From packing girl to staff coordinator

Mette Bjerrum is new staff coordinator at our logistics centre in Jyderup in north-west Zealand. It’s a job she loves, even though she was initially a bit taken aback when Kenneth Jensen, her warehouse manager, asked whether this wasn’t a perfect position for her.

“I thought he was pulling my leg. He’s always cracking jokes,” says Mette, who has been working at the packing centre in Jyderup for almost 14 years.

“I’ve also been an occupational health and safety representative – something which I’ve found very interesting. That’s also why I subsequently thought that it might actually be a good thing for me to accept the job of staff coordinator.”

A new working life

So Mette said yes, and has officially switched roles on 1 March.

“At the moment, I’m settling into the job, and I’m still busy learning the ropes and finding out how everything is done. On top of which there has been the whole corona crisis. That has rather dominated the agenda,” says Mette, who has also had to get used to a slightly different working life.

“When I worked in the packing department, I would arrive in the morning, get changed, and then basically get started. My daily working life and my tasks did not change much, and everything was very measurable. Now, I’m not being productive in the same way, and I spend a lot of my time answering emails and talking to people. It’s taken me slightly by surprise how much time I spend talking, but I actually really like that aspect of the job, as I’m dealing closely with people, and trying to find solutions to the challenges they face.”

Mette is generally very happy with her new job. She has, however, been a little anxious about the transition she has made from being one of the ‘packing girls’ to having a managerial role.

“What’s concerned me most is probably how the others would take it. But it’s gone really well, which I’m very pleased about,” says Mette, who has a clear goal for the next couple of months:

“I need to establish a position for myself and build up new knowledge to ensure that I can help the employees and act as a sounding board for them when they visit my office. That’s definitely my ambition.”