Lorri grew up speaking Irish Gaeilge and spent several very happy years in a small village close to Dublin. She remembers most villages, towns, and cities decorating the streets with holy symbols, lights and a large Christmas trees:
"Most, if not all, Irish families decorate their homes with lights, tinsel, and baubles. Holly and ivy were also used to decorate our home and my father always said the more berries on the holly, the better the luck in the new year.
"Our Christmas tree was usually put up on the first day of the holy advent calendar. My mhamó (grandma) always said that putting up Christmas decorations before December 8th would bring bad luck! She looked forward to Nollaig na mBean, or Women's Christmas, on January 6th - this was when, traditionally, the women got the day off and the men did the housework and cooking. The women all met in each other's homes to sew and chat. I like that idea - of all the local women getting together, but not the fact that the men didn't generally do their share of household tasks!"
On the 12 days of Christmas Mary always had lighted candles on each window, "It was a magical view to see the candles in contrast with a star-lit sky and the freezing cold of a winter evening. Symbolically the candle represented a welcome to Joseph and Mary as they wandered in search of lodgings and it indicated to strangers, and especially to the poor, that there may be an offering of food in the house within."
The centre-piece of the Christmas holiday in Ireland is the Christmas Dinner with family and friends - also ensuring those close to us, if alone, are invited. Traditionally a round cake, full of caraway seeds, is made for each person in the house.
Mary enjoys the tradition of 'Hunting the Wren' on St Stephen’s Day which is when we celebrate our music and culture while raising money for charities. Another of her favourite holiday traditions is: "Definitely writing and receiving Christmas cards - I know it’s an outdated tradition but I still love it!"
Lorri's enjoys leaving a mince pie and a bottle of Guinness out on Christmas Eve for Daidí na Nollag (Father Christmas) and seeing what presents he has left for her on the morning of the 25th!
A Christmas Day swim is still practised in certain parts of Ireland, "but only by those with grit" says Mary, with perhaps the most famous being at the 'Forty Foot' tiny beach in South Dublin. Lorri has participated in the Looney Dook on New Year's Day, but on reflection definitely prefers warm water swimming in Irish summers!
In Norway the Christmas season, Julebord, begins slowly on November 28th, the first of the four Sundays in Advent, when we light a candle. Families celebrate Little Christmas on Dec. 23, and have their own ritual for the day that may include decorating the tree, making a gingerbread house- or preparing risengrynsgrøt (hot rice pudding) for Santa. On Christmas morning, there are always stockings for the children (up to 25 years old) which are filled with sweets and hung by the fireplace - and of course we all watch Donald Duck with friends at 2 o'clock.
Benedikte says that she hates baking Christmas cakes, but loves chocolate, so together with a group of friends they meet on the second Sunday in December, usually after a late night at julebord, to make candied chocolate covered orange peel. A lot of waiting, and minimal effort, gives them time to recover from yesterday's party – we all love that!
Everyone hopes for a white Christmas, and luckily that is not so rare in Norway!
"I think the most important thing is to make sure that no one is alone over the holidays" said Benedikte, "This year we will go to our cottage in the mountains to celebrate. On 23 December we find our tree close by and decorate it indoors. The Norwegian tradition is either pork- or lamb ribs for dinner on 24 December, which is fairly heavy. We love to go skiing to have room for more Christmas food! In our family we have an old tradition of eating shellfish on 25 December– that is my favourite! Traditions are very important. Every year we meet with friends on the fourth day of Christmas to play a game of GinRummy - the Christmas version! And - there is always lobster pasta and blue Stilton with Port on the menu."
Hild says that 2021 has been a good year, "Business is recovering and in fine shape. We Norwegians tend to focus on the weather and staying at home, due to Covid restrictions, meant we all enjoyed a lovely hot summer. However, we all look forward to 2022 when we can again start travelling abroad again!"
St Nicholas Day, 6th December, is a favourite holiday with German children.
