Ms. Eklund, how can transformation processes from the B. Braun—the next decade be implemented in your daily business?
The COVID-19 pandemic presented many companies with a major challenge: out of the blue, employees had to start working from home, but the structures to do this were not in place everywhere. In the Nordics, we are fortunately at the forefront of digitalization, and have been for long. That’s why it was relatively easy for B. Braun employees in Finland and Sweden to work from home all of a sudden. Everyone had a laptop and a very good, secure Internet connection already. Processes for working remotely was in place and thus the shift went fairly smoothly.
What changes that B. Braun—the next decade envisions have come easily to you?
I returned to the company only ten months ago, after working for an American company for six years. However, I had already worked at B. Braun for nine years before that. The fact that I have gotten experience outside of B. Braun in the meantime benefits me in my new role. I have a bit of an outsider’s perspective in a way, and thus I might challenge some things more critically than I probably would if I had never left the company.
Where do you see need for more changes?
For example, I believe that we need to develop more courage to pursue new approaches—in line with the motto “fail fast, fail often”. But even though I like to implement new strategies like B. Braun—the next decade as quickly as possible, I know that you have to give change time. That’s why I try to encourage employees to be open to change. Ultimately, our goal is to increase the added value for our customers. To do this, we need to keep moving and move closer together. This is why it is important to be at the office—good ideas and improvements are born when we work together! Personally I also draw a lot of my motivation and energy from the unit cohesion in our company.
