We joined the Annual General Meeting without being there

At this year’s Annual General Meeting at Finansforbundet in Nordea two out of three participants joined locally.

In a geographical area from Aalborg in the north, Sønderborg in the south, Lemvig in the west and Helsingør in the east, participants joined 31 local events.

The option of joining locally was thus a huge success, which is also one of the reasons why a record-high number of participants had registered this year and nearly twice as many as last year – around 900 persons.

Remember to register

One of the 42 committed event planners was Dorte Ramshøj Toft, adviser and union representative in Silkeborg.

She had made an effort to remind her colleagues to register for the local event, and
that paid off – Silkeborg was the area with most people joining locally.

”We were 24 people gathered here from all three areas of the branch office. It was a good opportunity to have a social get-together and at the same time get greater insight into the professional context that Finansforbundet in Nordea is working on. My impression was that everyone got something out of it and many commended the initiative.”

They served Mexican pancakes with fillings of one’s own choice and various beverages, which were enjoyed while watching the events in Copenhagen.

Especially the collective agreement, the local pool for events and the contested election got attention and a few comments locally.

”Some of the participants didn’t know the nominees, which is fair enough, so they voted according to what they heard on the night and for those who said something that was relevant to them.”
The union representative does not believe that any of the participants in the local event would have travelled to Copenhagen to join:

”It’s too far away from mid-Jutland. But they thought it was a great way to participate”, says Dorte Ramshøj Toft, who is ready to arrange a local event again next year.

Extremely important

In Aalborg, personal adviser Niels Møller Jensen had participated in the planning of the evening, which attracted 18 participants for tapas that were ordered from a restaurant.

”Our union representative reminded everybody that it’s extremely important to join. We have a young team here and for many of them it was probably the first time they attended an Annual General Meeting.”

While some places had difficulties getting the sound loud enough to be heard over the noise of the dining participants, Aalborg had placed a loudspeaker in the middle of the room to make sure that everybody could hear what was being said.

”There was a serious approach to the Annual General Meeting. As President Dorrit Brandt said, it’s not only fun and games when you hold a contested election. The candidates had been considered carefully beforehand.”

Fighting for us

Niels Møller Jensen says that during the Annual General Meeting some of the participants were surprised over the extent that Finansforbundet in Nordea is fighting their case:

“I could see that it was something that made an impression.”

Beer tasting also worked well in Aalborg:

”A few of our participants here are beer enthusiasts. They thought it was a fun gimmick that helped to create a good atmosphere.”

The plan was originally that a group would go to Copenhagen, but it turned out to be difficult for many of them to get everything to fall into place.

“Some of the colleagues in our business unit participated in person and maybe the rest of us will manage to go next year. Otherwise, we’re definitely doing it this way again,” says Niels Møller Jensen.

We were part of the Annual General Meeting

In Aarhus Pia Stentoft Svendgaard, Senior AML & Sanctions Processing Specialist, had gathered nine colleagues for a three course dinner in a meeting room.

“I think the Annual General Meeting was held in a really good way. It was a very positive experience, really good in fact,” she says and continues:

“The meeting was well structured and didn’t drag out, and it took place in a way that made us feel included. There was constant focus on the fact that some of us had joined locally and others were at home by themselves – we were part of the Annual General Meeting even though we attended from different locations”.

It supported the feeling of being an active participant that you could take pictures of the local events and then upload them so all participants could see them straight away.

She also noted that the members of the board were mindful of speaking in an open way that sparked interest.

“I also think that the members of the board showed appreciation that so many were spending their time on the Annual General Meeting. That made a good impression”.

That was also the case for the DKK 250 allocated per participant for food and beverages at the local events.

“We felt a bit pampered. It left a very good impression with the participants.”