On the evening of the 5th of December, children leave one shoe outside a door before going to sleep so that Santa Claus can put some small gifts in it. They must leave only one shoe and the shoes must be polished. Next morning, (if they have been good!) 'Santa Claus' puts some nuts, oranges and chocolates together with a small gift in it. In the morning, children run to the front-door to check that Santa has been.
In Germany we visit our families, celebrate Christmas Eve with them, some of us go to church, we all eat lots of cakes and other delicious food like roast meats and fish. Before Covid restrictions, many Germans chose to travel to sunny places, or to the mountains for skiing.
2021 has been a challenging year for so many from a personal perspective, but from a business perspective it has been the best year for us all. We learned that working from home is easy, but staying truly connected with colleagues is much harder, so leadership is getting more important in our industry as well.
We all hope that we manage the Covid-pandemic through a high-rate of vaccination and look forward to when traveling, meeting friends and going out becomes become normal again.
Our main day of celebrating Christmas is the evening of the 24th that we call The Holy Evening, Szent-este.
We decorate the Christmas tree, together with the children, a few days before Christmas which we all love.
On Christmas Eve we dress up and, when everyone is ready, we play or we read Christmas stories together. We always sing songs while walking around the Christmas tree.
From this point in time, everyone’s priorities are different– I can’t wait for the supper while the children can’t wait to open their presents. Of course they win! So after opening every present, we sit around the table for the supper.
Our main Christmas meal is usually duck which might not be very traditional in Hungary as it is normally fish soup and fish.
Dessert – above all – is Bejgli. If I want to describe what bejgli is, I would say it’s a traditional pastry roll filled with poppy seeds or walnuts. But if I want you to fully understand what bejgli actually is, I have to say that it’s the essence of Christmas!
A little fun fact about our Hungarian traditional Christmas menu: according to tradition fish is believed to bring money, poppy seeds bring good luck and walnuts bring wisdom.
After dinner we spend the rest of the night playing, talking, enjoying nice wine and of course snacking on gingerbreads and bejgli.
Hungarians start the countdown four weeks before Christmas which is marked by Advent wreaths. They feature four candles, representing Faith, Hope, Joy and Love, nestled in a bed of pine branches with ribbons. A candle is lit each Sunday leading up to Christmas.
We usually start to decorate our homes at the beginning of Advent. Our decoration probably looks familiar to anyone. One special addition is common throughout most households: scattering szaloncukor around, even across the Christmas tree. Szaloncukor is a typical festive sweet which is flavoured fondant dipped in chocolate. In our country it is a true art to eat these chocolates from the tree, and then fold the packaging back in a way that no one can notice that it’s empty afterwards. I can proudly say that I have elevated this art to a masterful level.
In Hungary angels (or maybe baby Jesus) bring the gifts and the tree, not Santa. We don’t pin all the hard work on an elderly man! For us, Santa is a red-robed, bishop-looking figure who we call Saint Nicholas and he visits our homes on the 6th of December. On this evening children put their newly polished shoes or boots on their windowsill to be filled with small presents or sweets. So it is a separate, but smaller, holiday.
As I said, the main celebratory day of Christmas is the evening of the 24th. The parents only decorate the tree the night before, when children are already in bed so that the end result is a surprise for them on the Holy Evening. For religious families, Midnight Mass is an integral part of the celebration, but most people go to church after the Christmas supper.
On the 25th and 26th everyone gathers with grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and friends to celebrate to repeat the overload of food…
Other than this, Hungarians spend this holiday just like any other: eating good foods, drinking good wines and having good laughs with their loved ones.
My favourite tradition is actually not Hungarian, but one from my Danish wife. When its dessert time at the Christmas supper, we put small present in the centre of the table. We prepare a rice pudding-like dessert, Ris a l’Amande, and we hide whole blanched almonds in it. Whoever finds an almond while eating, can open a present.
