National Food Administration

“All consumers feel well”.

 

Inger Andersson was appointed Director General at the National Food Administration (NFA) by the Swedish government. Her background is in leadership positions at Arla Foods and V&S (the largest wholesaler of alcoholic beverages in Sweden, a former monopoly).

 

The NFA is chartered by the Swedish Parliament and government. Its responsibility is to see that the food in Sweden is safe, fair practices occur in the food trade and to support good eating habits of people in Sweden.

 

“My leadership is simple,” Inger Andersson said at Scandinavian Leadership meeting in Stockholm. “I trust people, and I allow freedom, BUT, I expect people to deliver, and I expect people to keep me informed.”

 

“So what we have done in the NFA, is to create awareness within our organization that we compete for the attention of the consumer. We also have to show that we actually influence the common legislation within EU. And we have to learn how to cope with media.”

 

Media is something that Inger Andersson comes back to several times and this is an area where NFA sees that they have to work hard. Almost every day you see a new diet in the newspaper, or you read alarming news about the Avian Flu, or that there is benzene in soft drinks, etc. Media is one of the important areas where NFA has to be seen and push their message to be heard.

 

The situation in NFA in 2004 when Inger Andersson entered as Director General was that there was very little inter-departmental cooperation. There was no integrated working plan for the whole agency and many people focused exclusively on their area of interest.

 

In NFA there are 540 people working, 340 of them are in Uppsala. Out of these people, 82% have a degree and 18% have a PhD. It can be hard working with specialists, but they were longing for structure.

 

On Inger Andersson’s initiative Lots® was selected as the tool to develop the organization. After 1½ year with Lots® the present situation is that there is a strategic vertical plan. There also are project plans on horizontal levels through out the organization. “Now we are able to start long term activities. and create more value for the consumer The NFA has, with the help of the Scandinavian Leadership, trained internal coaches that help and run the ongoing processes and support the development of the organization.

 

“I have seen that Lots® is a very useful tool in a governmental institution. I hope that the three other authorities in our area (Swedish board of agriculture, the National Veterinary institute, The Swedish animal welfare) also will start working with Lots®. It is very important to develop a common language.” Inger Andersson said in the conclusion of her presentation.