Meet Gitte Hjortflod – Our Regional Director, Nordics

A life filled with endless energy turned into a blooming career in shipping when our Regional Director for the Nordics, Gitte Hjortflod, attended an event at her high school in Vejle, Denmark.

Gitte has always been, and still is, a person that enjoys things moving at a fast pace. While still at school contemplating careers, she was not sure where to aim her passion which she previously directed towards competitive dancing, cycling, and sports. After a conversation with a shipping industry representative at her school’s career day, Gitte was intrigued – deciding she had to pursue this. So, she jumped on her bike and went to her preferred bike shop as she was pretty sure they had a computer and printer in the back office. The owner was more than happy to help and let her borrow the computer once she explained what it was for. Gitte wasted no time getting started:

”I sent 60 applications. I had no connection to the shipping industry, but I knew I wanted in.”

Gitte soon started her first job within shipping as a trainee, and she loved it. The days were filled with variation, there were loads of new experiences, and there was an international aspect – A dream come true for Gitte.

After two years as a trainee, Gitte moved to a new job as an assistant to a Senior Sales Manager of a freight forwarding company. The manager sat her down after three months for a talk. He had no idea what she was doing as an assistant – she should be doing sales!

”He saw my drive and got tired of me asking for more to do. Then he offered to teach me everything he knew about sales – I said yes, of course, and a new journey started!”

A Clear Identity

Today, after a wealth of experiences gained from all aspects of commercial activities and profit & loss responsibility, Gitte is Scan-Shipping’s Regional Director for the Nordic countries. During her career, she has held several management positions and had many opportunities to develop her skillset both as a manager and as an expert in the freight forwarding industry. Through her adventure thus far, Gitte also developed a very clear view of herself as a leader and a person:

”My ambition as a leader is to ensure that the person I’m sitting in front of is fulfilling their potential. I want to help people develop and become even better, no matter their starting point. I’ve always been taught to share. For me, knowledge is not always power, but teamwork and sharing knowledge is,” Gitte says and continues with a thoughtful expression:

”Every day I kindly push my managers, teams, and employees with positive energy to be the best version of themselves. It makes them deliver the best results possible, and they challenge themselves to use their potential in full. I’m probably ambitious on my environment’s behalf, especially when I can tell that the person in front of me is capable of more than she or he realizes.”

The Key to the Perfect Balance

One of the things that Gitte is especially focused on as a manager, is employee engagement. According to her, high employee engagement is one of the keys to the perfect balance of achieving results as a business and having employees that enjoy their work life.

“When you have a positive mindset, and you are engaged in your work, people can tell. It affects everyone around you: colleagues, customers, friends, family, and everyone else. I think it’s so important, and I try to give that energy to everyone I’m in contact with every day. If we want to keep our environment and our employees engaged, we need to continue to see and appreciate each other, and we need to celebrate our successes even more. That’s what we always strive to do at Scan-Shipping.”

Want To Get in Touch?

Contact Gitte Hjortflod directly at [email protected] or find your local office here.