The organisation's ability to benefit from the opportunities offered by digitalisation is crucial to underpinning the company's competitiveness. This applies to business processes with customers and manufacturers and to the company's internal processes. oem's sales staff and product specialists are key people in the relationships with customers and manufacturers and, in line with OEM's business model, long-standing and trusting relationships are built through commitment and expertise.
OEM's corporate culture is based on the watchwords – positive attitude, commitment, modesty, tenacity and openness. By adopting a long-term approach, oem has solidified the business into one coherent organisation that puts performance and well-being at its core.
The sales professionals shall provide the customers with the best service in the market. OEM has high ambitions when it comes to the ability of the sales staff to identify and take maximum advantage of business opportunities. In order to meet these high standards, the sales staff must have extensive knowledge of the products and applications. Development of the sales team is a focus area and training programmes that run over several years are provided. Newly-hired sales personnel attend internal and external courses aimed at promoting personal development and creating an efficient sales methodology. A solid background in sales also opens other career opportunities within oem, such as sales manager or product manager.
Employees are encouraged to contribute to the development of the company and shape their own careers by being interested, creative and goal-oriented. Experience of sales work or work within the product organisation is highly valued in career progression and the company encourages employees to move to positions in different parts of the company and different countries too. oem has a management culture based on strong teams and clear targets. Each manager builds his or her team and sets clear goals for both the team and each individual. Considerable energy and effort is channelled into identifying and developing individuals with leadership qualities who can become future leaders, both locally and centrally. Most leaders are recruited internally. Career progression is generally within the respective company. Complementing this are central initiatives, such as Group-wide talent-development programmes aimed at improving skills and building networks among the employees.
OEM's long-term competitiveness is built on a pipeline of young talent and a workforce of employees who grow and develop long-term with the company. OEM therefore works continuously to improve its attractiveness as an employer to current and future employees. The employees' know-how and expertise are regularly updated through training in sales, technology, finance, IT and other areas, as part of their personal development. OEM encourages employees to continue developing their skills and abilities in different ways and the production of individual development plans is one of the activities. Business objectives are combined with individual goals to produce plans that facilitate the ongoing development of the skills of the employees. At annual performance appraisals, the contents of the personal development plans are discussed, completed activities are evaluated and plans for the coming year are established.
OEM's sector is traditionally male-dominated, but the company strives for a more equal gender balance. All employees shall have equal opportunities based on their qualifications for the job, without regard to gender, religion, ethnicity, nationality, age, functional capability or sexual orientation. OEM has a stated goal to generally increase the number of female employees to eventually increase the number of women in senior positions. In order to achieve this goal, OEM must increase the number of female applicants when recruiting, particularly within the services that work closely with customers and suppliers. In 2021, there was an increase in both the number of female employees in total and the number of women in senior positions.
An important part of steadily building a strong, competitive organisation is to continuously hire young employees. Young engineers who are interested in technology and sales add dynamism and drive. Induction programmes and individual development plans enable new employees to quickly learn their duties and are assigned progressively more responsible work. OEM has a trainee programme for newly-graduated employees with degrees in engineering or economics and the potential to assume leadership responsibilities in the future. OEM also works collaboratively with several educational institutions, offering internship opportunities, guidance in thesis research projects and other assistance. This is a means of attracting future personnel and reaching out with information about OEM's business and operations.
Well-being and health are essential for enabling employees to perform and develop as individuals and in a team, and OEM has always made the well-being of its employees a central priority. Regular investments are made to create a safe, healthy and attractive workplace. The company also encourages its employees to adopt a healthy lifestyle by offering physical activity opportunities and preventive care and wellness initiatives. Activities designed to create cohesion and group dynamics are often conducted in conjunction with conferences and workplace meetings.
OEM regularly recruits employees, largely in the area of sales and marketing, to strengthen existing organisations and hire replacements because of natural turnover of staff.