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Perhaps the energy Jenny Hermanson radiates is reduced when we speak in a video link, but in that case it is not noticeable. She likes to talk openly about herself and her leadership. The words come quickly.
Not long ago her co-workers were shocked by the news that their boss was pregnant. During the corona pandemic, they have spoken on the phone or during video meetings, and their stomachs have ended up out of the picture. But recently it was time for the 38-year-old CEO to move in with her husband and two extra children in Varberg, to give birth to their first child.
– My partner runs a management company in the music industry, that’s how we met a little over two years ago. Little duck pond, you know, Jenny Hermanson says cheerfully.
We will soon enter your professional role, but first more privacy. It’s connected, it should turn out.
Jenny Hermanson grew up in Örebro and her mother still lives there. Several years ago her mother fell ill with Alzheimer’s and Jenny realized that she had to be in Örebro’s place to support her mother. So Jenny has been working remotely for weeks long before the crown crisis.
– I have a life outside of work and sometimes it takes time and energy, he says and emphasizes how important it is that privacy has its place.
She has been equally open in telling us she has ADHD.
– Yes, it was important for me to tell my diagnosis. because I wanted my co-workers to understand how I work. But here it is: everyone has their story. Adhd a part of me. But it has also made me see that each one has their own, that it is part of them.
That privacy affects professional life is obvious to Jenny. But Spotify has also had to deal with the opposite, that the work has taken too much privacy from the staff.
– We have many younger employees and teams working with their passion and hobby. As an employee, you often get a vision: “Here we go,” but how you have to invent yourself. What leadership can help you do is structure your daily life so that you can protect your working hours.
– We have ongoing conversations with employees that are partly about performance, but also about personal. What does the workload look like? How are you? What are your expectations? Where are you in life right now? There we help break those goals down into subgoals and celebrate success so you feel like you’re accomplishing something.
She stops. Maybe it sounds too nice and nice. Because you want to emphasize that it is important for employees to perform.
– Again, it’s about balance. I have very clear expectations for myself, the company and my employees. I want everyone to feel good, then people will perform better.
– But I’m very straight, I have no problem with that. I say “I had higher expectations than these”, both in terms of how the business is doing and in terms of behaviors. Then you become a better leader. And you have to have tough conversations, it’s part of leadership.
But back to the guy and good boss he wants to be. Jenny Hermanson uses the words “transparency” and “trust” to describe the work environment.
– When new people arrive, they are surprised by the access you have to numbers, both user numbers and business numbers. No matter what position you hold, you should be able to know how it works for us. We talk a lot about vision and mission. As an employee, you should be able to know that “just that, that’s where we’re going.”
– With as much information as possible, make better decisions. And we build trust. In an environment where you work towards the unknown, you need to have basic security.
Jenny is responsible for business operations in the Nordic region. – the user base and content. In Stockholm, the 50 or so people share offices with the technology side of the global company, which in turn also has offices in New York and London.
– He’s Swedish all day. But Sweden is our home market. Spotify comes from here and you can’t get away from it. The company is characterized by Swedish values, such as parental leave, which we have taken from here and implemented around the world. It’s very much about openness and transparency. We have fewer hierarchies, it is not a top that sits there and decides for itself.
– It’s something we joke about “No, no, no, we should be uncle people who participate in making this decision ”. But we are a fast moving company that also has to make quick decisions and cannot talk about things for long.
The average age on Spotify is 34 years old. and the average listener is also there in age. For many of the younger generation, it is important what values the company represents. The company has several different projects underway to counteract racism and discrimination by investing in female and non-binary producers (who do not identify with only one of the sexes) of both music and podcasts.
– Young people want the work to suit their personality. And we are a value-driven company. Often when we interview job seekers, we say we have a goodness, he says.
This is how Swede shines again when she sounds like Pippi Longstocking (“He who is very strong must also be very kind”):
– In a very successful company, you have to be kind to each other.
There are generalizations that, for example, Finns and Danes are much more used to clear leaders with more direct messages than Swedes who are more educated in a culture of consensus.
– That’s what’s so cool about leadership, Jenny enthuses:
– To be clear and transparent, it means that you must be able to say different things to different people. One way of transmitting information no longer works. Some are visual people, some need it almost on an excel sheet. So it is also cultural. Some want very clear directives, while others want creativity and thinking for themselves.
Jenny Hermanson started on Spotify as an advertising salesperson in 2009. At the time, she had an unfinished communication education and sales experience from Microsoft. The path to the CEO role has been through roles as a marketer and business developer. She calls herself a “winner’s skull” and “self-taught”, but how do you learn all these roles yourself?
– I am not a person who finds energy mainly in caring and managing, but I am a person who likes to develop, build structure and set goals. Spotify is a workplace where I could really develop and work more with those features.
– For me it has always been important to show my front legs. When I have a role, I try to learn more about that role. The more you can, the more informed decisions you will make. I’ve almost built the new role before I get it.
Raise your hand or offer it?
– A little of both. One of my tips is to wonder who he has shown his front legs to. Who can help you get the next job? Who believes in one and who votes in one?
The corona pandemic broke out when Jenny she had more nausea during her pregnancy and teleworking made her job easier.
– Do not forget that many have felt good about remote work. It may have been easier for them to pick up and drop off the children, depending on the market we are talking about.
Spotify has decided that everyone can work from home until July 1 of next year if they want to. She tries to avoid video meetings herself as often as she can. More like a “walk and talk” or a phone call.
Jenny Hermanson thinks the office will have a different purpose in the future, than to come in and have your office space between 9-17. What it does is what controls which environment is suitable: the office, the cafeteria or the home.
She seems to see that the corona pandemic has made people start to reflect more on where they are in life and where they spend their time and energy. For New Years, it’s time for your own tradition:
– Every year I do an evaluation. Do I feel like I still have something to offer the company? In this role? Or in another role?
The future will show what it comes to.
