Encouraging Organizational Success through Human Resources!
“Leadership is about making a positive impact and continuously striving for excellence, regardless of the function you work in,” asserts Tatu Tulokas, the Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) at Mehiläinen. This guiding philosophy has enabled Mehiläinen, a leading Finnish private healthcare company to drive transformative change and foster a thriving organizational culture.
As CHRO, Tulokas alongside the company’s management team as well as the HR team operate at the vanguard, meticulously tracking market trends, researching emerging technologies, and integrating innovative tactics from other sectors into Mehiläinen’s HR practices. This forward-thinking approach generates continuous progress and evolution. However, Mehiläinen’s way of doing and its impact extends far beyond implementing cutting-edge strategies.
Mehiläinen has established a foundation of open communication, frictionless information exchange, and an environment primed for collaboration and camaraderie across Mehiläinen. Building relationships with key stakeholders like executives, managers, and employees is paramount to the success of Tulokas and his team’s initiatives. By cultivating trust, consistently demonstrating value, and deeply understanding their needs, collaborates effectively to drive positive outcomes benefiting the entire organization.
Over the last decade, Mehiläinen has solidified its position as a market leader and industry pioneer over its more than a century-long history, with particularly remarkable growth in the past decade. This rise has been fueled by a deft fusion of the company’s rich Finnish heritage with innovative, human-centric policies and practices.
As an HR leader, Tulokas encourages others to pursue HR leadership roles, advising them to develop holistically, seize growth opportunities, and prioritize the journey over the ultimate destination. Adopting these principles, he believes, cultivates an organizational culture characterized by coherence, synergy, and a shared commitment to attaining common goals.
Through principled leadership, strategic vision, and peoplefirst approach, Through principled leadership, strategic vision, and people-firs approach, Mehiläinen is propelling the company’s continued ascension while shaping a progressive employee experience paradigm that elevates the healthcare sector.
Here are some interview highlights:
Please brief us about yourself and what inspired you to embark on this sector.
Social impact of the healthcare sector, meaningful work, and the opportunity to learn from the people at an organization like Mehiläinen.
Could you give our readers an insight into your company’s inception story?
Mehiläinen’s story is part of Finland’s story. At the turn of the 20th century, Finnish society, science, and art started to become more Finnish. However, there is no Finnish language hospital or medical vocabulary yet. A medical society, Duodecim, was founded for this purpose, to establish the Finnish language in health care. Four doctors established a Finnish-language hospital at their own risk and with their own money. Sairaala O.Y. Mehiläinen was established on November 6, 1909. It was named after the selfless and hardworking healer in the Kalevala, the bee.
During its history and especially the past 10 years, Mehiläinen has become the market leader and pioneer of its industry. The company invests in the opportunities offered by digitalization and in the effectiveness and quality of care in all its business areas. Mehiläinen’s revenue exceeds EUR 1.9 billion, and the company employs more than 37,000 professionals. Every day, Mehiläinen’s expert and qualified staff do meaningful work to build better health and well-being in society.
Can you describe your leadership style and how it impacts your approach to managing the HR department?
Creating a shared vision, leveraging the strengths of diverse individuals, setting clear goals, and prioritizing the team over the individual. Additionally, strong empowerment means providing individuals with trust and autonomy.
The previous has naturally had a significant impact on our culture of conversation, information sharing, collaboration, being together, and the atmosphere.
How do you ensure that your HR strategies align with the overall business goals and objectives of the organization?
This is the most important thing for an HR professional. Ultimately, HR work is meaningless if the business does not feel it derives value from HR or if it feels that its priorities do not align with its own. This job involves continuous alignment of matters and is done all the time, but naturally most extensively when annual plans are being made. It is essential to understand the business and its different operational logics.
One must be close to the business and involved in areas where HR can contribute and influence actions. It also concerns how business management processes proceed and how, for example, HR is involved in various forums. For instance, our executive team meets weekly, after a joint training session, and we discuss the current issues of the entire corporation in an informal yet effective manner.
What methods do you use to cultivate a positive and inclusive workplace culture, and how do you measure the success of these initiatives?
These are not methods but more how I act. By being my true self, with my flaws and strengths. By promoting a safe working culture, highlighting opportunities and optimism, and, of course, keeping humor involved, Every individual in my team is equally valuable as a person, and each one should be treated accordingly.
Naturally, we monitor the effectiveness of my leadership and that of the approximately 1000 other supervisors using metrics such as eNPS, staff turnover, absences, supervisor index, etc. On the other hand, the most important metric is the workplace atmosphere in everyday life. That is the most crucial aspect.
How do you approach talent acquisition and retention, and what steps have you taken to ensure that your organization remains competitive in the market for top talent?
Our EVP defines that as being “the best place for professionals on a lifelong mission.” This defines the framework for all recruitment, management, and employer branding efforts. Different functions, such as HR, marketing, communications, and business operations, have coordinated their actions together. There are no shortcuts in this process.
Success is determined every day by both current and future employees making that decision. Management must be good and fair, the employer brand must reflect reality and be interesting and distinctive, working conditions and opportunities for training and development must be genuinely available, and the management must live according to these standards.
How do you handle employee relations issues, and what steps do you take to ensure that conflicts are resolved fairly and effectively?
The best approach is to try to avoid challenging situations. This means that when a person is the right individual, in the right role, knows what is expected of them, and is treated well, challenging situations occur less frequently, especially if the organization is genuinely healthy.
Additionally, when the previously mentioned factors are in order, handling challenging situations becomes easier. They do not come as a surprise, and issues can be addressed directly, from person to person.
Can you share an example of a particularly challenging HR issue you’ve faced in your current role, and how you went about addressing it?
This is not specifically related to my current role but more to all roles, especially when you join a new company. The significance of corporate culture is a factor with a tremendous impact. Do your homework thoroughly, talk to people, learn, be humble, ask questions, and remember that as an outsider, you are a newcomer. Everyone else has a history, experiences, and feelings towards their work, and if you want to change or develop things, you genuinely need to reach a level where you are respected not only for your expertise but also for being a part of the company.
How do you stay up-to-date on the latest trends and best practices in HR, and how do you incorporate these into your work?
Follow the market, different technologies, service providers, and various trends, and study them. As in sports, you cannot stay in one place or stop developing. Also actively follow developments in other fields. Not everything is indeed invented in HR; most often, it happens elsewhere. For example, I learn a lot by following our business and applying the practices found there.
How do you build and maintain relationships with key stakeholders, such as executives, managers, and employees, to ensure the success of HR initiatives?
Build genuine trust relationships and show interest in your business partners, both in their business and in them as individuals. Demonstrate the value of your actions to them and their business. Be genuinely “street-credible” both in your area and in matters that are important to them. Understand your role and ensure they see you as a genuine creator of value for their business.
What advice would you give to someone looking to pursue a career in HR, particularly in a leadership role like CHRO?
Develop yourself holistically. Be curious and diligent, and seize opportunities. Behave well, and remember that a leader’s job is to make their organization and other people look good. All kinds of new experiences and perspectives develop you as an individual. Don’t think about the destination but about the journey. I have been in leadership roles in both business and finance, and I never thought of myself as specifically an “HR person.” I don’t see a big difference whether I work in HR or any other function.
