One year had almost passed when her manager phoned from Bergen.
“Are you ready to move home now?”
“… No”, she answered. “Is that OK?”
One year was the plan. She was going to live in Stamsund for one year before returning to her job at the head office in Bergen, but things turned out differently.
It all started with a visit to her best friend, who had recently moved to the Lofoten islands. In the deepest, darkest winter she travelled up to see her.
“There wasn’t really any reason for me to think it was nice up there, because it was during the polar night and the weather was bad”, she recalls.
But on the day of her return journey, she found herself feeling sad. She wanted to stay longer; she wasn’t ready to go home. Perhaps her best friend noticed that, because after her visit she started sending all kinds of job adverts to Astrid, with the common denominator that they were all based in Lofoten. The idea was very appealing, but she had a job in Bergen that she loved.
She had almost completed a year as a trainee at the Lerøy Way Office, the in-house continuous improvement department. With a degree in manufacturing engineering, it was the ideal job for her, and she explained to her best friend that she couldn’t just move away from Bergen.
“I told her that the only thing I would consider was the job of Lerøy Way facilitator at the factory in Stamsund, as I had decided that I wanted to stay at Lerøy. Somebody already had that job, so it wasn’t on the cards”, she says.
One morning shortly afterwards, she was woken by her phone beeping. There was a message saying “Yes?” with a link to an advert for the job of Lerøy Way facilitator at the factory in Stamsund.
“I thought damn. No, I can’t do it.”
Although she was very tempted, she decided to stay in Bergen. But that wasn’t to be. Her manager asked whether anyone in the department could imagine taking on the job for a year until they found a permanent replacement.
“That’s when I said yes, I would love to! It was an easy choice to make once I was encouraged to do it.”
Her manager thought that sounded great, and the support and positive feedback she received made the decision much easier for her.
Internal mobility is about enabling employees to try other roles than the ones they were originally hired to do, and offering them alternative workplaces. At Lerøy, internal mobility is encouraged.
“We applaud anyone who wants to try their hand at something new within Lerøy, and we believe that the ensuing knowledge-sharing adds a lot of value”, says Siren Grønhaug, Group Director HR.
Lerøy employs around 5,500 people within a variety of disciplines across several countries. That provides lots of opportunities for new employees who want to join the company. Siren explains that since Lerøy operates in a constantly developing industry, it needs dynamic, flexible staff who are eager to learn. Offering internal mobility is one of several ways it fosters the training and development of its employees. For Astrid, it was a wonderful opportunity. Since she didn’t want to change company, it was only because Lerøy encouraged internal mobility that she was able to move.
“I’m so glad that Lerøy provides this kind of opportunity!” she says.
Having a fully integrated value chain for seafood also creates many unique and exciting career opportunities. If you want to move, there are lots of openings at Lerøy.
“One of the things I like best about Lerøy is that it has offices and facilities all along the Norwegian coastline. In every tiny little corner of Norway, we are creating local jobs. I am proud of that!” says Astrid.
“The fact that we operate all along the Norwegian coastline and in several countries provides very many job opportunities”, says Siren.
Astrid’s colleague Dovydas Lidzius knows all about that. Nine years ago, he came from Lithuania to work during the white fish season, but he has stayed at Lerøy’s factory in Stamsund since then.
“There are loads of opportunities at Lerøy for people who want them. I am a good example of the fact that hard work creates lots of openings”, says Dovydas.
He has been able to try his hand at most of the jobs at the factory, and when his working days become too monotonous, internal mobility allows him to try something new.
“I would encourage people who want to move away from a big town to somewhere smaller to go for it. I am so pleased with everything I have been able to experience by doing that”, concludes Astrid.
For her part, she has just bought a house, so she has no plans to move in the imminent future.
