Christina Ohlson began working in HR and payroll immediately after finishing secondary school, and she has now been working at Vossloh for 18 years.
“I applied for a job as an HR and payroll administrator because I wanted to work for a larger company. I also thought it was exciting that Vossloh Sweden was part of an international group,” she explains.
'What I like is that Vossloh chose to invest in me. Since I started, I’ve undertaken several training courses in HR and leadership, strengthening my role within the company. Today, I’m the HR manager.”
Christina Ohlson has never viewed certain professions as being more suited to men or women.
‘As a woman and as an HR manager, I believe you can achieve whatever you set your mind to, regardless of gender,’ she says.
She wants to see more women in engineering, production and warehousing.
The long-term goal of Vossloh’s HR work is to build a workplace where everyone thrives and feels seen and heard. We want to be a caring employer that makes a difference.
'I want everyone to have the opportunity to develop with us. In the long term, I also want to recruit more women into engineering, production and warehousing roles. We have far too few there,’ she says.
Vossloh has been working strategically on gender equality and inclusion for several years, measuring key indicators such as the number of women who reach the final interview stage, and the number of women working in workshops and warehouses.
'But we do much more than that. We tailor job adverts to appeal to both women and men. We encourage everyone to take parental leave. We try to attract female engineering students to choose us when recruiting for the Technikbrücke programme, work experience placements, and other internships. We also carry out ‘fresh eyes’ evaluations with new staff to find out more about the culture they experience when joining us. Furthermore, our exit interviews also focus on the company’s culture,” explains Christina Ohlson.
Collaboration is key for Vossloh
To change perceptions of the railway industry in general, and of Vossloh in particular, the company collaborates with organisations such as JBS, Technikbrücke and Swedtrain, as well as various technical colleges and universities. This is done to generate greater interest in the sector.
'I am convinced that gender equality will eventually be achieved if we lay a solid foundation when recruiting and if we have an attractive company culture that offers opportunities for development,' says Christina Ohlson.
'Going forward, I would also like us to engage with schools at an earlier stage and for schools to welcome companies, with the aim of generating greater interest in technology and our industry,' she says.
