So how can a company show extra care and concern for the individual?

Today it is all about connections and relationships with local Swedes outside the workplace.

Every company, institution, business region or country that wants to compete for the best talent is sharpening its offers and reviewing the terms it can offer. It is common both with various forms of relocation packages as well as onboarding processes.

Research shows that an often-overlooked part of the adjustment process to a new country and culture is about a third factor, which caters to their wish for integration, well-being and belonging. The company that today puts extra effort into helping employees who are new to Sweden to build relationships with local Swedes is investing wisely and can count both on a return in growing productivity and loyalty.

Our market research shows that many of those who move here for a career and a good life, as well as their families, yearn for and struggle to land in the Swedish culture and society. They want to make friends among Swedes. Friends that stay. But the Swedish way of making contacts and socializing is a difficult and stressful challenge for most people. Many give up and find their community among other flexible expats. This is not wrong, of course, but it’s also not the best thing that could happen.

Many are also unaccustomed to the Swedish winter and the cold, dark season.

Making new, Swedish friends has proven to turn a gloomy situation into hope and confidence.

Of course, this affects the extent to which you succeed at your new job in Sweden and how long you want to stay.

The employer who also shows care that the employee’s private life and family should function well in the new country and culture, wins both in terms of attractiveness and loyalty. The inclination to consider other people’s offers is thus reduced. Those who feel at home do not wish to leave.

Our surveys and feedback from expats confirm this. Their confirmation that GNRSLY is offering a vital contribution is very clear.

After-work events and similar efforts by the workplace are fine, but usually not enough. In our market research among international talent, we found that Swedes have unfortunately gained a general reputation for being reserved and for drawing a sharp line between work and private life.

At the same time, many point to the fact that companies in general either do not see the problem, do not accept it as a company challenge, or believe that the need for relationships in private life can be solved through internal programs within the company.

Indeed, this is a challenge that companies active in Sweden and recruiting talents from abroad need to accept.

At GNRSLY we headhunt Swedes who want to cultivate a personal relationship with your incoming international talents. We therefore tackle the problem directly at grassroots level. Those who feel welcome and at home find it easier to enjoy themselves and get through cultural adaptation, unfamiliar societal systems and weather challenges. This is precisely what happens when Swedes open their personal social networks. Challenges around language, work, school, housing, contacts with authorities, climate, etc. are solved much more easily if you have local, Swedish friends and contacts to lean on.

You get a long way with all the challenges an expat faces in their new home country when good relationships are cultivated with local Swedes. Take, for example, the challenge of finding a job for an accompanying partner. “In Sweden, 4 out of 5 jobs are filled through contacts. The fact that those born abroad are underrepresented on the labor market is to some extent explained by the lack of such contact networks (see, among others, Långtidsutredningen 2011). In order to get a job, it is therefore important that you get help to build up a network of contacts when you come to Sweden. As is well known, having a job is the key to both integration and equality. This is particularly important for foreign-born women, who on average have a 2-year longer establishment period than foreign-born men.”*

*NKB newsletter Sep 2021

GNRSLY offers a program during a clearly defined period, where your international talents meet Swedes who are there because they themselves want to cultivate such a relationship during an intensive period. They are also there because we know them and trust them.

We deliver the conditions, tools and stimulation, conducive to moving beyond a stage of acquaintance and into friendship.

We match people. We ask them to create a full profile to help us find someone with a similar situation and interests in life.

We emphasize that both parties have something to give and something to gain.

Friendships arise as a result of cultivating a relationship. We facilitate this development by offering, figuratively speaking, an arena or the necessary infrastructure.

GNRSLY wants to be a good offer for you as a business owner or responsible for international recruitment.

For a business, our program is a tiny investment with great potential.

By adding this service from GNRSLY your HR staff can devote themselves to things that are closer to your company’s core business.

Contact GNRSLY for an open conversation! You find the link at the bottom of this page.

By facilitating the building of relationships with local Swedes, we want those who are new to Sweden to experience the feeling of having found A Home away from home. Our vision is to, over time, make a contribution to what we call A 4D Swedish soft edge