An employee survey held in 2019 shows that Kiilto is one of Finland's most inspiring workplaces. Corporate Spirit has presented KiiltoClean Oy with an award as one of Finland’s Most Inspiring Workplaces 2019, for ranking among the best-performing companies in the PeoplePower® employee survey. In January, KiiltoClean Oy was also declared Finland's Most Active Workplace.
“The staff feel that their employer invests in their wellbeing and promotes their professional development. We are growing fast but, despite this change, our staff trust in senior management, view the company’s recent development as positive, and feel that the objectives and outlook are well communicated, changes have been well implemented and we have clear operational goals. The results tell us that we have succeeded in taking our staff’s ideas and opinions on board, and that they agree with the direction in which we are taking the business,” says Satu von Bagh, Kiilto’s HR Business Partner.
In an inspiring workplace, employees keep developing
The 100-year-old Kiilto invests strongly in competence development and training. It seeks to keep its staff’s skills and knowledge up to date, and their gaze fixed on the future and on Kiilto’s vision looking ahead to 2080. Over the last few years, the comprehensive Kiilto ProWay and Kiilto HighWay training programmes have been organised for staff, bringing new energy and practices to everyday work. In addition, we are now initiating the Kiilto SalesWay programme for sales experts and the Kiilto LeanWay programme for production staff.
“Kiilto ProWay provided me with a new perspective on my work. As part of an international group of trainees, I gained a lot of new ideas by listening to my colleagues’ experiences of various markets. Practical experiments promoted the adoption of new, more efficient practices,” says Kiilto’s Business Development Manager, Julia Lempiäinen, when describing the benefits of the training programme.
“I appreciate Kiilto’s active support for employees in managing their own work, and its encouragement to work in new ways. I think that curiosity and inspiration are rewarded and professional development is supported at Kiilto. We are also functioning more and more effectively as a team, as more Kiilto employees adopt similar practices in areas such as project work. It is a joy to be in an inspiring workplace!” says a delighted Lempiäinen.
Everyone can make a difference
“You can make a difference” is one of the cornerstones of Kiilto’s operating culture. Every employee can – and is expected to – contribute to the development of the shared operating culture. At Kiilto, self-reinvention is viewed as a key factor in building competitive advantage, joint success and wellbeing. This message was reinforced by a “You can make a difference” online training course arranged for staff last year by Filosofian Akatemia.
Employee surveys are an important operational development tool
For Kiilto, employee surveys are primarily a tool for the continuous improvement of its operations. They are outstanding tools for monitoring, assessing and developing the employee experience. That is why it is good that surveys genuinely help to identify the issues through which we can improve our staff’s commitment and performance, and our leadership.
“On the basis of this year’s results, we have selected ‘reducing occupational stress’ as one of our key areas for improvement. With this in mind, we have engaged in development measures in areas such as the organisation of duties and the prioritisation of projects and work,” says von Bagh, describing future plans.