Chief Marketing Officer and Head of Corporate Relations at Ericsson Europe and Latin America
Johan von Heijne is Communications Manager, Northern & Central Europe at Ericsson. He joined the company in 2022 having previously worked at Weber Shandwick. Johan is based in Sweden. “Family life is full-on: I have twin sons aged five and a two year old daughter. Making it work is all about being open: I will tell a colleague ‘my son is here’ if I’m on a call and a child is around. I’ll admit that working full-time with three kids is always a challenge. So you have to think in advance and acknowledge that things will always change. You need to be super-organised and very adaptive to deal with the juggle. On a Sunday you can look ahead and plan the week but then on Monday one of the kids gets a high fever and it alters everything. So you sit down with your partner and adapt. Which meetings are most important or what commitments can you drop? Perhaps my mother will help for an hour or so. It’s like a puzzle. It works out but sometimes it’s hard. We both work full-time and have help from our parents. I realise that’s a privilege. It also helps being in Sweden which is a very progressive and supportive country for parents with generous parental leave and measures in place. Ericsson’s a supportive environment. If I have a sick child at home, colleagues or bosses just say I hope they feel better soon. But you still have to do the work. I feel the pressure! It’s a hard equation to pull off. Having kids makes you extra efficient because you have to focus on getting things done. There’s no choice. I put an out-of-office message on when a child is poorly and needs my attention, although I still find time here and there to work. I think it’s good practice. You’re being honest, telling it like it is. And it gives you space to take care of your child and an understanding that you might not be available all day. Recently I had an occasion where I did a Teams meeting with a child on my lap. He was sick and needed comforting. But it was an important meeting I didn’t want to miss. When leaders are open - and vulnerable - about their family situation it gives us all a great example for how to be at work. Recently I supported our CU head Nora on a keynote she delivered at a Women in Tech conference. She told a story about a business trip where she worried about her daughter at home. I already knew Nora was an open leader, but hearing her story reminded me of the importance of role models. A leader standing up in front of 2,000 people talking about the realities of being a working parent - that’s powerful. Of course parenting changes everything. It takes a while to accept you only have so many hours in the day. It probably took me 12 months to accept that. You need to be grounded. But I love being a Dad and am super proud of it!” #ParentsAtEricsson
Rebecca Little
3mo
Johan love hearing your experience and perspective, you are a great role model, it’s so refreshing. So happy to have you in our team. I love seeing your beautiful children regularly :) and my daughter enjoys speaking to you too
Thanks Sally Croft for fostering this. What a great way to fuel stronger connections. Johan von Heijne very well said and thanks for sharing it so honestly .Parenting is indeed very challenging and a journey to the unknown that requires so much but empowers with strenghts we never knew we could build.
Andres Burgoa
3mo
Taciana Souza
3mo
Loved this Campaing 🌹
It’s so wonderful and reassuring hearing from other colleagues speaking so openly about their experienceses of parenting and working full time. This is such an amazing initiative Sally Croft and it reinforces what a great environment we have in Ericsson where we can thrive in both our professional and personal lives. Thank you for sharing Johan von Heijne.
Marketing | Communications | ⚡️ Working Mum Warriors ⚡️ creator
3moSo good to hear your perspective Johan von Heijne , its extremely comforting to hear the challenges you face as a dad are exactly the same as mine as a mum. I feel as though we don't hear a dads point of view all that often, so I am hoping this will give others comfort in knowing its okay to show your colleagues that you are a dad and when your child is sick its okay to comfort them, I rarely see this.