The Performance Manager
Name: Simran Virdee
Job: Performance Manager Sales & Customer Service, WSS
Previous job before Wilhelmsen: KPMG
Works where: Lysaker
Lives: Lillestrøm
Consultant turned Wilhelmsen employee, Simran Virdee was drawn to the maritime group because of its global footprint and complexities. She simply could not believe how all those products and services made it all the way to its customers on the move, on time, anywhere in the world. Employed to look at efficiencies, Simran is perfectly positioned to learn all about the system she wanted to figure out.
“I need to find a hobby”. Although Simran plays padel with friends now, cooks and spends time with family, and wants to get into Pilates classes at the office, the feeling comes from years of strict focus on university grades and later heavy work weeks as a young consultant.
“I have always been ambitious with grades, and work and career, and now I am ready to have more time on work life balance. Coming to Wilhelmsen has given me that balance. I can leave at 4 after delivering a solid workday and achieve my goals.”
Smarting things up
Despite not knowing much about Wilhelmsen before being recruited, Simran dipped her toes in the maritime industry as a student. Pascal Technologies, a Norwegian startup dedicated to enhancing energy efficiency in maritime transportation offered her an internship. They develop air lubrication solutions to reduce fuel consumption and emissions in boats and ships.
“Spending time at Pascal Technologies gave me insight into the maritime industry and certainly sparked an interest that came to full bloom when the possibility opened up at Wilhelmsen”.
Simran’s manager and Wilhelmsen Ships Service needed someone to look at the efficiency grade of selected sections of the company. “Things are very well constructed already; this big system works at an impressive level. Super cool to be part of something so complex, with so many stakeholders, that something with so many movable parts thing actually works. The supply chain behind it! My job is to look at how to be even smarter in certain areas”.
A cliche phrase, but people often make the difference. In Simran’s case, after just a few weeks at Wilhelmsen, she already connects with the culture and can’t wait to get fully into things: “Our quality is solid on all fronts, customers chose us over others. This means we have extremely good people – I truly enjoy collaborating with people and learn from others. You never evolve if you don’t collaborate, you miss out on growth”.
Diving in
After moving from her hometown of Bergen in Norway to the capital Oslo for work, Simran met her husband. They were married in Oslo last year in what she explains was a modest wedding of 350 people. “Lots of family came. It was a fantastic time”.
During university, Simran did two exchange programmes to Australia. Melbourne first, then Sydney. “I loved Australia so much I had to go back”.
Travel is an interest. Next work trip, and the first with Wilhelmsen, is Brazil.
Going places in the Wilhelmsen network gives Simran a perfect understanding of the group’s mechanics – what looked good on the drawing board at the head office plays out differently in real life. “So far, after just having started, I see technology having big potential. More to the point, finding balance between customers wanting to speak to people and not just machines, to name one thing”.
Simran is working to understand the business, because what her colleagues are looking for is more insight to make better and more strategic decisions, enhance efficiency, and understand where there is a bigger potential, and where work can be done more efficiently. Lots to be done. And busy bee Simran can’t wait to get even more into everything at work. “For me, it’s important to work for a company where you are interested in what they do and what they sell”. For a person who is genuinely interested in how things work, and especially the massive Wilhelmsen network, this job seems to be a perfect fit for the newlywed off to Brazil very soon.
Interests
What does your Instagram feed look like?
Filled with Bollywood celebrities, fashionable outfits and makeup tutorials.
Media consumption
Reading now: Thinking fast and slow – Daniel Kahneman
Listening to just now: IDK HOW – Karan Aujla
Watching now: Dubai Bling
Honestly:
What was the last thing you liked on social media?
The last thing I liked on social media was a Bollywood-style lengha post from Tarun Tahiliani. Honestly, I’m still not over all the wedding inspiration I saved six months ago—my Instagram feed is still looking like a full-blown bridal boutique!
Which moment or day in your life would you like to experience again?
If I could relive one moment, it would be snorkelling at the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. Swimming with all those colourful fish was like diving into a real-life aquarium!
What’s a book or movie that has changed your perspective?
1984 by George Orwell. It made me think differently about privacy, freedom, and how powerful ideas and truth can be controlled.
If you could spend a day with someone from your past, who would it be?
My grandmother. Everyone in my family tells me I am exactly like her. I think we would get along quite well!
If you could eat one meal for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Tacos! Tacos are incredibly versatile—you can switch up the fillings with endless combinations and customize the taco to exactly your preferences! With so many possibilities, tacos would keep every meal interesting and delicious! + I love tacos.
From Simran’s wedding in Oslo in 2024. Family and friends dancing. “Both my husband and I are from Norway, but our families are from India, and it felt right to have our wedding in Oslo”.
From a street corner in Denmark. “I have travelled a fair amount but always like to see new places”.
Having had less spare time in her career so far, Simran can finally spend more time skiing. The Wilhelmsen head office even organises employee ski trips to Norwegian mountains.