 4, Christina Juel Hegaard took the floor. She is Arla’s Global Head of Change Leadership and delivered a crash course in Change Management. I found it really interesting to hear about the theory behind change management. On reflection, it also helped explain some of my previous experiences around change. Throughout, Christina emphasised that “Business is Personal” and “Change is Human” and therefore you must always be aware of the emotionality around change!

Additionally, Marcel Hahne, Vice President for Sales Germany took the time to speak with us. He spoke openly about how his experiences with company culture had shaped his career, an important reminder about how important good leadership and effective change management is.

DAY 5

And last but not least, Day 5. We started the day with our final Leadership story from Cleo Kortenhorst, a former PMG from the 2020 batch, who is now Senior Logistics Manager for Pronsfeld (Arla’s biggest site, located in west Germany) with a team of over 150 people. Cleo gave us a candid insight into some of the joys and challenges that come with being a people manager, and what life after the Arla Graduate program could look like.

Finally we wrapped-up with all-you-can eat Sushi (I did say they fed us well) to celebrate our time together! And just like that it was time for the 2023 batch to part ways and scatters across the globe. Till we meet again for our 3^rd Training week in November 😊