Interview with Karsten Hetland, Nokia

Citation

by Ruth Young, I. (2008), "Interview with Karsten Hetland, Nokia", Human Resource Management International Digest, Vol. 16 No. 7. https://doi.org/10.1108/hrmid.2008.04416gaf.001

Interview with Karsten Hetland, Nokia

Article Type: Interview with Karsten Hetland, Nokia From: Human Resource Management International Digest, Volume 16, Issue 7

Interview by Ruth Young

Karsten Hetland, MSc and MBA, is the Vice President HR, Resourcing, Executive Talent and Diversity for Nokia. He has a wide range of experiences in all areas of human resource management and prior to his current role he was heading HR for Nokia Customer and Market Operations covering global sales, marketing and the supply chain. Karsten has a background in the telecom and durable consumer good industry, having worked in leading HR positions and general management for companies such as Electrolux and TDC (formerly Tele Danmark).

In your talk you focused on how Nokia was a value-based company and you spoke specifically about the importance of co-operation within the organization. Do you think that type of approach calls for a change in the traditional hierarchical management structure?

What we see in Nokia is that traditional hierarchical-based leadership in most parts of the company is long gone if we, with traditional hierarchical-based leadership mean control and command type of leadership. In the engineering community, the R&D community, Sales and Marketing and other parts of the company we see that the leadership style is collaborative, building on a shared vision and shared goals. Leaders in Nokia tend to pay equal attention to the people dimension, “the how”, as to the task at hand or “the what”. That said there are parts of manufacturing and the supply chain where hierarchical-based leadership is needed in order to achieve the results.

Nokia has become synonymous with innovation and you spoke a bit in your talk about there being a focus on renewal within leadership and within the company as a whole. Do you think that helps the company respond to changes within the marketplace more quickly?

Renewal is ongoing and the changing market conditions are the starting point. Different types of consumers are demanding new products and services and we are trying to make their dreams come alive. In that process there is a continuous drive for development; to develop the company, the company’s capability to deliver on the consumer demands. So there is a continuous development that influences not only the technology but also the way you unleash the technology into good products and services.

Nokia seem to have tackled the issue of leadership management development very successfully, it shows in the company’s profits and where it is heading. Are there any obstacles to leadership development within Nokia?

Things are changing fast and obviously change doesn’t wait for us to be ready. It is a constant challenge for Nokia ensuring our leadership is agile and customer focused.

What attracted you to working in your current role?

Resourcing, Executive Talent and Diversity are challenging topics. With Nokia changing and moving into Service and Software we see demands for people at all levels with new competences. Nokia is leading in the mobile industry but in internet services we are a challenger. Recruitment, selection and on-boarding are critical activities when we develop new businesses. In HR at Nokia you continuously deliver on the processes but you are also encouraged to participate in developing the processes and practices. Previously I was in another role and in two years time I may be in a third role, this is the nature of leadership at Nokia, you don’t sit tight in one role for a long time.

Do you think someone can be trained to be a good leader? Or is about personality?

I believe you have to have a passion for leadership. If you have that passion and if you have the curiosity and respect for people, there are a lot of elements in good leadership that are learned. We see that with Nokia employees that grow into become Nokia leaders and significant leaders, it is a development journey as well.