The New Shape of Work interview series addresses the challenges and uncertainty in the current business environment with a focus on how to transition to a more agile workforce for the future.

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In this conversation, we speak with Hanna Fager, Chief People Officer at Volvo Cars. The episode covers leadership, performance management, and company culture at Volvo. Hanna talks about the shift from traditional performance management to a continuous dialogue process. She also highlights the company's focus on long-term employment and investing in people's development in a culture of learning and sharing. 

Interesting moments:

  • Transforming for the future

    Transformation happens when people start to do things in a different way. Organizations don't change, people do, and people are bringing the change forward that is needed for the company to move in a new direction. We own the future destiny of this company. And we are a strong global team that share the same priorities and purpose.
  • Shifting performance management

    We moved from a very traditional performance management process a couple of years ago into what we now called a continuous dialogue because we saw that managing the ambiguity with shifting priorities needed to come into more safe hands. Which means that you need more regularly to have a dialogue between leader and employee.
  • Continuous skills development

    If we don't continue to develop ourselves, then we can try as hard as we ever could as a company, and nothing will happen. So, we make sure employees are aware that we are a fast-transforming company and that they need to keep themselves up to date. They need to seek information and be curious with the colleagues that know things they don't. They also need to share what they can do with others. 
  • Values as the new horsepower

    We have 43,000 people today who can take part of our new leave benefit and we see what a difference that makes for people. And we see the loyalty people feel for the company because they get a stronger connection to the company and the values that we stand for. It was a very impactful decision we took based on our values. And that tells me that values are the new horsepower. People want us to act on our beliefs.

More episodes in this series