For the past ten years, Euronext Securities Copenhagen has supported Tryg A/S in offering secure election and voting services to its employees. Thus, when Tryg A/S needed a partner to help it carry out separate but simultaneous elections in Norway and Denmark, it reached out to Euronext Securities Copenhagen for assistance.
According to Anders Rolskov-Eriksen, Legal Counsel at Tryg A/S, the company’s long-standing relationship with Euronext Securities Copenhagen made it the natural choice as the election services provider. “We’ve used Euronext Securities Copenhagen for the past ten years and we have enjoyed a very good relationship, so it made sense that we would use them again,” he comments. “The fact that their voting portal is based on technology that is quality-tested for handling general meetings was another important factor in our decision. That assures us that we will get results that everyone can trust are accurate.”
Two locations, two approaches
Flexibility was another important requirement with this year’s elections, since Tryg A/S needed a solution that could support two independent, but simultaneous elections. “We had to conduct two separate elections in Denmark and Norway at the same time, and each election had to follow its own set of regulations,” Anders Rolskov-Eriksen explains. Euronext Securities Copenhagen adapted the voting portal so it could handle the two elections, each with their own voting nuances and languages.
To address this challenge, Euronext Securities Copenhagen could draw on its previous experience with Tryg A/S, as Julie Willum Kjærsgaard, Client Manager, points out. “We also supported employee elections for Tryg A/S in 2020, where employees with different nationalities were eligible to vote. We set up voting portals in Danish, Norwegian, Swedish and English to support that election, so we had experience with supporting multiple languages, which benefitted us here.”
Creating a uniform voting experience
A challenge that was unique to these two elections was the fact that many of the eligible employees were on leave. “One of the most important aspects of the voting portal is providing employees with a secure way of accessing the portal and casting their vote,” Julie Willum Kjærsgaard explains. “The employees who were on leave wouldn’t have access to their work email accounts, so we needed to create a voting flow that worked for them. We focused on how we could create an equal experience for all employees, regardless of whether they had access to their work email.”
Anders Rolskov-Eriksen highlights Euronext Securities Copenhagen’s responsiveness as a key factor in creating a voting process and experience that met the needs of both employee groups. “They gave us the input we needed and made sure we were prepared for the different process phases well in advance. At the same time, they solved any challenges that arose and addressed questions from our employees quickly, so everyone could cast their vote, without being impacted by any external technical issues.”
Proactive communication also helped ensure the highest voting participation possible. “It’s our job to make sure we create a good voting experience, and that everyone can access the voting portal quickly and easily,” says Julie Willum Kjærsgaard. “We also sent Tryg A/S regular updates so they could see how many votes had been cast up until that point in time and determine whether we needed to send out reminders to employees who were eligible to vote.”
A process that engenders confidence
When it comes to elections and voting results, it’s important that everyone involved can trust the integrity of the process, something that Anders Rolskov-Erikson says is never in doubt when working with Euronext Securities. “On a very practical level, when you can use a system that is thoroughly tested and with personnel who know the platform well, it gives peace of mind. And even more importantly, it gives you a higher degree of confidence in the election itself. The fact that the election is handled, not by a department run by the same management who counts the votes, but by an external, independent partner who everyone recognises as a trustworthy organisation really instils trust in the process.”
To find out more about Euronext Securities’ voting and election services, please see here.
FACT BOX: ABOUT TRYG’S ELECTION
- Ran from 13 to 23 June 2022
- 3,611 eligible employees, of which 231 were on leave
- Euronext Securities sent emails to active employees; Tryg sent emails to employees on leave via e-Boks (secure digital post box)