How do you build a strong corporate culture? 

As a Group, Midroc has grown rapidly in the past years, and what is most inspiring with this development is to see how our employees take on our challenges. We have expanded Midroc Electro’s electrical engineering operations to the Norwegian market through a number of acquisitions, as well as the establishing of new brands, for example the Property concept Lyckos.

In 2015, we were 3,300 committed community and industry developers, today we are 4,200.  
Something that has developed over time is our corporate culture. Having a long-term focus was a strategic decision right from the start, which today pays off in the form of a solid and confident organization with the ability to adapt quickly and think in new ways together.

– We have been working systematically with our corporate culture since 2008. For support, we have drawn strength from our joint Management Platform, which was developed to create security and companionship, says Roger Wikström, Group CEO at Midroc. 

Being the first choice for our current – and future – employees is our top priority. In the employer branding company Universum’s annual survey, Midroc has for the second time in a row been appointed Sweden’s best employer in the large companies category. In the survey, where employees from three of the Group’s companies gave their opinion, we have steadily improved our position – something that makes us immensely proud!

In our opinion, the key to success is a decentralized organization in combination with a strong corporate culture. A culture where trust and ability to cooperate are important ingredients. That our employees feel included in the Midroc family and have the authority to make everyday decisions is a prerequisite to reach our targets.

Important cornerstones to build a strong corporate culture

First: A trusting work environment.   

To reach our goal to be best in class, we invest both time and resources on personal development. An individual confident in his or her role and who understands group dynamic is well-equipped to bring out the best in colleagues, clients and contractors. We coordinate, structure and search for synergies at group level to be in line with our targets for health, safety, environment and quality.  
We conduct employee surveys on a regular basis. We work horizontally, following the model that we call Midroc’s Management Arrow. At the far right of the horizontal arrow, at the head, we have the employees who meet our clients. At the far back of the arrow, we have the employees who support them and enable them to implement their work in the best way.  

The Management Arrow replaces the classic pyramid organizational structure, to remind everyone that it is those who work closest to the client who make the greatest difference in the client’s perspective.  

Second: We welcome diversity.  

We believe in doing things together and we create opportunities to make the most of both differences and similarities. Adding multiple perspectives and experiences make us stronger as an organization. Being able to communicate this to others is important. We have zero tolerance against discrimination and there is a whistle-blower function for reporting harassment or discrimination anonymously.  

Third: Competence.  

We work with our structured competence puzzle to ensure that our teams benefit from different skills and expertise. The model is based on the notion that a group can perform better together than what they would have accomplished alone. Laying competence puzzles help us compose the right overall competence for a given task and is a tool in planning the employees’ personal development. After many years of working with this, we know that the inclusion of employees generates commitment and profitability.

Here, we also want to highlight Midroc Business School, which since the start in 2008 offers development in leadership together with tailored training programs in negotiation techniques, among other things. Most of our employees have participated in some form of training or development context at Midroc Business School, for example the employee days where new employees are introduced to our joint language and our thought models. New managers with line management responsibility usually participate in the training program for operational leadership during their first year in their new role. LiseLotte Jernberg Bate is the Group’s Culture Manager and also has the overall responsibility for the internal business school.  

– For me, it is extremely important to constantly remind ourselves that the actual culture work is made around our organization, in the departments and in smaller groups, this is where you can find our most important Midroc ambassadors. Our training programs and support processes have been important in forming the internal culture, especially to create the right prerequisites for a good culture, but we can only create it if we work together in our daily operations, says LiseLotte. 

Fourth: Responsibility.  

Many of our employees work in hazardous environments, which require a systematic approach to safety. Midroc has management systems for Health, Safety, Environment and Quality issues throughout the group, and most companies have one or more ISO certificates as evidence of continuous improvements. Worth mentioning is our successful work to establish a safety culture within our business area Contracting, where the safety days (now safety week) are a recurring tradition. 

We also have an ambition to anchor and reinforce our Code of Conduct, both with ourselves and our partners. We will achieve this through exercises and training, and by reviewing our current agreements and by performing supplier assessments. The goal is that everyone who works for Midroc shall sign our Code of Conduct.  

Finally: We make a positive difference together.  

Contributing to the community is an integral part of all Midroc’s activities. In addition to the community development that we drive with and through our deliveries and collaborations with clients and partners, we also have a long history of actively supporting the community with sponsorships, summer jobs for local high school students, trainee positions, and we participate in projects with expertise and solutions that contribute to a sustainable development. Through Midroc Invest, we invest in groundbreaking technologies with great commercial potential and of high global importance, mainly within Cleantech and Life Science. 

– Based on our joint thought models and processes, we have laid the foundation for work processes and a culture where our employees are genuinely involved. We have not succeeded until our employees feel involved and truly can participate, both in the development of our organization and our targets, Roger finishes.