Johanna Lötjönen: Etteplan is the perfect place to grow

Johanna Lötjönen has worked at Etteplan for almost 6 years now and her journey has been pretty incredible. Starting out as a junior technical writer within product information. She has worked with various customers at their premises, as well as in-house. Not only has she been involved in different projects and aspects of Technical Documentation, she has also become a mother of two, and faced the difficulties of balancing work with her private life. However, because of Etteplan’s culture and view on putting the people first, this hasn’t been an issue. Johanna explains how Etteplan truly has been the perfect place for Johanna to grow professionally as well as personally.  

Johanna enjoyed being a Technical Writer, especially when it involved helping the users and their needs. “What do you need?” was always the first question in the back of her mind and this thought developed into a greater interest in people and their needs. Maybe that’s the reason why Johanna found her new path in January 2018. 

”It was in January 2018 that I first experienced the feeling of someone who really believed in me. I was having lunch with my manager at the time, who used to take his coworkers out for lunch one-on-one a few times every year and I loved these lunches because they were an opportunity for me to talk about my development at work. The day before my lunch with the manager, we had been informed that he was leaving his position during the upcoming spring and that they were looking for a new department manager for our department. Even though the thought had crossed my mind to apply for the role, I realized that it wasn’t suitable for me at the time. I had been working as a Technical Writer for three years, I was just about to become 24 years old and I was pregnant with my second child. The topic of leadership lit a little fire inside of me and we ended up talking quite a lot about the role during our lunch together. It was when we had coffee afterwards that I finally had the courage to ask: ‘If I wanted to be a manager, let’s say in ten years, what do you think I should start with now? To prepare’. I don’t really know what kind of answer I expected. Maybe something about the importance of experience or something about the amount of competence that I needed in order to advance. I definitely did not expect the answer I was given. ‘Why do you say ten years? You can become a manager in three years’.”  

In January 2021 Johanna became Team Manager at Asset Information Management Regional. She did it in three years, just like her manager had told her. The fact that Johanna’s manager believed in her and encouraged her to learn and develop, really set the tone for those three years. Today, Johanna has a team of 13 people located all over mid-Sweden.

“If this is where 6 years at Etteplan has taken me, I’m excited to see what the next 6 years are going to bring.” 

They all work as one team for one customer, managing all the documentation connected to the customer’s assets. The work is challenging in many ways, and Johanna is responsible for maintaining the customer as well as making sure that her own coworkers have everything that they need in order for them to do at great job. The question “What do you need?” is still in the back of Johanna’s mind every day when she communicates with her customer as well as her coworkers.  

Johanna is proud to work at Etteplan because of the opportunities that she’s been given to grow. Now, as a manager, she wants to give others the same opportunity to grow as well. As for her own journey, who knows where her path will lead her?