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Finnish companies could benefit from the input of skilled foreign graduates of Finnish universities.
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International students completing their studies in Finland tend to return to their home countries. This draining pool of multicultural talent should be better exploited by Finnish employers who stand to benefit by internationalising their personnel.
Many major Finnish companies and Finnish branches of multinational corporations already successfully work multilingually, but a widely perceived language barrier still slows the recruitment of foreigners by small and medium-sized enterprises. Researcher Minna Söderqvist of Aalto University hopes that Finnish universities and cities will address this problem by providing more intensive Finnish language teaching to enable students to build up their language skills.
Canadian André Noël Chaker, currently director of business development and international affairs at the Finnish lottery company Veikkaus, is working on a book about Finland’s past, present and hopefully future successes, provisionally entitled The Finnish Miracle. He believes that in today’s competitive global economy Finnish employers should see open-mindedness and multiculturalism as vital assets.
| The VALOA Project
– Finnish universities, local authorities and employers’ organisations are working together through the VALOA Project to promote the retention of international graduate talent in Finland by providing universities and employers with tools to ease foreign students’ entry into the Finnish job market.
– The project’s first major stakeholder conference “VALOA for the Future” was held in Helsinki in February. The seminar brought together more than 150 experts and stakeholders to discuss these vital issues.
– Future training sessions have already been planned both to help Finnish employers find and recruit foreign graduates from Finnish universities, and to help Finnish universities build bridges with employers and enhance the services and training they provide for foreign students.
– The VALOA project is partly funded by the EU’s European Social Fund, and co-ordinated by the University of Helsinki.
– For more information, see www.valoa-hanke.fi
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“Finnish expertise is certainly good, but to improve competitiveness Finnish employers must face the challenge of hiring complementary skills in the shape of people from different cultural backgrounds,” says Chaker – himself a living example of someone who has overcome the language barrier and built a successful career in Finland.
Finland’s largest digital game producers, Helsinki-based Digital Chocolate, greatly appreciate the benefits of cultural diversity among their staff today, though the company’s predecessor Sumea Interactive was still virtually 100 per cent Finnish in the early 2000s.
Human resources manager Arja Martikainen remembers how her company went through a typical process where team leaders were at first reluctant to recruit foreigners and upset team dynamics, but then after their first successful experiences very quick to realise the benefits – not least in terms of improving their own communication skills. The idea of bringing in foreign recruits rapidly became routine.
“Gaining different angles has especially helped us to ‘think out of the box’, gain knowledge of other markets, and avoid cultural mistakes in developing our products,” says Martikainen. “Our personnel really enjoy this diversity, which has helped a whole new positive buzz to build up around the organisation.”
Digital Chocolate purposefully address challenges related to recruiting foreign employees. “We carry out a double orientation process, focusing on the way we work, but also on how things are done in Finland, even for employees who have been studying here,” explains Martikainen. “We also specifically assign existing members of staff as mentors to help new foreign recruits adapt.”
“We sometimes even make a special point of thanking our non-Finnish colleagues for enriching our lives – and we invariably get a similar response from them!” she adds.
FRAN WEAVER - HT
Krista Sihvonen
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