A central part of Jotun's business culture is making sure our employees never stop developing. We want our people to gain new competencies and broaden their horizons. To achieve this, we encourage our employees to pursuit new opportunities within the organisation.

In Jotun, this employee development initiative is called the short-term assignment program.

The program enables our employees to relocate and work for another Jotun company for 3-12 months. The purpose is to transfer best practice and/or individual expertise between Jotun companies. In addition, it provides professional development and international experience at the individual level.

Yasmine Eladly is a great testament to this. The 31-year-old grew up in Cairo, Egypt. She graduated from a catholic school and continued her higher education within Computer Science at Cairo University.

- I was supposed to end up as a technology geek. However, my passion for marketing took over, Eladly says. 

She started her professional career as a website tester in another company in Cairo, before joining Jotun Egypt. Eladly soon relocated to Dubai to take on a role as product manager in Jotun UAE. And finally, when enrolled in Jotun’s short-term assignment program, Eladly received an opportunity which enabled her to develop further within Jotun. 

- Last year I was lucky enough to be assigned as a regional project manager with the regional exterior marketing team. The task was to launch a revolutionary product in the textured exterior paint world, called Jotashield Nuovo, Eladly says.

She experienced the best six months of her career and describes it as nothing less than a career-booster.

- I managed 16 product launch events in six different cities: Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha, Riyadh, Jeddah, and Kuwait. Attended by more than 700 dealers and 2,000 professionals of interior designers, consultants and contractors, the events were highly engaging with the most satisfying feedback, she says.

Eladly was also given the opportunity to go that extra mile. At three of the events, she did the product presentation in Arabic.

- I’m usually more comfortable when presenting in English. However, I went out of my comfort zone, and it was one of the best presentations I have ever done, she says, with a big smile on her face.

Today, Eladly cherishes all the wins and learns she got out of the short-term assignment.

- I'm grateful for every minute of working on it, she says. 

- What are the secrets behind the success?

- I always keep a positive mindset at work. That way, I can think through my tasks in a constructive way and keep my best performance, Eladly says.

She also appreciates the support from her colleagues in Jotun UAE.

- It’s not very hard to find your passion because everyone is keen to help you discover your best performance, the Egyptian concludes.