Social sustainability in practice

Around the world, Jotun aims to support positive initiatives wherever we operate. At the Group Headquarters in Sandefjord, Norway, one such initiative is the Global Sandefjord mentor programme.

Established in 2021, the objective is to connect highly qualified international residents with people in local work life. It’s practical, low-threshold mentoring – and it has a real effect for individuals, families, companies and the municipality.

Why does it matter?

The local business community needs talented candidates. Yet, skilled international job seekers struggle to find openings, because they lack networks or knowledge. When this happens, we all lose out: individuals, families, employers, and the local community.

The programme has run for four years, and the results speak for themselves: our mentors have supported more than 40 mentees and over 80 per cent have found a job. That’s social sustainability in practice – building belonging, self-reliance and a stronger labour market.

Jotun’s engagement has also helped inspire more companies to join. Several mentees are partners or spouses of Jotun employees – which makes the initiative a concrete way of supporting colleagues and their families, not just the workplace.

What’s in it for the mentor?

Most mentors conclude the same way afterwards: they come in to help someone else but end up learning a lot themselves. They get new perspectives on recruitment, culture and communication – and a useful reminder of what it feels like to be new. 

Many also describe a sense of pride; having used their own experience to make someone’s path a bit easier and helped Sandefjord make better use of the competence that’s already here.

A new session of the Global Sandefjord mentor programme will start up in August. These days, a new group of experienced Jotun employees are signing up to contribute – making sure Jotun continues to support job seeking individuals and our local community.