Leader with dad humor receives the Skulderklap prize

"You just have to wait a moment, I have to recover."

Stinna Gjedsted Jensen was very surprised and really touched when her team revealed at a morning meeting in November that she had been chosen as the recipient of one of this year's six Skulderklap ('pat on the back') prizes.

Finansforbundet in Nordea annually awards a Skulderklap prize to members who have done something special for their colleagues, and it is seldom leaders are to be elected. But Stinna Gjedsted Jensen, manager of the Savings team, is also something special, as you can tell from the very warm nomination the team submitted.

She had no idea what was on the agenda when her leader from Commercial Hub, which Savings' team is part of, called for a joint breakfast.

"I thought it was a super good idea to have breakfast together, I just felt a little guilty about not having asked if there was anything I could help with."

In connection with breakfast, one of Stinna Gjedsted Jensen's colleagues stood up and asked everyone to close their eyes.

“It was a bit strange, I thought. It was only when we had to open our eyes again and my whole team was standing at the end of the table that I understood that it was probably something about me …”

When the warm and appreciative nomination was read out loud, she was not only very moved but also really proud.

"The team are simply so nice, it touched me a lot; I had tears in my eyes. They took turns saying words they thought characterized me. It was very, very nice.”

Willing to make an effort

Among the words of praise were, that Stinna Gjedsted Jensen has empathy, is care taking and a driving force that rubs off on the team and gives them the desire to make an effort.
'It makes us loving our work and being proud of it', the nomination reads, which also rhetorically asks: 'Can you even nominate a manager for a Skulderklap prize? Of course! Especially when it's our leader!'

In the nomination, the role as team leader is described as large and demanding, not least because the team must be managed equally and yet differently for each individual. And the Skulderklap prize recipient can do that, say her employees, who also greatly appreciate her desire and willingness to seize opportunities to celebrate events in everyday life. It can be anything from celebrating successful implementations, a year's anniversary in the team, promotions and much more.

"A good atmosphere at the workplace means a lot to me. Having breakfast together with the team to mark something, give a small speech and put streamers on the table – maybe surprise someone with a little celebration. The fact that people feel good and feel recognized means a lot," says Stinna Gjedsted Jensen, who recently celebrated her 25th anniversary at Nordea.

Leader for the second time

She has been the team leader of the team based at Metro for three years, and this is not her first position as a leader. 15 years ago she was branch manager with two employees in the then branch in Skævinge in North Zealand - where she still lives with her two grown children. The youngest will soon be a student, the oldest is about to move away from home.

Apart from the children, all the family lives in Jutland, where Stinna Gjedsted Jensen is originally from. Therefore, she needed to work from Jutland for a few weeks and only participate in the most necessary meetings in order to be close to the family, when in 2023 her mother went through an illness before her death:

"The team stood together and worked as a team on the tasks that had to be solved, so that I could concentrate on being present on the private front as well. For me, it demonstrates so nicely the fantastic collaboration and togetherness with the team.”

After her years as a branch manager, she specialized in investment and pensions and was for many years teaching across the bank. She has also worked in Private Banking, before she moved on to work with business development on several occasions.

"It is not important for me to mark that I am the leader - I like dialogue and sparring on an equal footing. But it is also important for me to set direction and give responsibility to the employees on their tasks. I like the social aspect with the employees, but I am of course aware that I am their manager.”

A manager with father humour, by the way. The employees wrote in their nomination:

'So we also have to talk about Stinna's humour. She always has a dad joke ready, either in her head or in a book on her desk. And it is often Stinna herself who laughs the loudest of them. With Stinna, you can be completely yourself, because she shows that in the most elegant way'.