Meet Geir Håkensen: Your voice matters
“To me, it is so important to be myself at work and not pretend to be someone else. At the beginning of my career, this was not the case, and the energy and agony that was spent on not being myself, was really tough,” says Geir Håkensen, Hydro People that Matter Award recipient.
Top image: Geir Håkensen in a conversation during Pride month with Hydro CEO Eivind Kallevik.
Each year Hydro asks employees to nominate colleagues who go the extra mile for the annual Hydro People that Matter Award. The nominations are based on efforts that reflect Hydro’s values in or outside the workplace.
During last year’s Pride month, Geir Håkensen sat down with our CEO Eivind Kallevik, former EVP Hydro Aluminium Metal, to talk about his journey when coming out to his family and friends in his thirties. The conversation was published as a video internally and Geir moved many people in our organization by sharing his story. Being vulnerable and open to inspire and support others demonstrates both courage and care.
Geir works as Team Lead, Leadership and Talent Development in Group People and Organization and is based at Vækerø. He is described by colleagues as a wonderful and dedicated human being who cares for those around him and is highly committed to his role in Hydro.
Continue reading to learn more about Geir and what it is like to work at Hydro.
Congratulations on receiving the People that matter award! Can you describe what receiving this award means to you?
I was personally moved and surprised by receiving this award. Moved that people have seen and noticed something in me that they appreciated and nominated me for this award. Also, I think that showing vulnerability was part of being noticed in the organization and it means a lot to me that this was appreciated.
You exemplify the Hydro values beyond your daily work, what motivates you to go the extra mile?
To me, it is so important to be myself at work and not pretend to be something else. At the beginning of my career, this was not the case, and the energy and agony that was spent on not being myself, was really tough. As I have grown older, I am hopefully a bit wiser, and I am able to focus my energy on things that are more in line with who I am and my preferences. When colleagues appreciate my strengths and challenges and want to collaborate on tasks and projects that we find interesting and important for Hydro, I am willing to go that extra mile.
Which of Hydro’s values mean the most to you and why?
Care means the most to me. I think if we all care for each other’s well-being, and make sure that we are safe at work in all aspects, this will create a great atmosphere and we will be able to use our energy and ideas to the maximum, both personally and also for Hydro. Collaboration is a good number two, as I think we will not be able to reach the greatest results on our own, but by working together. This is what enables us to move the needle inch by inch.
As a true ambassador for Hydro, what do you think makes our company a great place to work?
I must say that my great colleagues that I see every day are most important to me. Also, to meet new colleagues in different Hydro locations or departments and learn about our business makes my work in Hydro worthwhile and rewarding. I also like the empowerment that is given to us as employees with all the trust and flexibility, even though it can be very busy at times.
How would you describe our company culture?
I think our culture is best described through our values and behaviors. We have a caring culture in general, perhaps courage is something we need to work even more on in order to dare to try new things, to share more of our stories and to explore to find even better solutions. Collaboration is great within the teams, but I think that we have a lot of potential to collaborate even more across units and environments. There is a lot of “good stuff” being done in different locations, and if we had even better processes in getting this known to other units, that would give us so much tail wind.
Any reflections or key takeaways from the experience/events here in Oslo with the other PTMA recipients in December?
I only had the first day together with the other recipients since I unfortunately got sick and had to stay home. Although it was only one day for me, I got to know the other participants quite quickly and I have met up with some of them while travelling. It is great to have a network in different units since they all represent something unique and bring new perspectives to the table.
