Arja Tuusvuori

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A ball pool for IT professionals, wilderness adventures for advertising executives, philosophy sessions for insurance clerks. Team building exercises have found their way to Finland, traditionally a country of heroic lone wolves. Grown men make Easter bunnies because the boss says so. Wellbeing at the workplace is also a favourite topic in the public sector: people are enjoying themselves at work ability sessions – or that at least is the noble aim.

Different activities for work communities are attempts to recover the fun, which is often missing from the life of tired, hard-working employees. Fun days for workers, however, do not erase the facts: people enjoy their work only so-so. Diligent, hard-working Finns are plagued by mental problems. Approximately half of the disability pensions are due to mental health reasons.

"Cynicism has become one way of reacting to work exhaustion and frustration. Finns are used to working dutifully to the limit of their powers, and if, despite your own efforts, you lose your job or demands continually increase, your mind resorts to cynical belittling," says Aini Jaari, a psychologist specialising in work communities.

In January, she defended her doctoral dissertation, Self-esteem, sense of coherence and values. A correlational study of the underlying variables in Morris Rosenberg's concept of self-esteem in Finnish work-aged samples, at the University of Helsinki. In it, she studied men and women's values associated with work in the light of data collected in 1995 and 2001. The seeds sown during the early 1990s recession are miserably evident in Finnish working life. Some people have no work, some only have temporary jobs while others have too much work.

"Work has become more project-like in nature, accuracy and finishing touches suffer because of the constant hurry. Many respondents remarked on the drain caused by tight schedules and having to compromise their own efforts."

Power in numbers

People need security and continuity. Great changes, increasing demands and insecurity about the continuity of employment create anxiety. Aini Jaari wonders why Finnish society does not invest more in common workplace solutions that would make life easier for everyone.

She cites short temporary employment relationships of young, well-educated women as an example of distorted thinking.

"If, for instance, the costs of parental leave were distributed evenly among all employers, the threshold for making women's employment permanent would be lower. After all, Finnish women are extremely well educated, skilful employees. There is no question about it, Finnish working life needs more alternatives for the sake of family life and the ageing population."

If the recession increased the feeling that we are all in the same boat and relieved the shame of unemployment, today is a time of tougher values. A person facing unemployment might feel more marginalised than ten years ago. Young, less educated men, in particular, resort to cynicism and downplaying everything when they are marginalised from society.

"Guilt is experienced by the individuals although unemployment is a societal problem," Jaari points out.

Work is the measure of honour for Finns: it is the means for gaining self-respect, creating social networks and being recognised for one's skills. If one becomes unemployed, the safety net is not necessarily there. Human relations have become projects just like employment.

"It is a pity that the demands to cope as an individual encroach on the significance of social relations at work. Women are still on average more empathic than men, but competition in the job market reduces the trait somewhat," says Jaari.

She is not longing for the benevolent factory owner mentality of old, but wishes employees' shared activities would be revived. But in addition to the usual sports events, the psyche also requires exercise. The lone heroic employee is crushed by demands by the employer, the mortgage and family life.

"At present, the working world does not sufficiently consider an employee's life situation. I have carried out training sessions in work communities where the employees' exhaustion and disappointment have been palpable. The results of streamlining are not a nice sight, not for those who lost their jobs nor those who retained theirs and now carry a heavy workload."

Competition begins at school

Aini Jaari is not pleased about hard values creeping into the school world. Entrepreneurship education for comprehensive school pupils should not, at least, stress competition ethics.

"Comprehensive schools should not be harnessed to serve business life. Schools should educate children, teach sustainable values that will help them navigate through life. Making money is not a suitable goal in the school world, growing as a person is."

Jaari admits that creating a more humane society is no easy task. Still, she feels it is worth while to keep on about the message of caring.

"The change from the traditional agrarian society to today's information work has been fast, perhaps too fast. People's sets of values have remained pretty much the same."

Is solidarity outmoded?

Jaari says that in working life, values are often the stuff of festive speeches, a compulsory appendix to strategies and memorandums. The wellbeing of employees is not considered in practice, or it is seen as secondary to creating profits.

"Enjoying one's work is a desirable but challenging objective. A tough atmosphere at work feeds resentment and envy. Can that be good for making a profit in the long run?"

Jaari is also concerned about the fate of women in the competition at work. Compromising empathy is not good for a workplace atmosphere, and certainly not family life.

"It would be a pity if women compromised this resource of theirs. Emphasising soft values is not fashionable now, but becoming a tough career climber is not the only way to get ahead at work."

Jaari's dissertation ends in cautious optimism, an idea of a Renaissance of traditional basic values. Because competition, solitary struggling and continually covering one's back get at a man or woman, eternal values such as goodness, truth and beauty could well be in demand.

The individualistic set of values, emphasising performance, is partly a product of the Protestant work ethic, made even tougher by the information society. In a caring society, Finns could emerge from their defensive positions, show consideration to others and not only secure their own backs, but also those of their fellow workers.

Aini Jaari: Self-esteem, sense of coherence and values. A correlational study of the underlying variables in Morris Rosenberg's concept of self-esteem in Finnish work-aged samples. Helsinki 2003.

A good leader laughs at him or herself

Leadership guru Manfred Kets de Vries lectured on successful leadership in Finland in March. A professor at the prestigious French business school INSEAD, Kets de Vries is one of the most esteemed experts on organisations. He has provided leadership expertise for Nokia, for instance.

He stressed that the most successful leaders of people are like coaches, trainers or teachers. They do not lead their fellow employees, but walk with them or behind them. This does not mean that the leader should not set an example, but rather that he or she should not interfere with everything at a workplace. Good leaders keep employees well informed, particularly in times of change. They have a sense of humour, are able to laugh at themselves and like to talk about us rather than me.

A good leader looks to the future, can think about the long run, express him or herself clearly and has opinions and a vision. Kets de Vries also values charismatic leadership. On the other hand, he thinks Finnish leaders are among the best in the world. They are not traditionally thought of as charismatic, nor is charisma as valued in Finland as, for example, in America. Kets de Vries, however, says Finnish leaders are consistently good on all sectors.

Kets de Vries says that a simple message and repetition cannot be overemphasised in change management. He stresses that change should affect both people’s consciousness and their operational prerequisites.

Kets de Vries has a background in Freudian psychoanalysis. He has analysed, for instance, the effect of father and mother relationships in the success of leaders. Strong male leaders have often had an encouraging, close mother and a distant father, whereas many female leaders have had particularly encouraging fathers who have had faith in their daughters.

Kets de Vries was invited to Finland by the MBA Programme at Helsinki University of Technology to celebrate its 15th anniversary.

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