Skip to main content
  • About us
  • News
Lerøy Seafood
  • Norwegian
  • Tasty Seafood
    • Recipes
    • Inspiration
    • Environment and society
    • Key brands
    • Health
    • Product catalogue
    • More
      • Product range
      • Videos
  • Investor
    • Financial calendar
    • Reports and webcast
    • Green Bonds & Rating
    • Corporate governance
    • Stock
    • Stock exchange notices
    • More
      • Capital Markets Day
      • IR contact
  • Sustainability
    • Sustainability library 2021
    • Ocean Forest
    • Focus areas
    • Food Safety
    • Ripple effects
    • ASC Certification
    • More
      • Lerøy Ocean Harvest
      • Our certifications
      • Preline
  • About us
    • About Lerøy
    • News
    • Our history
    • Value Chain
    • Exhibition centres
    • Board of directors
    • More
      • Group management
      • Code of Conduct
      • Privacy Policy
  • Career
    • Graduates and students
    • Vacant positions
    • Open application
    • Areas of expertise
    • People
  • Key brands
    • Norway Seafoods
    • Arctic Supreme
    • Fjord trout
    • Aurora Salmon
    • Fossen
    • Sea Eagle
    • More
      • Lerøy
      • mǽr
  • Contact
    • Our offices
    • Supplier
    • Public Relations
    • The Norwegian Transparency Act
    • External whistleblowing
  • Country
    • Lerøy Finland
    • Lerøy Sweden
    • Lerøy Processing Spain
    • Lerøy France
    • Lerøy Seafood Netherlands
    • Lerøy Turkey
  • Tasty Seafood
  • Career
  • Investor
  • Sustainability
  • About us
    • Global | English
        • Languages
        • Norwegian
        • Countries
        • Lerøy Finland
        • Lerøy Sweden
        • Lerøy Processing Spain
        • Lerøy France
        • Lerøy Seafood Netherlands
        • Lerøy Turkey
    • Contact
    • Search
      Type your search in the field above

    Diversity Business of the Year

    Diversity Business of the Year

    Photo: Filip Agnihotri/Fieldwork

    Lerøy Norway Seafoods in Melbu is one of the best employees in Norway in terms of integration! Now the factory has been voted Diversity Business of the Year 2021.

    Earlier this year it won the diversity prize for the county of Nordland, but now it has also been named Diversity Business of the Year. The prize was awarded at the Directorate of Integration and Diversity’s annual conference on 19 November.

    Staff at the Melbu factory were not expecting to win any of these prizes, but they see it as confirmation that they are getting a lot of things right with integration, both consciously and subconsciously.

    Jørn-Åge Stilkholmen
    “What I think is special here is that everyone gets the same opportunities”, says Factory Manager Jørn-Åge Stikholmen.

    Of around 120 employees who work at the factory, almost 70 percent have an immigrant background. Apart from Norway, they come from countries like Thailand, Somalia, Lithuania, Russia, Spain, Finland, Myanmar, Bosnia, Poland, Turkey, Sri-Lanka, Eritrea, Syria, Peru, Iran, Italy, Sweden, Colombia, Montenegro and Albania.

    “Lerøy Norway Seafoods Melbu demonstrates that diversity is a great strength. I am really impressed with, and proud of, their focus and the results they’ve achieved. They deserve this prize. Congratulations!” says Henning Beltestad, CEO of the Lerøy Seafood Group.

    Leading the way

    Most of the team leaders at the factory are not from Norway, and the managers want to make sure that all employees are given equal opportunities, including to take trade certificates.

    “If we invest in getting people to stay and encourage them to do vocational training that makes them better at their jobs, then we can improve”, says Jørn-Åge.

    In the spring, 15 workers will take a trade certificate and almost half of them have already begun a special Norwegian course. The factory’s management team has organised the extra lessons with a private teacher, to make sure that the employees know enough Norwegian to complete their vocational training.

    Lerøy Norway Seafoods Melbu employees
    Photo: Try Råd AS

    “You don’t get an opportunity like this in many other places. Not many companies offer and arrange special language lessons to help staff get a trade certificate. It’s probably the thing we do that I’m most proud of – that we give everyone that opportunity,” says Jørn-Åge.

    The factory also organises normal Norwegian classes, and when the results of the employee satisfaction survey were published, they were translated so that everyone could read them in their preferred language.

    Genuinely interested

    Production Manager Mariann Hartvigsen, who has worked at the factory for 30 years, thinks the factory manager deserves credit for his attitude towards the staff.

    “He is genuinely interested in every single person who works here. He is often down in the production hall talking to people; he cares about and notices the workers. I think that’s a really important ingredient in our success”, says Mariann.

    Getting to know the employees was something that Jørn-Åge consciously decided to do when he got the job. He didn’t just want to learn their names, he wanted to find out who they were, where they lived and what their backgrounds were.

    Lerøy Norway Seafoods Melbu
    Photo: Try Råd AS

    He believes in the importance of managers knowing their employees, which is something that comes naturally to the whole management team at the Melbu factory. However, he doesn’t hide the fact that it can sometimes be challenging, because there are lots of employees, and you don’t meet all of them every day.

    “I think that if we ever start referring to people as ‘that lot’ or ‘the guy over there who …’ without using their names, we will have dropped a level”, he says.

    Asylum centre in the village centre

    In Melbu, there’s an asylum centre in the village centre. Jørn-Åge and Mariann believe that few places are as good as Melbu at integrating people.

    “We need every person who lives here and we need everyone on board”, says Mariann.

    Lerøy Norway Seafoods Melbu
    Photo: Try Råd AS

    “In Melbu we think it’s very important to take care of the people who come here”, adds Jørn-Åge.

    The factory in Melbu is practically the lifeblood of the community. Its great importance to the local area means that the management feel a special responsibility for integration, and they have shown that they are very good at it.

    On behalf of the whole of Lerøy, we wish to congratulate the Melbu factory for this well-deserved prize!

    Relevant articles
    Factory in Melbu
    Awarded integration prize
    Page Preview Image
    Effective and sustainable value chain for salmon
    Coastal landscape
    Reducing food waste to make the seafood industry more sustainable
    • Contact
      • Thormøhlens gate 51 B
      • 5006 Bergen, Norway
      • Telephone: +47 55 21 36 50
      • Email: post@leroyseafood.com
      • Org. no. 975 350 940
    • About us
      • About Lerøy
      • Our History
      • Career
      • Contact
      • Group management
    • Tasty seafood
      • Recipes
      • Product range
      • Inspiration
      • Product catalogue
      • Environment and society
    • Sustainability
      • Focus areas
      • Food Safety
      • Ripple effects
      • ASC Certification
      • Innovation
    • Investor
      • Annual reports
      • Sustainability reports
      • Webcast
      • Stock
      • Financial calendar
    • Follow us
      • LinkedIn
      • Instagram
      • Twitter
      • YouTube
    2017 Lerøy. All Rights Reserved.
    Privacy Policy