Welcome to our Who’s Who series, where we introduce you to the wonderful people who work at Puzzel and explore their roles, achievements and impact. From chess players to trained chefs, globetrotters and code geeks, our diverse team is full of talent and expertise worth sharing. 

“I love having the opportunity to influence, and I am motivated by creating good solutions together with the employees.” 

With a great passion for food, art and IT: Say hello to Elin, Puzzel’s Chief People Officer. Elin grew up in the northern part of Sweden but has lived at St. Hanshaugen in Oslo for the past two years. She joined Puzzel in April but is already a well-established Puzzeler with a burning commitment to HR and Tech. 

Q. What does your role at Puzzel entail?

I am Puzzel’s Chief People Officer and am responsible for HR at Puzzel. As the role implies, I work for the people at Puzzel to find solutions and strategies that contribute to creating employee engagement and personal development. 

In the HR team, we have local HR managers where their responsibility is to take care of the team, lead and distribute work tasks, and ensure that we work according to our set goals and KPIs. 

Q. Why did you choose a career in HR and IT?

I’ve always known that I wanted to work in HR, but it wasn’t a given for me to work within the IT industry. In my first job, I worked as a headhunter for a recruitment firm specialising in IT recruiting. Through this position, I learned a lot about IT and realised that I find IT and new innovations super interesting! Therefore, it’s a win-win for me that I can now combine both of my interests – by working in HR for a tech company. In other words, it wasn’t intentional that I ended up in the tech industry, but now I love it!

Q. What is the best part of being a Chief People Officer? 

The best thing about my role is that I get the opportunity to influence and assist the employees with solutions that ensure development and well-being. HR is not just a support function, and a company is nothing without its employees. The employees make up the business, and they must be seen as an important business value. If the employees do not get involved and develop, it will affect job satisfaction and results. This goes hand in hand. I love having the opportunity to influence this, and I am motivated by creating good solutions together with the employees! 

Q. How do you maintain a good work-life balance?

It’s not always easy, of course, but what I like about Puzzel is that we have a very flexible approach to our workload. I think it’s important to have a healthy balance, and even if I work a few extra hours a day, that doesn’t mean that those around me have to feel pressured to do the same. 

In HR, we have included an important message in our email signatures that reflects this: “We’re proud of our flexible working environment at Puzzel. If you get this message outside of working hours, don’t feel like you need to respond”. This is to avoid creating pressure where the recipient feels they have to respond outside working hours. It is important to send healthy signals. 

Q. What are your hobbies outside of work?

I am very interested in food! I think I’ve been to most restaurants in Oslo, and I love trying new food. In addition, I am very fond of art. It is one of my biggest interests. I think I’ve actually been to most of the museums in Oslo too. I can really recommend the new exhibition at Astrup Fearnley! 

Q. How would you describe the culture at Puzzel?

The people here are very warm and engaged! Among other things, I have noticed how much commitment there is in the meetings on Teams. In the past, I have experienced that people often sit without a camera, but in Puzzel, the employees have a whole new level of commitment! Here, the employees are good at commenting and being on camera, and it feels like people are genuinely engaged and that they care. In addition, I feel that there are many who have worked here for many years and that they have not stayed here just to stay but because they are really committed to the job and the company. 

Q. What inspires you?

In addition to finding a lot of inspiration in art, I am very inspired by the people around me. It inspires me when people are engaged in what they do and when they have visions and new ideas. It’s cool to work with people who are genuinely interested in what they do. 

Q. Finally: Can you name three fun facts? 

Absolutely! I used to play in a punk band. Currently, I’m trying to learn Vietnamese, and I can sabre champagne!