”If you’re given the chance to work abroad, you should grab hold of that opportunity.” Our Deputy Managing Director Anna-Liisa Sarasoja knows what she’s talking about. Such an opportunity became available to her in the autumn, when the newly appointed Managing Director of our Danish operations needed assistance.
Towards the end of summer, Denmark’s new MD asked within the organisation if someone could come and support him to build the new organisation, and to implement practices that are common at Newsec and in the Nordic countries, but not so familiar within the Danish organisation. “We have made good progress in Finland developing our business, and earlier in my career I have worked in Denmark and felt at home in that culture, so I knew I could help there,” explains Anna-Liisa. “And in this time, when working from home has become normal, it sounded like an appealing opportunity for a break from the routine,” she continues.
It felt natural to work with the Managing Director, and he was clearly happy to receive help. Coming from outside our industry, he also had lots of new perspectives to bring to this co-operative work – thoughts and ideas that Anna-Liisa can, in turn, bring back home and use in our Finnish organisation.
The project moved forward with determination and within a tight schedule, facilitated by quick decision-making and putting things into practice quickly. “There was an atmosphere of openness, with trust built quickly between employees and myself, as well as the MD,” explains Anna-Liisa.
Many small improvements were made to everyday activities, as well as larger changes to the way things are done. "Of course, achieving a target culture does not happen overnight, and work continues every day through our actions," says Anna-Liisa. “However, the journey towards an increasingly unified Newsec is now well under way in Denmark.”
A secondment will not only enrich your career, but it’s also a real opportunity to increase your skills capital or build the foundation for developing your own career.
Before the pandemic, Newsec had an open exchange programme that was open to all our employees, one part of which was physically working in a different country’s organisation. This programme has been on pause for a while but will certainly continue when it is possible.
The pandemic has not, however, significantly limited the otherwise continuing collaboration between our various countries’ organisations and our experts. Our organisation is built in a way that supports cross-collaboration across boundaries. We have Nordic teams in our various units and business activities, and interaction with colleagues in other countries is a daily occurrence. For example we have joint customers or provide internal support services together as a Nordic team.
It is still not common, though, that one of our employees moves from one country to another to take part in a project or carry out an assignment. But it certainly should be – and this is something we intend to increasingly encourage our colleagues to do so, and to make these opportunities available.
Are you interested in working in real estate in an international company? Take a look at our currently available job opportunities. You can also find out more about what kind of working community we are.
If you wish, you can also connect and network with our Deputy Managing Director, Anna-Liisa. You can find her on LinkedIn, for example.