Finnish Energy employs roughly 50 people, most of whom are energy sector experts. The work is highly independent and largely self-organised and managed with the support of a supervisor.
“We had been aware of our experts’ workload for some time, but the pandemic raised more concerns about it,” says Finnish Energy’s Manager of Finance and Administration, Marketta Eggleton, whose responsibilities also include HR matters. An operating system audit and a personnel survey carried out in 2021 indicated that some employees faced challenges in coping with their workload, prioritising their work tasks and managing their work resources. Something needed to be done. One of the measures was to provide training on the topic to supervisors and personnel.
Independent learning and sharing experiences
Varma proposed appropriate content from Varma Academy and compiled it into a learning path for Finnish Energy. The two-month learning path was planned such that after an initial discussion, three joint discussions involving personnel were held every two weeks. At the same time, the employees were able to independently study different topics using Varma Academy’s webinars, podcasts and other content.
“I think the stencil was good. Sparring with colleagues was a nice feature and made sure that the training was more than just independent learning,” says Eggleton.
Varma Academy’s learning path also helped Finnish Energy’s employees bring up matters that would not otherwise be discussed in day-to-day working life. The employees hoped to see similar discussions arranged in the future, too. The personnel survey at the end of 2022 will show whether the study path has affected employees’ experience of how they are managing their workload.
Now that the employees are familiar with Varma Academy and they all use it, Eggleton says it is easier to seek help for a specific need or to recommend some part of it to all employees.