My other favourite is the morning of the 25th. It is when we finally don’t have to worry about anything – like whether we closed the year well in business, whether we forgot to arrange something in the office before the break, whether we bought a gift for every family member, whether we sent greeting cards for every distant aunt and uncle, whether we’ve got everything for the Christmas menu, whether we would find a big enough tree, whether we would burn that tray of cookies that we wanted to make for our guests… All of these, all the stress and excitement is already behind us.
On that morning we don’t have to go anywhere, no phone rings, no hurry. - it is just us.
We cozy up, prepare a brunch together, have long talks about life, or maybe watch a Christmas movie. For me it is maybe the most special, most genuine, part of the Holiday.
Zoltan Petho
Chair, Hungary
In the Rhenish Tradition, Christmas is one of the loveliest times of the year
The oldest Christmas market is known all over the world and we are happy and proud to have it back again this year! For four hundred years this famous market has been working its magic in the European capital, Strasbourg.
The festivities begin on Friday 26th of November with the illumination of the majestic Great Christmas Tree, with its kilometres of fairy lights, and the opening of the emblematic Christkindelsmärkt.
It is a festivity that delights children, and of course adults, every year.
This year I noticed over 300 wooden chalets, spread around different squares in the city - it really is a fairy-tale atmosphere - and during the next month I will enjoy strolling through the streets, or just enjoying a glass of mulled wine, vin chaud and some Christmas biscuits called breddle with my family and friends.
I can't really adequately describe the warm, cosy atmosphere, with the delicate aromas of cinnamon and spices, truly sublime decorations and illuminations that come together to create this special atmosphere that takes over not only in Strasbourg but overall in Alsace!
Perhaps we should have a Friisberg Conference here one year!
Laurence Pinget
Paris, France
On Christmas Eve in Poland, many families share oplatek (an unleavened religious wafer), each person breaking off a piece as they wish each other Merry Christmas.
Similarly, at Easter we share boiled eggs that are sprinkled with holy water by the priest.
It used to be that Wigilia (Christmas Eve) dinner could not begin until the first star appeared in the night sky, but now in many in cities we can't see many stars! Traditionally, an extra setting is still left at the table - just in case someone shows up uninvited.
There is also a tradition to put a handful of hay under the tablecloth to commemorate the fact that Jesus was born in a stable.
Many people visit their families. We Poles ski a lot, so many people go skiing during the Christmas holidays in Poland, but also in the Alps.
Well, most kids (and some adults!) would say getting presents! There is a lovely tradition of organising kolędowanie (singing carols). Many families throw a big party just for singing carols all evening (if you don’t sing, you don’t get a dessert!). In Poland, people spend Christmas holidays with their family, but our kolędowanie tradition enables us to also celebrate Christmas with friends.
Our unemployment rate is the lowest in the past 30 years. The mean salary also increased in 2021. For the 2020/2021 academic year there are 1.2 million students in Poland - so it seems that, against all odds, 2021 was a good year!
That the pandemic will stop and everything will go back to normal.
I had the good fortune of attending the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade as a child and to this day still flash back to those memorable moments.
On Thanksgiving morning we still have the parade on the TV, but I have to admit, it’s more on in the background and we glance at it from time to time. It’s not as prominent as it used to be, but still present. Same is true for the football game - it's on in the background.
I think in these days, we find time is precious, so parking ourselves in front of the TV for a day doesn’t fit our lifestyle.
We have scaled back in recent years - perhaps because of COVID, but also because as our children get a little older we tend to spend time with them. It used to be a big extended family gathering, but less so in recent years.
We like to find a family in our community that is less fortunate than we are and bring them dinner for their family.
We spend the balance of the day in our kitchen - turkey is optional, but good food is a must.
Breakfast. We start with something fresh baked - it makes the house smell good and sets the tone for the day. My wife makes killer cinnamon rolls!
For example, in 1947, the tradition known as the National Thanksgiving Turkey Presentation was founded under the Truman administration. Ronald Reagan was actually the first present to formally "pardon" one of the turkeys given to him whereas Truman, Eisenhower, and several other presidents actually ate the turkeys presented to them! It wasn't until 1988, that George H.W. Bush instituted the turkey pardon as a national tradition while he was in office.
