What is the goal of human resources management in Finnair?
Finnair represents an exceptional operating environment, because we are the dominant company in Finland in our sector. This has led to long employment relationships and to the presence of a strong collective sense of belonging within the company. For Finnair employees, professional pride and Finnair spirit are the foundation of everything.
Long-term commitment is demanded of us on the employer's side. Through compulsion, we have had to make structural changes and reduce personnel numbers. At the same time, continuity and development require that we must have a certain number of staff. Our sector is characterised by special expertise and we are dependent on highly skilled professionals.
How does Finnair safeguard the working capacity and wellbeing of personnel?
Wellbeing in work is part of our personnel policy and we have paid great attention to this. The intention is to avoid absences and to promote working capacity and wellbeing.
We conduct, among other things, fitness surveys of those involved in heavy work. Bag handlers, for example, do extremely heavy work and have long working days. This also applies to maintenance and repair work.
Emotional wellbeing has risen to the fore in recent years as the work efficiency of personnel has increased. Stress and wellbeing in work are issues in which occupational health and safety have a central role.
I want to emphasise that our occupational health centre has carried out fine work to promote emotional wellbeing. When people are troubled, they often turn to occupational health care for help.
What are the challenges of human resources management in the airline industry?
Personnel costs should be looked upon as an investment and not a cost item. However, personnel costs are also overwhelmingly the biggest expenditure item. Since the start of the millennium, airlines have encountered many trials and this has also resulted in personnel cuts. People have understood that the industry is under severe pressure.
We are currently preparing a ten-year human resources plan. We need long-term plans because it takes 5-7 years to acquire special expertise in certain areas of the airline industry.
Finnair is still one of the three most popular employers in Finland. Hard times have not reduced our popularity.
Where is there most room for improvement?
We can surely be better in nearly everything. We cannot be satisfied with the present situation or passive about success. The sector is changing continually and we must remain on the leading edge of development, by motivating our personnel and safeguarding their expertise and working capacity. We can therefore do a little bit better in all that we do.
| 
