In 2016, a group of Fingrid employees established a network that became part of the national Finland Young Professionals (FYP) organisation. The Fingrid Young Professionals (FgYP) network has some 90 members from different departments, and more people are joining all the time. Despite the name, there is no age limit for participation.
The activities are both fun and useful. The theme can be various sports or games, often involving development work that is directly related to Fingrid’s business. Meetings are usually held once a month, although the events tend to focus on the summer season when summer trainees can attend. The group also participates in national network events on a regular basis.
“We‘ve received good feedback and new ideas from our members. The people involved perceive that the activities are beneficial in their own work,” says Tuukka Huikari, the network’s representative in FYP.
“Networking is important on a personal level and for the company. The changing world – in our case, the electricity market transformation – gains a completely new perspective when seen from the standpoint of another company. We are not doing this work only for ourselves,” says active network member Jarkko Tulensalo.
“Visits to other enterprises are usually the most productive. They provide a chance to build relationships with other people and obtain more information about their sector and business models,” explains Huikari.
Fingrid’s management also considers the FgYP network a beneficial way to engage young talents. For example, the FgYP network was asked to suggest radical ideas related to Fingrid’s work for climate change mitigation and out-of-the-box proposals to support the management’s strategy work.
“We playfully called this the “strategy stabbing”. It was great to notice that our ideas were taken into account in the new strategy. The process also helped familiarize young Fingrid employees with the company strategy,” says Huikari.
FYP
Finland Young Professionals is a national non-profit organisation that aims to connect professionals from different enterprises and thus facilitate networking between operators in different industries. The network was founded in 2011 and now has 20 enterprise networks, which means more than 3,000 individual members. The size of meetings can vary from 30 to 400 participants.
