Eija Salo: “Trust is the basis for remote work”

This year remote work has overtaken office work in many industries. I’ve talked to Eija Salo, Fennovoima’s HR Director about remote work during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Eija, even before the pandemic our people had an opportunity to work remotely when needed and agreed. Could you say a few words about Fennovoima’s company policy on remote work?

We updated the remote work policy just before the pandemic. In a nutshell, we have a positive attitude towards remote work. Our people will be working at our Hanhikivi site more and more, and we wanted to have a balanced approach. At some positions people needed to be at the site or at the face-to-face meetings. So, our policy was that it’s fine to work some days remotely and some days at the office. Also, in some cases special arrangements were possible. For example, we have many foreigners who have families abroad and would prefer to work remotely more, and we need to be flexible as a company.

But corona pandemic made it necessary for our company to work mostly remotely. I think that the most important thing is to take care of people’s wellbeing and safety. That’s not only because we work in the nuclear industry with special requirements for safety, but also because we want to be a responsible company. We need our people to stay healthy and safe.

What measures did the company take to make remote work easier?

We introduced new digital tools and enhanced our IT infrastructure. People started to use Skype and Teams for meetings and had more video discussions. Many took their docking stations and screens home for better ergonomics.

How has the company evaluated the efficiency of remote work?

We are monitoring the progress constantly. Team supervisors discuss the performance and efficiency at regular meetings. At our recent supervisor survey, 85% have answered that remote work hasn’t impacted their teams’ performance.

We also have Corona Task Force group that monitors the impact of pandemic at the company level and project progress. There we discuss how to support our employees. In addition, we have a Corona team that consolidates guidelines and handles practical issues. It has representatives from different departments: HR and administration, communications, security, and IT. We follow the recommendations of the government and health authorities and update our instructions to personnel when needed. This way we try to ensure safe work.

I know that some people prefer to work in the office because it’s easier for them to concentrate on work there. Can you tell me a bit what the company decided for office work?

We have some people who come to the office, but only 50% of each team can be present at the same time. People can work in the office if they follow hygienic guidelines and keep distance. We also have face masks available for those who want to use them. Still, not more than 10% come to the office, vast majority continue to work remotely.

How has remote work impacted the recruitment?

During the spring we postponed the recruitment, but in the summer we had a wave of 23 positions. We received more than 1300 applications, which is double compared to last year numbers. The interviews and personal assessments are still going on, but our recruiters have marked high competence of applicants.

This year we had some summer trainees and have been able to give them proper induction. Our supervisors gave them good on-job training. We’ve just received the summary of their exit interviews with extremely positive results. Our summer trainees were pleased at their jobs, supervisors and tasks even though they were working remotely. All of them said that they can come back and work again for our company when they graduate. Several persons will continue working for our company part-time while studying.

I noticed that the company sent several messages related to wellbeing during remote work. Why is it important?  

We wanted to remind people how to stay healthy and take care of their wellbeing, not just sit at their laptops from 8 to 16. People need to take breaks, exercise, stretch, and go for a walk. Our employees can contact a physiotherapist and have a video appointment to check their ergonomics at home, such as working table and chair.

It’s also important for people to know what to do if they have any symptoms. We have a very good occupational healthcare company, and we have highlighted that employees having any kind of flu symptoms would contact the occupational health company as soon as possible. Our people have contacted doctors remotely much more than before and the numbers of actual visits and sick leaves have decreased.

We have also offered some tips and videos on mental wellbeing and we offer a possibility to discuss mental wellbeing as well, with a low threshold and easily accessible occupational health service.

What else would you single out as important, in addition to wellbeing?

Strong leadership and continuous communication. We’ve been able to give coaching and instructions to our supervisors and remind them to keep constant contact with their teams. This means not only work meetings with people, but also individual talks. Some of them have individual talks or virtual coffee meetings with teams and talk about different things outside work. This helps to build relationships and support employees. At the company level, this also shows the trust, which is the basis for remote work. Supervisors have to trust that people do their best.

In any case, constant communication is the key. And supervisors appreciate it. At our recent survey, 94% answered that there had been enough information on COVID-19. All the supervisors (100%) agree that Fennovoima has taken right actions to prevent the spreading of COVID-19 in the company.