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Henrik E. is a successful international HR executive with expertise in transformational and growth environments. He leads global organizations, focusing on HR strategies and capabilities. He is a trusted advisor for senior European and global leadership teams, excelling in cultural change, executive leadership development, talent management, and managing diverse international teams.
Henrik Ekengren, Regional HR Director, Business Area Nordics at ASSA ABLOY Group
1. As the Regional HR Director what does a typical day look like for you at the office?
What I enjoy with my role is that every day is different. I have many varied interactions with many different people in the organization throughout the day. The commonalities are usually that my days are people focused. This makes most tasks, whether it is solving a problem, planning strategy, developing activities or interacting with my team, a lot more fun.
2. What are some of the initiatives that you have been a part of, given your successful track record in leading transformational activities and developing executive leadership? How in your opinion has that benefited the organisation and its clients?
In my career so far, working with transformational change has been a core element. Not every effort has been a success. But the ones which have, the ingredients have been the same. Transparency, time, people involvement, buy in, clear direction and endurance built into them.
Another determining factor has always been to have highly committed leaders. The truth is that sometimes mid-level leaders are not geared up with the right capabilities for change and sometimes even overlooked completely. To flip this on its head, the most successful transformations in my experience have always seen leadership as an “engine” of the transformation which also allows for “execution power” in an organization. This is where the change benefits have been won or lost.
Therefore, as part of a transformation, we launched a leadership upskilling initiative, utilizing the so called “CICS model” to create “collective intelligent teams”. We did this in cooperation with an external partner called Influence People. Creating intelligent teams was done by establishing trust in those teams, group learning through reflection, having leaders focus on the “bang for the buck” activities (and what those were) as well as establishing a common understanding of what these activities meant for us as an organization.
The yearlong program yielded double digit increases in engagement throughout the organization and “psychology safe” leaders who in turn could be more creative and endure tougher times during the change. This increased the speed of execution and ultimately helped our customers and owners benefit from the rewards of smarter solutions, increase in services, faster delivery and better financial results.
3. What results and footprints have you been the most proud of in your career?
My aim in any job role is to leave the organization better than when I found it.
Concretely- a couple if things I feel a little extra proud about, are the “Emerging leadership programs” I have launched in my career. These programs have taken people without any leadership experience at all and made them into great first time leaders. These programs have also seen roughly 80 percent of the participants, being promoted to leadership roles within 6-12 months of graduating the program. I feel very proud to have been able to enable individuals as well as benefited the organizations.
" One of the key challenges which is important to come to terms with, is how to balance AI automation and integration with human interaction and how to make sure that the balance is well situated "
I also feel very proud about the HR teams I have led and how we have shaped them into business driven & enabling teams. The teams are often “lean” in structure, culturally diverse, locally focused & spread out in different countries & geographics. Together we have been able to build regional HR teams with a joint mission, serving both local and regional needs while at the same time executing on our strategy both locally and regionally.
4. What are some of the most significant challenges confronting the HR sector today? How are you attempting to mitigate them?
There are many and various challenges coinciding currently. Besides the more established challenges such as technology disruptions (which I believe ultimately are positive), increasing D&I, attraction & retainment difficulties. One of the main ones, I think, revolves around the skill gaps we see today in the marketplace as well as inside many organizations vs what we need in the near future. With highly specialised teams & individuals, rapid technology advancements & evolving customer expectations, the need to upskill & re-skill parts of the workforce are rapidly becoming more important. Organizations who do this well and proactively, will have a far more “future proof” workforce than other organizations.
We mitigate this in part by continuously identifying organizational skill gaps, creating robust plans which focuses on sharing of skills, helping individual career paths, ensuring team & individual development via a range of training programs. This a start, but more mitigations will be needed (and will have to be faster) in the coming years.
5. Is there any novel technology that you are looking forward to and think would propel a cultural transformation in the HR sector in the coming years?
Artificial Intelligence (AI), for example, Chat GPT and other types of tech advancements are making us rethink what is possible within the realms of HR. I am convinced that in many areas of HR we can see benefits from this technical shift. It also serves as a disruptor – making us think and re-think how we operate, our processes and ways of working. I believe this development is something positive but not without risks. One of the key challenges which is important to come to terms with, is how to balance AI automation and integration with human interaction and how to make sure that the balance is well situated.
6. What advice would you give aspiring professionals seeking to establish a career in your domain?
As we know the world, the organizations we work in and HR itself is constantly evolving and changing ever more rapidly. My advice is to not rely too much on “old truths” and don’t be afraid to constructively challenge the status quo, with at least two alternative ideas to every challenge you encounter. This will not only help your thinking but also make sure to stay relevant in adding value and seeking new and improved ways of contributing to an organization.
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