5 phrases that workers use every day in Finland, the happiest country in the world
So it’s not surprising that open communication, teamwork and, perhaps most of all, employee well-being are high priorities at Framery, a manufacturing company based in Tampere, Finland, which builds soundproof cabins for offices.
As the company’s head of people and culture, Anni Hallila works to ensure employees feel happy and fulfilled at work.
She says she and her team use some common Finnish phrases to create an environment where employees can thrive in the workplace:
Finnish workplaces tend to have a flat hierarchy, where individual contributors feel as empowered to express their ideas about the business as CEOs and other senior leaders.
This phrase highlights this mentality and shows how a trusting environment, where people feel free to share their opinions, is a benefit to the organization as a whole.
It takes people from all levels of an organization to raise issues and find solutions, explains Hallila: “If there is an open line of communication where anyone can ask questions, whether it’s the CEO or anyone in the company, then there will be a way forward. “
Framery employees are encouraged to talk about the issues they are working on, as well as the company’s goals as a whole.
“I can ask all the questions I need to be successful in my role or ask questions to the best of the company,” says Hallila. “So even if it’s not my job and I see something that needs to be addressed, I have a responsibility to ask the questions so we don’t get sidetracked as a company.”
In other words: work smarter, not harder.
Leaders are encouraged to help their employees work with this mindset, says Hallila. Bosses must be clear in their expectations and manage so your employees can stay focused on the most important business priorities.
“You can work and work and work,” she says, “but it’s questionable whether you actually achieve more.”
Most of the time, the end goal supports meeting a business need and does so in a manageable way.
“It’s not about being lazy,” says Hallila. “It’s about being smart about what you focus on and achieving less so you can have a healthy work-life balance.”
Hallila says this phrase is used in a similar way to addressing the elephant in the room – like addressing the business problem at hand rather than letting it slide.
“It’s about believing in a work culture where the cat is the cat that needs to be put on the table and where people can have an open and confident discussion about whatever the issue is,” she says.
More simply, “we believe that things are resolved when they are discussed”, he adds.
On the other hand, this phrase suggests that leaving a problem unattended will only become a problem later.
“If you leave problems behind, you will find them in front of you” at another point, says Hallila. “So the only way to deal with these is to actually address them when they are created.”
This phrase visualizes what happens when you don’t plan ahead or think about the consequences of certain business decisions, says Hallila.
“If you don’t plan what you’re doing, you’ll head back toward the tree first and hurt yourself, instead of planning ahead and being smart about what you want to achieve,” she says.
In Finnish workplaces, these conversations often involve people from all levels of the organization, she adds. A company’s strategic planning ensures that “people feel like they are heard, that they have a say in our strategy, or at least that they understand what it’s about.”
“We appreciate being smart in planning [in a way] it also respects other people’s time,” she adds.
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