Stig Lauvsland
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The document discusses the career achievements and advice of Stig Lauvsland. Some of his proudest achievements include managing teams and projects at Exxon Mobil and turning around the Nordic region of Kelly by winning new accounts. He did not have a clear career path after school and studied engineering for practical reasons. He later found himself in the staffing industry through a role managing an engineering division. His advice for others facing turnaround projects is to thoroughly evaluate the current situation, identify motivated allies, make fast decisions to build a loyal team, focus externally on selling, and reward successes to boost morale.
Stig Lauvsland
- 1. What have been your proudest career achievements to date? My first real achievement was within my role at Exxon Mobil, where I stepped up from a fairly junior position to manage a team of older and more experienced people on 2 large scale projects. I can also list a start-up of an engineering company from scratch. One of my other proud- est accomplishments was turning Kelly’s Nordic region around; winning 3 major accounts, taking the region in to significant profit for the first time in years and improv- ing staff morale- and retention- tenfold. These three accounts are still amongst top 5 clients in Norway. What did you want to become when you left school? At school I enjoyed maths, geography and English but I never had a clear idea of a future career. I chose to study engineering more practi- cal reasons than a passion for the subject; the school was close to where I lived and several of my friends were taking the same course. If I could give my 16 year old self any advice I’d tell myself not to let practicalities govern my decisions; far better to travel, find out about yourself and what you’re good at and really want to do before choosing a direction. Having said that – I am a proof that it’s never too late to change direction. This is My Story Begin the process with a thorough evaluation to gain understanding of how things currently are Identify or hire a few allies who are motivated and prepared for what it takes Make tough decisions internally to build a solid, loyal team, and make them fast Move the focus to the external market, and Sell, Sell, Sell Remember success breeds success; as you turn things around and you get some wins , team morale and motivation will grow, in turn leading to more wins Be generous, reward victories, be a part of the team, have fun and get people to laugh Keep the speed up and do yourself what you expect others to do How did you become involved in the staffing industry? When I finished studying I had no real idea of what I wanted to do. So a friend and I set off to Switzerland in an old car and ended up working our way around Europe for several months. When we had spent all of our money in the Greek islands, we travelled to Israel to work in a kibbutz on the promise of free food and cigarettes. I went on to work as a Bell Boy in a hotel on the Egyptian border and during my time there I even had the honour of carrying Eric Clapton’s luggage! When I returned home after seven months I started working for Phillips Petroleum on a North Sea project. On completion, I took an opportunity to work for Exxon Mobil and moved to Stavanger, the oil capital of Norway, where I was thrown in at the deep end and made responsible for managing two large scale research and development projects. 2 ½ years on, I found myself accepting a role managing the start up a new division of an engineering company, with no real experience in start ups and no idea of what to expect. The division was involved in staffing oil service companies with Engineers and this was my first experience within the staffing industry. 9 months in, we had more than 60 Engineers working in the region and had turned the division in to quite a success. In 1994, I joined a company which Kelly later bought, where I worked for 5 years before leaving to become the CEO of a big engineering company. I had been in this position for around a year when I was invited back to an international role in Kelly as a Scandinavian Marketing Director and on taking that position I haven’t look back. In 2001 I took over Kelly’s Nordic Region as Regional General Manager before adding on the management of Eastern and Central Europe in 2008. In early 2013 I was offered to join the OCG part of the Kelly organization as Practice Lead for MSP solutions in EMEA, and again given an opportunity to grow and develop within the company. To me this is another confirmation that Kelly’s policy to have employees to build on previous experience and leverage this to the best for the company and yourself is real, and one of the big advantages of being a part of a global and professional organization. What can one do to ensure that returning to employment with a past employer might still be an option? Most people decide to leave an or- ganisation because they are faced with a new opportunity to further their career elsewhere, rather than because of any bad feeling towards their employer. Pro- vided that this is the case and that you leave in a professional way, working your notice and tying up loose ends before you move on there is no reason why you shouldn’t be able to return to a company should an interesting opportunity arise at a later stage. What advice would you give to others faced with a ‘turn around’ project? Stig Lauvsland, VP COE CWO EMEA & PT Product Strategy Leader, Norway What do you do to relax? In winter I really enjoy skiing. Favourites are Telemark and cross country. Summer season I spend a lot of my free time in my boat. My home is just 20 metres from the sea, so fishing, in particular lobster fishing, has always been one of my big hobbies. Last but not least - I am lucky to have 2 beautiful daughters. They both study away from home, so supporting them in their studies and seeing them as often as possible is absolutely a priority.