My new MD's comment when I asked for an overdue rise in pay..? 25 12 16
...that my pay was An Embarassment...suggesting perhaps that his, Ulf Sjöblom's understanding of the workings of Visko before his arrival had never been explained to him, betrayed a total lack of understanding, devoid of imagination?
...his display of naiivety not the sole example of how he had landed on his feet, in coming to work for Visko at the end of 1989, starting at approximately the same time as Tor Johansson. At this juncture I had been advised of their functions and that my duties as Research and Development Director were unaffected although this was to change very shortly after their arrival when Totte demonstrated he was the master of all trades when no-one else knew anything of consequence, telling lies a major weapon in his armory. The two together dealing for me the blow aptly be described as a "Double Wammy"?lol
To start with he was to become renown for hiring mainly women in a traditionally male-dominated profession that embraced the meat and associated industries. When eventually he came to be promoted to deputy MD in January 1994 he hired a lady Financial Director to fill the vacancy his promotion precipitated.
When Totte was on the point of departing for Åland to found a Plastics Casing facility, perhaps together with Uffe (Sjöblom) a successor to Totte, in a limited sense at a lower level, saw the arrival of Esa, a Meat Industry specialist, who was to become a Product Development Manager, for a time my job title, when what I loosly did at the time of someone introducing the ISO 9003 Quality Standard, when everyone had to have a job description, but only ever a title, without being responsible for the function. (Much later when I was elected President of C.I.P.C.E.L. in November 2002, my job title at Visko was that of Project Manager, again without its ever being explained in any deeper way.
During these years more changes of peoples' job descriptions with attendent comings and goings were to take place than ever before in my industrial life. A Miss Jaana Laalo was to be a major innovater on the part of Sjöblom's hiring of the fairer sex, as the Sales and Marketing Directorship, since the guy given the job proved to have no organisational skills beyond keeping the Americans sweet. Sales Manager Peter Lindqvist meanwhile continuing to provide the USA support (after a Per Åke Borganstrand left through ill health, a friend of the owner Trygve Eriksson) But her reign would be short-lived when Ulf Sjöblom left the Company to take over the Managing Directorship of Oy Forcit Ab, also based in the town, and a Mr Ernola was hired with a view of getting rid of a lot of dead wood, so the opinion of many opined at the time. This was not however before she relieved me of the duty of handling the Company's monthy claims from the US Market, I had been given 9 years earlier, when the claims were running at the rate of $250 000 pa in 1990, and I had seen them reduced to $5 000. With Ulf standing behind her she proclaimed that Claims Handling was a Marketing function, and I ceased to be involved except as a minor cog in a much bigger "Claims Handling Group" comprising mainly ppl of a non-technical background, after which the claims began to rise again since Marketing had no knowledge of the Customising Operations which in many cases lead to claims against the Company as a whole (the Customising for the US Mkt performed by a Hormel Company, Vista International, a company set up by Visko but wholly owned by Hormel).
When my term of 4 years as Joint Research and Development Director was completed, Tor Johansson added R and D Directorship to his Business card, comprising now 3 directorships: his primary Production Directorship plus the CEO and MD's Sales and Marketing Directorship, and now mine. Then proceeded to take the bits of my job he wished to do, but off-loading many of those I had been relieved of being responsible for: with after a drop in pay and the loss of my Company Car, later therefore feeling I deserved to have some of my lost pay re-instated. Hence my asking Sjöblom for a rise.
His fuller answer answer was to relieve me of these duties, without advising the people of the Technical Department, since its then Mgr a guy I had hired in my hey day still came to my office with his problems. lol
...his display of naiivety not the sole example of how he had landed on his feet, in coming to work for Visko at the end of 1989, starting at approximately the same time as Tor Johansson. At this juncture I had been advised of their functions and that my duties as Research and Development Director were unaffected although this was to change very shortly after their arrival when Totte demonstrated he was the master of all trades when no-one else knew anything of consequence, telling lies a major weapon in his armory. The two together dealing for me the blow aptly be described as a "Double Wammy"?lol
To start with he was to become renown for hiring mainly women in a traditionally male-dominated profession that embraced the meat and associated industries. When eventually he came to be promoted to deputy MD in January 1994 he hired a lady Financial Director to fill the vacancy his promotion precipitated.
When Totte was on the point of departing for Åland to found a Plastics Casing facility, perhaps together with Uffe (Sjöblom) a successor to Totte, in a limited sense at a lower level, saw the arrival of Esa, a Meat Industry specialist, who was to become a Product Development Manager, for a time my job title, when what I loosly did at the time of someone introducing the ISO 9003 Quality Standard, when everyone had to have a job description, but only ever a title, without being responsible for the function. (Much later when I was elected President of C.I.P.C.E.L. in November 2002, my job title at Visko was that of Project Manager, again without its ever being explained in any deeper way.
During these years more changes of peoples' job descriptions with attendent comings and goings were to take place than ever before in my industrial life. A Miss Jaana Laalo was to be a major innovater on the part of Sjöblom's hiring of the fairer sex, as the Sales and Marketing Directorship, since the guy given the job proved to have no organisational skills beyond keeping the Americans sweet. Sales Manager Peter Lindqvist meanwhile continuing to provide the USA support (after a Per Åke Borganstrand left through ill health, a friend of the owner Trygve Eriksson) But her reign would be short-lived when Ulf Sjöblom left the Company to take over the Managing Directorship of Oy Forcit Ab, also based in the town, and a Mr Ernola was hired with a view of getting rid of a lot of dead wood, so the opinion of many opined at the time. This was not however before she relieved me of the duty of handling the Company's monthy claims from the US Market, I had been given 9 years earlier, when the claims were running at the rate of $250 000 pa in 1990, and I had seen them reduced to $5 000. With Ulf standing behind her she proclaimed that Claims Handling was a Marketing function, and I ceased to be involved except as a minor cog in a much bigger "Claims Handling Group" comprising mainly ppl of a non-technical background, after which the claims began to rise again since Marketing had no knowledge of the Customising Operations which in many cases lead to claims against the Company as a whole (the Customising for the US Mkt performed by a Hormel Company, Vista International, a company set up by Visko but wholly owned by Hormel).
When my term of 4 years as Joint Research and Development Director was completed, Tor Johansson added R and D Directorship to his Business card, comprising now 3 directorships: his primary Production Directorship plus the CEO and MD's Sales and Marketing Directorship, and now mine. Then proceeded to take the bits of my job he wished to do, but off-loading many of those I had been relieved of being responsible for: with after a drop in pay and the loss of my Company Car, later therefore feeling I deserved to have some of my lost pay re-instated. Hence my asking Sjöblom for a rise.
His fuller answer answer was to relieve me of these duties, without advising the people of the Technical Department, since its then Mgr a guy I had hired in my hey day still came to my office with his problems. lol
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