Sound analysis produced spot-on shortlist

Stora Enso Packaging Solutions is a part of Stora Enso that develops and produces fibre-based packaging solutions.

They are found at every stage of the value chain, from material manufacturing to complete packaging solutions, and offer their solutions to brand owners and retailers as well as other leading converters. Finnveden Executive has helped Stora Enso Packaging Solutions to recruit for strategically important roles for several years now.

Peter Torstensson is in charge of Stora Enso Packaging’s operations in the Nordic countries. He explains that operations in Sweden comprise three major corrugated board factories in Skene, Jönköping and Vikingstad. There is also a smaller business in Jönköping, June Emballage, and an operation with a slightly different focus in Norrköping. The company employs about 400 people in Sweden and has a turnover of around a billion kronor.

It’s the people who make the difference

The corrugated board industry is a local business because the material is expensive to transport. This means that internationalisation tends not to come into play. Manufacturing takes place locally and the skills sought are for the plants in Skene, Vikingstad and Jönköping.

“We are seeing a constantly increasing demand for technical expertise from our customers. The improvement criteria we have to live up to are about developing lighter materials, more eco-friendly products and manufacturing techniques, and better print quality on our packaging. We are also seeing trends move increasingly towards packaging with built-in intelligence. This means we need our people to have a strong skillset,” Peter Torstensson explains. These are naturally factors that play a role in recruitment. “As with any other mature industry, another issue is that everyone in the industry is using virtually the same machinery, which means it’s the people who make the difference,” he says.

“We are seeing a constantly increasing demand for technical expertise from our customers. The improvement criteria we have to live up to are about developing lighter materials, more eco-friendly products and manufacturing techniques, and better print quality on our packaging.”

Spot-on shortlist

The company’s history with Finnveden Executive dates back before Peter’s time, but he has used the recruitment firm several times since he joined. The first recruitment Peter and Finnveden Executive carried out together was to fill a new role at the company. “We were looking for a product manager and had initially given the job to another recruitment business, but they failed to find any relevant candidates for the post. We dropped them as a partner and appointed Finnveden Executive instead, and they came back to us with a spot-on shortlist. This meant that we were ultimately able to choose between several people with the right skills for the job,” Peter explains.

Personal approach and punching above their weight

“Finnveden Executive do a sound job, especially at the very start, when they put every effort into finding out who we are and who we need. I find Finnveden’s approach to the job quite personal. They aren’t a big firm but they punch above their weight. As a customer you really feel that you get all the attention that the job demands. We have had the same main contact on all the recruitment projects that Finnveden Executive has helped us with. We’ve forged an excellent relationship, and have got to know all the rest of the team too over the course of the project.”

Besides plenty of time and effort being put in from Finnveden Executive’s side, Peter Torstensson feels reassured by their way of working through all the relevant channels to find the right people.

Good communication and follow-up

Peter Torstensson is pleased with how the communication worked, both during the recruitment process itself and afterwards. “It’s a dialogue at a good level, with status updates and clarifications where necessary. One of the reasons why we hand over the recruitment work to someone else is that we simply don’t have time to participate in all the steps. This means we have to feel confident in the people doing the job for us. Conclusion and follow-up have worked well too. Finnveden Executive take a great deal of responsibility and they have a keen interest in the result of their recruitment processes.”