Jan Cederlund

I am working as an independent international consultant in Human Resources Management. My three working languages are Swedish, English and French. In the framework of Forum Management I have had missions to London, Munich and Haag. Before that, in my career I have had special assignments with residence in Zambia, Indonesia and Botswana.

I am open to assignments of short or long duration, with or without residence, in most parts of the world; including, of course, France.

I was responsible for all staffing matters in the Organization, including development of policies, development of tools (hard copy and electronic/internet), training of staff, etc. After the election of the previous Director-General in November 1999, UNESCO underwent an in-depth reform programme, not the least in the field of Human Resources Management. I was an active player in this context. I left UNESCO due to the mandatory retirement age in the UN system (and after an extension of 9 months).

14 April 1994 - 13 May 1995.
Special project:
This assignment was part of a Swedtel (subsidiary of the Swedish Telecomms, today Telia) Institution Building Project. BTC was at the time an organisation in a monopoly situation and my role was, inter alia, to participate in the preparation of BTC to move into a competitive environment. I was advising top management on HRM policies and HR development and was working closely with the whole Human Resources Department, transferring know-how and giving on-the-job training. The same was done with the Administration Department and to a certain degree the BTC Training Centre. The project was funded by the Swedish Board for Technical and Economical Cooperation (BITS), today integrated in the Swedish Agency for International Development Cooperation (SIDA).

25 October 1992 - 24 January 1993 and 25 May 1993 - 11 December 1993.
Special project:
I was a member of an ITU Human Resource Development Project. Together with my counterparts I analysed the development needs in the field of Human Resources Management and, consequently, worked out and implemented procedures and tools, e.g. in Human Resources Planning. After the first three months my contract was extended by another 6 1/2 months. The project was funded by the World Bank and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

I assisted companies and organizations, both private and public, especially with regard to strategy and human resources management, inter alia, staffing planning, recruitment, human resources development & training and group building. The client organizations were of different sizes and activities, including some of the biggest and best-known Swedish corporations.

Together with an ISL-colleague (see below) I founded this group. My areas of responsibility were basically the same ones as mentioned above. At the beginning of 1987 ten persons were employed.

The company was a big consulting group in Sweden. I reported to the President. I had a staff of eight consultants carrying out either recruitment or management training assignments. An important part of my responsibility was to train the staff in recruitment methods and selection techniques as well as to develop and implement new management courses.

5 September 1977 - 31 December 1982
Data General Corporation.
Three different positions. The company was a US computer manufacturer.

5 September 1977 - 28 February 1978
Personnel Manager Nordic Countries. Although originally recruited for my European position (see below) I began my employment in Stockholm, Sweden, by setting up a Personnel Department Nordic Countries. I was the first Personnel Manager of the area and had to organize the new Personnel Department, adapt the existing international personnel policies to the realities of the Nordic countries, strengthen the significance of the policies, establish efficient working methods and build relations with other managers and employees. Before leaving for France I had recruited a permanent Personnel Manager for the area.

1 March 1978 - 1 February 1981
Employment Manager Europe. I was a member of the European Headquarters staff in Paris, France, and responsible for top management and other key staff recruitment to the Headquarters and the thirteen European subsidiaries. I also worked in other fields; inter alia, human relations, staff introduction and personnel budgets.

2 February 1981 - 31 December 1982
Personnel Director South West Europe. As a result of a successful project of mine concerning the functioning of the management team of the area I was offered this position when it became vacant. As Personnel Director I was responsible for all HRM matters as well as General Services (office management, company cars, security, etc.) and reported to the General Manager of the area. The Area Head Office was located in Paris, France. The area included France, Spain, Portugal, French speaking Africa and the Middle East.

The company manufactures and sells electrical forklift trucks on all continents. I was the company's first Personnel Manager and had to organise the new Personnel Department, formulate all personnel policies, establish efficient working methods, build relations with other managers, employees and staff unions, etc. In addition to being responsible for all HRM matters of the parent company I had a supervising role with regard to our British and German subsidiaries. I reported to the President. The company had one blue-collar and one white-collar staff union. I was the chief negotiator with both of them.

Special assignment:
1 January 1973 - 30 June 1973.
On leave from the PA-council (see below) I conducted a "Manpower Development Study" with a view to proposing new ways of training technicians, supervisors and managers of the Telecommunications Division as an element in the “zambianisation” of the Division. My study was an independent part of a large project, mainly in the technical field, carried out by Swedtel, subsidiary of the Swedish Telecomms, today Telia. The project was funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA).

This consulting group was owned by the Confederation of Swedish Employers and was the biggest management-consulting group in Sweden at that time. I was responsible for the planning, execution, reporting and follow-up of assignments in most fields of HRM. My clients were private and public enterprises as well as governmental and communal authorities. In particular, I worked in the fields of recruitment, human resources development, surveys of opinions/attitudes and human relations.