As part of a broader learning journey into Finnish work culture, 15 French CEOs visited Vertia to learn about its self-directed work practices. Topi Jokinen and Antti Pesonen spent the morning presenting and discussing Vertia’s corporate culture.

The study tour was organized by APM, an international professional association of French-speaking executives, which includes companies from a variety of industries. The Finnish delegation included representatives from consulting firms, wholesale businesses, and industry, as well as, interestingly, a concrete manufacturer from the construction sector. The trip focused particularly on highly self-directed teams and organizations. Other sites visited included Futurice, ST-Koneistus, and the Docrates Cancer Clinic.

Vertia’s Topi Jokinen opened the event with his speech “How to Lead a Self-Managed Company”, which sparked a lot of discussion from various perspectives. Participants praised Topi for challenging the notion in his speech that any one person could actually have all the answers and solutions. Ideas and approaches can be shared, but with the understanding that everyone must come up with their own solutions. A leader doesn’t need to know everything; they just need to trust.

The discussions revealed that Finnish and French corporate cultures—and even societies—differ when it comes to trust. Trust is an essential part of a flat-hierarchy organization, allowing decisions to be made independently and enabling employees to act to the best of their knowledge. In many situations, the employee is the best judge of their own work. Trust thus creates a positive cycle, as the employee wants to live up to this trust and commits to the company, which in turn benefits all parties. Vertia’s story therefore sparked a great deal of enthusiastic discussion and wonder.

This was the first time Vertia had the opportunity to showcase its corporate culture, and it looks forward to continuing to share its experiences in the future. “It’s nice to talk about something good that’s currently happening. That makes it easy to speak openly about how things are really going and what you think about it.” Antti Pesonen commented.

Ville Keränen of Travel Agency For Superheroes helped organize the event www.banana.fi

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