(finland.fi) Finnish company Futurice’s focus on innovation and employee satisfaction has caused it to be named the best place to work in Europe.
Tuomas Syrjänen had a problem.
Syrjänen is the CEO of Futurice, a Helsinki-based software agency that offers consulting, design and training to help clients develop digital businesses. The company maintains offices in Berlin, Düsseldorf, London and Tampere, which has made it difficult for Syrjänen to have personal contact with the far-flung staff. His solution was to have a 30-minute “speed date” with every employee once a year.
“We have 150 smart people working at Futurice, with lots of great ideas, know-how and desires,” explains Syrjänen. “As the company has grown bigger, I cannot have a personal day-to-day connection with everybody at Futurice anymore. This is why the speed date idea came about and that’s why I like it most.”
The innovative speed date solution is indicative of the way Futurice runs its business. As the company grew, they decided to find an alternative to adding layers of management into a strict hierarchal structure.
“A significant part of our culture is always seeking to improve and find better ways to do things,” Syrjänen continues. “One way we nurture innovation is to endorse autonomy that is based on accountability. A person has the freedom to do and try things he or she believes in and at the same time the person is accountable for results.”
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