Just Imagine with Anna Liu Kjeldsen 💭
Just imagine working somewhere that empowers you to take the lead - whatever you do. Then imagine that same business goes out of its way to welcome and embrace everyone with open arms. These are the consistent themes that run through Anna Liu Kjeldsen’s story.
“Everyone that works here is encouraged to be a leader. Whether that’s in an area where they have expertise or have a particular interest. Last year, I volunteered to co-chair the Asian Employee Advocacy Group. My co-chair is based in Mumbai, India and I am based in Billund, Denmark. Together, we have organised several successful events. We introduced and celebrated the Lunar New Year with other LEGO® colleagues earlier this year; and in September, we organised an Asian Leadership session focusing on the differences of Asian and Western leadership styles. This attracted more than 80 colleagues to take part in the discussion panel.
“There is a big focus on our Leadership Culture. Being brave, curious and focused are the essence of being a great leader and a productive colleague at the LEGO Group. These are things I try to bring out in all aspects of what I do here. My day-to-day role in particular. It’s a useful way to stay connected to our purpose and support one another as colleagues.
“I can still clearly remember that I was contacted on LinkedIn by a LEGO colleague before I even onboarded. She sent me her warm regards and kindly explained that she would be my Brickmate - the person who would be giving me guidance during my first couple of months. This kind of attention to detail and obvious care for a new joiner can make all the difference. 2 years later, I continue to feel the same warmth and support from all my colleagues.
“My first role here was as a Senior Sourcing Specialist working in the Distribution team. It was a big decision to uproot my family from Copenhagen and move to a small suburb of Vejle. But it’s one I’ve not regretted for a minute and we are all very happy with how things have turned out. Not least myself, as I’ve recently taken on a new challenge as a Category Manager within the Procurement Transformation team.
“As a member of the Procurement Centre of Excellence, I support the procurement teams with some critical supplier-related activities. A large part of my role is to assess and manage supplier risks. Before a supplier can work with the LEGO Group, we need to ensure the supplier meets the standards required to protect our products, brand, people and customers. This is hugely important to us - especially in areas like data privacy and environmental impact.
“I’m already proud of the part I’ve played in helping to set up this Centre of Excellence team. Within the space of four months, together, we’ve established a team, as well as designed and implemented a new system alongside a new process for the LEGO Group. This has been very successful. We’ve delivered over 100 new supplier on-boardings in a short period of time, each of them benchmarked to a top-class level.
“One major focus in Procurement is Sustainability. Our colleagues are working hard to find better materials to support LEGO product manufacturing; we work very closely with external business partners to reduce CO2 emissions and use renewable energies. This will be extremely important for the builders of tomorrow as they will want to know that we are doing everything we can to be as sustainable as possible.
“The quality of materials and services we purchase is high up on our list in our procurement success criteria. We want to find business partners who can supply these cost effectively but without compromising on quality. ‘Only the best is good enough’ is our spirit. We also believe that anything is possible - which is part of the reason we keep improving our ways of working and the procurement process as a whole.
“When implementing process changes, not all stakeholders are happy to embark on the change journey. It can be quite challenging to persuade colleagues to accept and collaborate with us in the beginning of the change process. That said, it’s also very rewarding when we deliver solutions that improve the output for them and the business as a whole.”
Just imagine building your dream career.
Now make it real.
Join the LEGO® team today.