Company: Alcoa, New York, NY
Company Description: Alcoa is the world’s leading producer of primary aluminum and fabricated aluminum, as well as the world’s largest miner of bauxite and refiner of alumina.
Nomination Category: Individual Awards Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Female Executive of the Year in Europe, the Middle East & Africa

Nomination Title: Janne Sigurdsson, Managing Director of Alcoa Fjardaál in Reydarfjördur, Iceland

Describe for the judges the activities and accomplishments of the nominated executive since the beginning of July last year (up to 500 words):

Janne Sigurðsson, Alcoa Fjardaál’s Managing Director, is a former computer engineer who proved to be so forceful on the job that she took control of the operation within six years. Helping to build, strengthen and expand Alcoa’s Fjardaál smelter in Iceland, Janne also led significant business transformation initiatives, created a culture of safety, achieved high employee engagement scores and strengthened the East Iceland community.

Fatality prevention is taken very seriously in Alcoa, and Janne is leading the local efforts by serving as chair of the Fatality Prevention Committee. She is also organizing a fatality prevention best practice workshop with more than 30 participants from Scandinavian aluminum smelters. There have not been any fatalities at the facility during construction or since production started in 2007, and Janne is working to ensure there are none in the future. .

Employee engagement at Fjardaál has increased from 52 percent in 2010 to 72 percent in 2011 and then to 76 percent in the spring of 2012. Contributing factors include:

•Increased stability in the operations after the smelter became fully operational
•New labor agreement
•New training programs for employees
•Additional activities in the Employee Club
•Enhanced communications to ensure information is shared in an effective and efficient manner

Alcoa’s success is inextricably linked to the well-being of the communities where it operates. Janne and several hundred employees at the facility work closely with the community to ensure Alcoa maintains its social license to operate and has a positive impact on the community. In one weekend, for example, 350 Alcoa employees and volunteers from various communities in East Iceland planted trees, created a hiking trail and renovated an outdoor sports facility to encourage children to participate in physical fitness activities.

In August of 2012, the mother of two initiated a celebration to commemorate the five year anniversary of production at Fjardaál. Almost 3,000 people attended. She emphasized the role of the employees in building up the company and the role of the community that fought very hard for the investment in the smelter, thus strengthening the local economy and creating much needed jobs.

Provide a brief biography of the nominated executive (up to 100 words):

Janne Sigurdsson was born in Denmark, but married Magnús Sigurdsson, an Icelander from the community where Alcoa’s Fjardaál smelter is located. They met when she was a young adult and came to work in Iceland’s local fishing industry. They live in East Iceland with their two children.

Janne has a Master’s degree in mathematics and computer science from the University in Aalborg. Upon entering the workforce, she acquired wide-ranging management experience in various companies in Denmark and Alcoa Fjardaál in Reydarfjördur, Iceland.

Learning a second language was at times difficult, but Janne learned Icelandic with help from family and friends. Unlike Danish, both in grammar and pronunciation, Icelandic is regarded as a complex language to learn.