Meet our employees: The budget holder
With a family full of engineers, it was obvious that Aleksander Bynes would follow in the same footsteps. But it was numbers, and not technology, that caught the Lommedølen’s interest. Today, he works as a controller.
– Norske tog is a small organisation that handles large values. This makes it very exciting to be a controller because you get so many different tasks, says Aleksander Bynes.
He was employed as controller in Norske tog just over 2,5 years ago. He previously had experience from Trade Finance and as controller in the certification company DNV.
– As a controller at Norske tog, you are involved in everything a limited company must do from A to Z, such as annual accounts, sustainability, contract negotiations, IT implementation and business management, to name but a few. There’s a good mix of tasks, and no two days are the same, says Aleksander, who currently also acts as the company’s board secretary.
– As board secretary, I attend the company’s board meetings and write the minutes. That’s another good example of the variety of my duties, the controller continues.
Willingness to learn is important
But the range and variety of work tasks also comes with its challenges.
– You have to know more than in a normal controller position, but in return you get a very varied working day. You have to be willing to familiarise yourself with new things and learn on your own, says Aleksander.
– There’s been a lot of ‘googling’ in the evenings to find out this and that, so to speak, he chuckles.
Dare to address mistakes
– What has surprised you the most in your job?
– Again, I’d have to say the breadth of the work tasks. You usually get a lot of promises in a job interview that are followed up to varying degrees, but Norske tog has really delivered on what they promised – and then some, says Aleksander, and continues:
– It’s cliché to say, but I find that we at Norske tog are surprisingly open and inclusive, and not least that we dare to talk about mistakes that have been made. And that’s important in order to constantly improve.
He believes the social committee deserves much of the credit for the fact that employees dare to talk about their own mistakes.
– Many activities are organised throughout the year, including summer parties, Christmas parties, trips and a running group. This has helped to create a very good environment – something that is important for me to thrive at work, he concludes.