Case Skaala – A shared vision for leadership

Skaala is a Finnish company specialising in windows and doors, which designs and manufactures energy-efficient window and door solutions for northern climates. Founded in 1956, Skaala manufactures its products at its own factories in South Ostrobothnia and serves customers both in Finland and internationally. The company’s product range includes, amongst other things, windows, external doors, patio doors and sliding glass doors. Skaala is part of the Austrian IFN Group.

”We wanted to ensure that all our line managers have the same level of competence for their management roles, and that employees receive the same standard of leadership in their day-to-day work.”

– Oona Keskinen, Head of Human Resources, Skaala IFN Oy

Over the past few years, Skaala has undergone significant organisational changes, as a result of which the starting points for line managers in their managerial roles have also varied. Furthermore, the company had not provided any management training for some time, so a common approach to leadership had not been established, and these differences in leadership were also reflected amongst the staff.

”The main aim of our collaboration was to establish a strong shared leadership culture and build leadership skills among our line managers. For employees, this means consistent line management and leadership in their day-to-day work,” says Oona, describing the aims of the collaboration. ”We needed common ways of working, stronger supervisory skills and, above all, a shared understanding of what good leadership means at Skaala.”

Subscriber

Skaala IFN Ltd

Our role

A strategic partner

The right partner for an industrial environment

More Than Group was selected as a partner on the basis of recommendations. During the initial discussions, we were particularly impressed by the way More Than’s coach took the initiative even before the actual collaboration had begun.

”Our first discussion with Janne [Kolehmainen, More Than Group] was immediately a brainstorming session on the subject. Although the initial information was still rather sketchy at that stage, we were already able to come up with ideas and receive support. As the discussions progressed, it became clear that Janne understands the industrial environment and recognised aspects of what we were doing that we hadn’t necessarily spotted ourselves,” says Oona.

The CEO of Skaala, too Antti Hautapakka highlights the importance of personal interaction: ”Janne is a sales representative; he even came here to Vantaa to have a chat with me. That certainly makes a good impression. We had some really good discussions on the subject, which showed he’d familiarised himself with us and the industrial operating environment.”

It was also important to bear in mind Skaala’s operating environment during the programme. The company employs staff in both production and the office, and its culture is strongly industrial.

”The groundwork had been done extremely well and the right discussions had taken place with the various people involved. We didn’t have to go through our business point by point, as Janne was so well up to speed. Everything took into account the fact that some people turned up in work trousers and safety boots, whilst others were in office attire. They knew how to approach the team at the right level. ”We’re an industrial company with a very distinctive culture, and you did a great job of recognising that,” Oona says gratefully.

A common language for frontline staff

Skaala’s line manager programme focused on the mindset required for line management, leadership processes and skills, a systematic approach to leadership, and developmental leadership. The aim was not merely to provide supervisors with new tools, but to build a shared understanding of what it means to be a supervisor at Skaala.

A common language and shared working practices soon began to become evident in everyday life.

”We’re able to guide one another through the key points and tools of the training. We’ve developed a common language, we understand things in the same way, and we have sound reasons for why we do things in a certain way,” Oona explains.

One concrete example of the impact of the coaching emerged quite early on in the programme. During the discussions, the idea came up that ”glass expert” – a person who acts in accordance with the company’s values and principles and sets an example to others through their own actions. The idea took root at Skaala and led to concrete recognition at the summer party.

”In practical terms, the results of the training can be seen, for example, in the ’glass expert’ summary board framed and displayed in the meeting room. We also recognised the ”glass experts” at the summer party, and the first person to receive an award was really touched by the recognition. These are small things, but they illustrate the kind of steps this programme has enabled us to take,” Antti says, describing the programme’s results. “The greatest benefit of the coaching will certainly be felt in the future, when we’ve been applying what we’ve learnt to our daily work for a longer period. But, for example, we’re already talking much more openly about time management and paying more attention to it.”

At the same time, the team leaders have begun to recognise the issues covered in the training in their own day-to-day work.

”Immediately after the training and in the longer term, the discussion has continued to include comments and approaches that were covered during the training. It was great to see how things started to fall into place for the group during the training, and how they were able to apply them to their own daily work,” says Oona. ”We’ve also been further developing the models for effective and results-oriented leadership that we learnt during the training. For example, we know how to set expectations in the right way, which of course enables the growth and development of both our people and the company.”

Getting to know your customer makes collaboration effective

In Skaala’s experience, More Than Group’s strength lay not only in its training content, but particularly in the way it got to know the client and built its approach around them.

”Your strength lies in learning to understand and make the most of our client company. You’ve got to know us, our ways, and even the things we don’t say. You managed to get even the quietest people to speak up during the training sessions and ensure that everyone’s voice was heard. Getting to know the client really is at the heart of what you do,” Oona says gratefully.

Would you recommend More Than Group?

”Absolutely. Quite a few organisations are grappling with the same challenges as we are. They all need consistent training for their line managers, and I can genuinely recommend you to a very wide range of organisations. You take the time to get to know the client, their industry and their people, and that makes your approach truly client-focused,” Antti sums up.

Oonan emphasises that gaining an understanding of the client’s operating environment, in particular, is what makes the collaboration effective. ”You’ll get to know us and the way we work. With your capabilities, you can achieve positive changes and results with pretty much any company.”

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In addition to the references described above, we have carried out a number of different types of client projects, and we are happy to share the lessons learned with you.