HR and staff training

What’s the use of a great business idea if you don’t have the people on board to make it a reality? Finland has become a leader in innovative human resources (HR) and staff training solutions, leveraging its strong educational foundations and technological advancements.

Discover five Finnish solutions that tackle various aspects of staffing.

COMPETENCE ASSESSMENT AND DEVELOPMENT: WOPI

Based on years of research by Dr. Petteri Niitamo, WOPI (Work Performance Inventory) is an advanced toolset for measuring competences in individuals and work teams. It includes WOPI for measurement of competence drivers, WOPI360 for appraisal of competent behaviour and WOPI-C for mapping out the organisation's competence culture.

Today, the toolset is widely used in recruitment, career planning, coaching and the development of work wellbeing. WOPI also helps in reskilling a workforce challenged by new competence requirements caused by digitalisation.

“We focus on the less-changing competences driven by age-old psychological drivers,” Niitamo told us a few years ago. “I could go back to the Stone Age, administer WOPI and find the same type of people we find today. There would be hunters driven by competition, leaders driven by leadership motives and shamans driven by intuitive thinking.”

THE HUMAN TOUCH IN RECRUITMENT: TALENTADORE

With offices in Finland’s Kerava, Sweden’s Örebro and UK’s Sutton, TalentAdore leverages artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced automation to deliver recruitment solutions for a better candidate experience and streamlined talent acquisition. Since its founding in 2014, the company has been on a mission to set a new standard in the recruitment industry.

“In today’s recruitment processes, we see a high number of bottlenecks that clever technology can remove and fix,” stated CEO and co-founder Saku Valkama. “To make a difference in the world of hiring, we established TalentAdore. We focus on bringing the human touch back to recruitment.”

By automating routine recruitment tasks, TalentAdore significantly reduces the administrative burden on HR professionals, allowing them to focus on strategic activities and building meaningful relationships with potential hires. This approach has earned the company a loyal customer base of over 15 000 HR professionals worldwide.

VIDEO INTERVIEW SOLUTIONS: RECRIGHT

Many candidate screening methods, such as CVs and phone interviews, tend to be time-consuming and don’t necessarily provide a complete picture of the candidate. Recright was founded in 2010 to simplify and enhance the hiring process by utilising the power of pre-recorded video interviews.

Over the years, Recright has grown into a leading Nordic video recruitment platform trusted by over 400 companies worldwide. Recright empowers hiring teams to make more informed decisions, provides a better experience to applicants and saves time for everyone involved in the hiring process.

“We see that video interviewing is on its way to becoming the new normal and that the Recright solution can be a key tool for HR organisations in this transformation,” said CEO Jussi Luhtasela, adding that the product is “mature enough for true international upscaling”.

CONTINUOUS LEARNING: OPPIA.FI

Years ago, Petri Väyrynen and his consulting company, Wakaru, created an automated process for handling all possible aspects of organising a training event. Around the same time, he noticed that even big corporations were beginning to look for small and agile training providers to update staff on changing technology.

“We figured it’d make sense to bring both big and small training houses together in a cost-effective way,” Väyrynen told us a few years ago.

Combining the logic of an online shop and Wakaru’s technology, Oppia.fi was launched to serve as a platform for companies that already operate in the field of training. Today, the platform offers a diverse range of courses, webinars and training programmes designed to enhance skills and competences across various industries.

“[W]e need to make sure that learning continues throughout life,” Väyrynen said. “[…] No one disputes the strategic role of competence development anymore.”

TRAINING THROUGH GAMIFICATION: SEPPO

This Helsinki-headquartered edtech company is transforming the landscape of corporate training through gamification. Seppo has developed a platform that turns training sessions into interactive games, making learning more engaging and effective, as well as helping to enhance employee motivation and knowledge retention.

Moreover, Seppo can be used by HR departments in recruitment and onboarding processes to build a positive company image, attract top talent and facilitate a smooth transition for new hires. The gamified approach also encourages collaboration and teamwork among employees.

“In school, learning has an intrinsic value. In business training, it is more about the process of change,” noted CEO Riku Alkio. “In both cases, the best results are achieved when the learner is an active player. There is no doubt about that.”

With offices also in the Netherlands and Brazil, Seppo has already assisted over 1 500 companies in more than 50 countries to gamify their business activities. Backed by investors, Seppo aims to continue international growth.