Visidon Wins Oulu’s Inter­na­tion­al Employ­er of the Year Award

Con­grat­u­la­tions to Visidon, win­ner of the Inter­na­tion­al Employ­er of the Year in Oulu Award. The prize was pre­sent­ed on Wednes­day to Visidon’s Head of Peo­ple and Cul­ture, Sami Töyrylä.

This year, the com­pe­ti­tion sought inspir­ing suc­cess sto­ries with the goal of shar­ing best prac­tices in inter­na­tion­al recruit­ment and strength­en­ing Oulu’s rep­u­ta­tion as an attrac­tive hub for glob­al tal­ent.

The award deci­sion high­light­ed that high-tech com­pa­ny Visidon has under­stood from the very begin­ning how inter­na­tion­al work­ers can strength­en busi­ness. Around ten per­cent of Visidon’s employ­ees are inter­na­tion­al tal­ents.

The com­pa­ny offers equal oppor­tu­ni­ties for both Finnish and for­eign employ­ees. Lan­guage skills or the lack of them are not a bar­ri­er, as Eng­lish is the offi­cial com­pa­ny lan­guage.

Inter­na­tion­al employ­ees are ful­ly inte­grat­ed into the work com­mu­ni­ty and are not treat­ed as a sep­a­rate group. Visidon also has a tra­di­tion of orga­niz­ing Nights of Cul­ture events, where employ­ees show­case aspects of their cul­ture, such as food.

It was also revealed dur­ing the award cer­e­mo­ny that the com­pe­ti­tion appli­ca­tion was writ­ten by one of Visidon’s inter­na­tion­al employ­ees.

An hon­orary men­tion went to the Uni­ver­si­ty of Oulu, where more than a quar­ter of the staff are inter­na­tion­al employ­ees. The uni­ver­si­ty has worked con­sis­tent­ly to sup­port employ­ee well-being and inte­gra­tion. Clear process­es, such as Finnish lan­guage cours­es and the Spouse Pro­gram, help employ­ees and their fam­i­lies set­tle into life in Oulu.

The award for the Uni­ver­si­ty of Oulu was received by HR Spe­cial­ist Kaisu Kanstrén and Diver­si­ty and Inclu­sion Spe­cial­ist Taina Cooke.

The prizes were pre­sent­ed by Jen­ni­mari Koskela, Chair of JCI Oulu, and Project Man­ag­er Rei­ja Kar­jalainen. The event was part of the Oulu Inter­na­tion­al Net­work meet­ing.