Ironically yes - it was a good year. I spent an inordinate amount of time with our kids which was great, but also a challenge. Think back about home schooling, juggling Zoom calls between two working parents, masks, InstaCart and home food delivery...it was a mess for a while, but all-in-all, it’s hard to complain. We were fortunate to have been able to stitch things together.
Health. As long as we’re all healthy, we can make anything work.
Neil Greco
Partner, Boston MA
The role of medical consultants is evolving, and many organizations focus on and develop digital methods of reaching doctors and patients. How will the role of field workers change in the coming years? Is F2F contact still important and necessary?
I joined Stada at the most difficult moment – during the pandemic. The organization was not growing and my goal was to achieve growth. We needed to appreciate that the market was changing in terms of therapeutic areas that are growing and those that aren't. Also, we needed to increase the role of pharmacies and the evolving competences of representatives and managers to determine our approach to promotion which was strongly focused on solution.
We also redefined the approach to market segmentation and who expected what. Importantly, the organization and our people had to change. When I joined the firm, I initiated a mental shift among employees towards, “I would like to develop myself and grow with our organization and proactively change to generate double digit growth.”
Stada specialises in pain management, prescription medications as well as OTCs and supplements. Due to the pandemic and changing demographic, there are more and more young doctors, and this forced us to revise our strategy. We also started to revisit our specialists. We were so determined and motivated that the business started to grow. Even now, after the pandemic, the team wants to be in the field where possible. Also, the beginning of this year marked a launch of the program aimed at re-establishing relations with our clients – we started to organise F2F meetings with them.
Following the acquisition of Wallmark, Stada now reaches the consumer through Amazon, online pharmacies, e-commerce, conferences, webinars and in the mass market through advertising and direct communication with the patient.
Coming back to the topic, we shouldn’t generalize and say that the world is only digital now and you do not have to visit doctors F2F - in my opinion the middle ground is the best solution. The key to this is the product that is sold and the segmentation of doctors into those who want visits and those who do not. A lot depends on the therapeutic area and the age of the patients. In the specialist field, without f2f meetings, we will not be as recognisable as we would like.
Both pharmacy and chain markets grow and the role of the chain sector increases. Certainly, professionals connect digitally, but representatives still visit their partners. It's a myth that there are no direct visits.
Do the communication expectations shift along with the generational change in the medical community? What trends do you currently notice and which are you happy about?
The generational change is very beneficial for the community. It encourages young doctors to learn, to develop. They are focused on cooperation, through applications and webinars. They are patient- and new technology-oriented much more than the older doctors, who mostly see value in direct visits. Young people are “in the same team” as pharmaceutical company. They are a generation that wants to learn medicine - they are not only guided by routine.
To meet this need, we have built the Stada med portal. Through webinars we share knowledge about new aspects of pain treatment. Stada.med creates a space where doctors discuss patients and their needs. Young doctors are eager to learn how to help the patient and go off the beaten track.
My observation is that this is also happening in the pharmacists' community where they are closer to the patient. Mass market, on the other hand, is guided by acting on the emotions of the consumer through advertising, based on certain atavisms of people and their reflexes.
How will the patient benefit from digital communication?
The patient has already gained and will gain even more. We have two groups of patients:
How can advisory partners such as Friisberg help and what, in your opinion, should be their role in supporting the digital transformation?
I can see two areas here. The first one is the marketing, market research, patient / consumer research. How do patients feel about the digital age? Is it a good direction, is it helping or bothering them? What is good, what is irritating? Those partners can substantively contribute to this discussion.
The second is, of course, recruitment. During the process to focus on the analysis of the "digital" generation of candidates - the world is changing. We have a variety of people in the organization and we try to choose those who are open to new technologies and are eager to learn. If we want to keep up with trends and work in a pharmaceutical company, we have to learn all the time. The second thing is reliable feedback and making the candidates aware of their shortcomings in order to help them develop. Even though it is often difficult information, it is worth building candidate experience in this way.
