Ketil Wikan

Who are you?
I’m Ketil from Trondheim, where I live with my partner and our two children of four and six years. I love football, hunting and cross-county skiing. 

What was your way like into OKEA?
When OKEA took over Draugen, I was working with Ernst & Young. OKEA grew from about 40 to more than 200 employees, and as a result a number of new positions were created, including mine. I have been for almost three years, during which time the financial department has grown to 11 people. 

What does a typical working day look like?
It is wrong to say there are meetings all day long. We actually have to do something as well! Personally, I’m in contact with the various departments in OKEA, in addition to our external supplier of accounting services, for whom I’m the point of contact at OKEA. A lot of the job consists of collecting the information we need for accounting, analysis and reporting purposes, so I’m in contact with quite a few people in the course of a day. Now we sit in an open plan office design in our new premises in Mercursenteret, which is a very good solution. Generally speaking, this is a fast-paced workplace with high demands, yet it never feels exhaustive. 

Can you tell us a little bit about why you like working in OKEA?
If you like the place you work, it is most often because of the people you have there. At OKEA we have a very good working environment. We have a company culture where we support each other. No one should be left on their own with tasks they are unable to solve. Real quality people work here and I’ve never experienced anyone not wanting to help the person next to them in difficult situations. 

And when you are not working?
As a father of two small children, a lot of my spare time is spent with them. I’m very keen on having a healthy work-life balance and I find that this is absolutely the case with us. That is important because the aim is that our employees should want to stay in the company over time. This is not meant to be just another short-term workplace.