Lukasz Dominiak
Poland
And are female managers committed supporters of women?
In my conversations with female managers, I like to ask the women whether they have actually received support over the course of their careers. Many confirm this by saying that it couldn't be any other way: you need a manager who recognises your potential and pushes you forward, or delegates new tasks and ultimately promotes. And in every new team and / or department it is important to make contacts again and ideally find sponsors. In the best case, it is possible to establish a good relationship with board members and managing directors, who are also successfully following their path and promoting and developing potential. Leadership programs for young talents also help to gain visibility, but such programs are not available everywhere.
Very few women say they made it without a sponsor. They also recognise that further development, with support, would have meant fewer detours and would have been faster. In most cases the sponsors are male. This may be due to the fact that there are fewer women than men in management.
But the question also arises, to what extent do women actually support other women?
In the interviews I have experienced two “extremes”:
On the one hand, there are women for whom, the quota is (unfortunately) a necessary intervention by the legislature in order to correct past mistakes. It is very important to them to support other talented women and to be available to them as mentors - even keeping lists of potential female executives to promote.
Then there are women who do not even want to be associated with the “gender issue”. They neither want to be a quota woman, nor do they want to attract attention through the special promotion of female executives. They are of the opinion that only experience and knowledge should be deciding factors regarding promotion.
Does that coincide with your observations?
How do “quota women” feel in companies? Do we see legislative intervention as an opportunity for all women to bring change in the male-dominated boardrooms?
Meltem Ay, Principal
Frankfurt
Schneider Electric is leading the Digital Transformation of Energy Management and Automation in Homes, Buildings, Data Centres, Infrastructure, and Industries. With global presence in over 100 countries, Schneider is the undisputable leader in Power Management – Medium Voltage, Low Voltage and Secure Power, and in Automation Systems.
How did you adapt to Covid pandemic and what challenges did you face during this year?
A year ago, when the pandemic started, we were lucky that we needed only one meeting to decide that we would work from home. However, over the past 12 months, we faced challenges we never thought we would. By far the strangest feeling for an HR professional is being away from colleagues at work, but since we all agreed that the work from home solution was the best, we all started to get used to seeing each other via our online meeting platforms.
The toughest challenges we have had to face so far are probably recruiting and onboarding due to the limitations we now have in demonstrating the Schneider Electric Romania organizational culture to the new recruits. We have a vibrant organization of dedicated professionals, and meeting with them and understanding the feeling of camaraderie we all share is especially important for any new employee. Of course we tried to replicate most of that online and we made sure new employees have access to as many relevant colleagues as possible.
We are now allowing some of the people to return to the office under strict conditions, and we can see they missed each other. On a positive note, online communication has been more intense than ever. Many managers now have a chance to reach out to their entire teams even more frequently than in the past. It is easy to set up a quick online meeting, involving many employees - and this is much easier than in real life! So managers have taken the opportunity to talk to their people directly about how the pandemic has affected both their professional and private life.
What are the projects you implemented during this time?
Schneider launched a big global project last year in April, 'Open Talent Market'. There were many discussions at HR level at the time about whether we should launch it, being in the middle of a pandemic and worrying people would not have time necessary to dedicate to this type of program. However, there were many employees who said they wanted to join the platform as soon as it was launched.
Open Talent Market is a platform that allows all employees to enter and connect with mentors from across the Schneider world, if they want to develop their skills. They can connect or apply to local or global projects, but also apply for full-time roles. At South East Europe level, the area for which I am responsible, Romania is leading with an adoption of 78% in less than a year, according to last reports.
'Career Week' is another project that was recently launched in June. In this learning week we offered content, both locally and globally, on five main directions: technical career, functional career, cross-country career, a career that involves interaction with clients and a career in
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