”The most impor­tant thing in work­ing life is…” – SAK’s Han­nele Ugur speaks about employ­ee rights

Work life is based on mutu­al trust between dif­fer­ent par­ties.

Mega­Match­mak­ing, one of Finland’s largest recruit­ment events which will be held in Oulu on Sep­tem­ber 25, brings togeth­er sev­er­al pro­fes­sion­als to dis­cuss the most inspir­ing top­ics relat­ed to work­ing life. One of the speak­ers is Han­nele Ugur, Head of Region­al Activ­i­ties at the Cen­tral Orga­ni­za­tion of Finnish Trade Unions, bet­ter known as SAK.

New speak­er! Miik­ka-Aukusti Heiska­nen will speak at Mega­Match­mak­ing instead of Han­nele Ugur.

Hav­ing worked for SAK for 27 years this Octo­ber, Han­nele Ugur is eager­ly look­ing for­ward to speak­ing to the Mega­Match­mak­ing audi­ence about employ­ee rights and respon­si­bil­i­ties.

The top­ic of Hannele’s talk, Finnish work cul­ture, as well as employ­ee rights and respon­si­bil­i­ties in Fin­land, is a nat­ur­al choice. It’s an area she active­ly works in.

– This top­ic is a big part of our work. We talk about it, for exam­ple, in edu­ca­tion­al insti­tu­tions.

Han­nele empha­sizes the impor­tance of job seek­ers and employ­ees being aware of the oppor­tu­ni­ty to join a trade union.

From her expe­ri­ence, she can say that a lot has changed in 30 years. For exam­ple, in addi­tion to tra­di­tion­al legal aid, trade unions now offer advice and career ser­vices – oppor­tu­ni­ties to devel­op and gain tools for the future.

– Espe­cial­ly in dif­fi­cult times, the idea that a human is a social being who needs oth­ers around them becomes more sig­nif­i­cant. In work­ing life, dur­ing tough times, the role of trade unions is to sup­port peo­ple when they need it. That’s why it’s impor­tant to rec­og­nize and be aware of the pos­si­bil­i­ty to join a union before a prob­lem encoun­tered in work­ing life becomes too big, Han­nele explains.

Addi­tion­al­ly, Han­nele high­lights the impor­tance of trade unions for inter­na­tion­al pro­fes­sion­als. Unions are a good way to cre­ate net­works in work­ing life and pro­vide dif­fer­ent forms of sup­port, such as lan­guage assis­tance and train­ing.

– Trade unions sup­port every­one, whether it’s in skills devel­op­ment or in those chal­leng­ing sit­u­a­tions in work­ing life, Han­nele reminds.

The rules of work­ing life apply to every­one

It’s also impor­tant to remem­ber that the pur­pose of unions is not to under­mine employ­ers or over­rule them.

– The most impor­tant thing in work­ing life is mutu­al trust between the par­ties. Just as it’s impor­tant for the employ­ee to trust that their salary will be paid on time, the employ­er must be able to trust the employ­ee and their work con­tri­bu­tion, Han­nele says.

“The most impor­tant thing in work­ing life is mutu­al trust between the par­ties.”

The rules of work­ing life taught in edu­ca­tion­al insti­tu­tions, mean­ing employ­ee rights and respon­si­bil­i­ties in Fin­land, also include edu­ca­tion about how work­ing life is about coop­er­a­tion, open com­mu­ni­ca­tion, and the mutu­al trust that Han­nele men­tioned.

A pinch of courage in job search­ing

Han­nele wants to encour­age job seek­ers in their job search.

– Be brave, apply bold­ly to inter­est­ing posi­tions, and remem­ber that the job search process is always a learn­ing expe­ri­ence – regard­less of the out­come. Remem­ber to ask for feed­back and work on devel­op­ing your­self and your skills, Han­nele says.

She sends sim­i­lar advice to employ­ers:

– The job search process is always a mutu­al learn­ing expe­ri­ence, and employ­ers should also be brave, ask for feed­back, and be will­ing to receive it.

Miik­ka-Aukusti Heiska­nen: Finnish work­ing life and cul­ture — Employ­ees rights and oblig­a­tions in Fin­land
Pre­sen­ta­tion time: 11.30–12.00

Inter­na­tion­al Tal­ent in Oulu – Your Oppor­tu­ni­ty Awaits at Mega­Match­mak­ing 2024!

Look­ing to advance your career in Oulu? Join us at Mega­Match­mak­ing 2024, one of Finland’s largest recruit­ment events, where glob­al tal­ents meet local oppor­tu­ni­ties. It is a free event for every­one. No reg­is­tra­tion need­ed.

• Date: Wednes­day, 25 Sep­tem­ber
• Loca­tion: Tullisali, Oulu (Tyrnävän­tie 16)
• Time: 9 AM – 3 PM
• Free Bus Ser­vice: Non-stop from Oulu’s city cen­ter (Tor­in­ran­ta) start­ing at 8:45 AM.

Read more:

Trans­form­ing Recruit­ment: Anna-Mai­ja Västilä on the Future of Job Hunt­ing at Mega­Match­mak­ing 2024

Becom­ing a Mag­net to Employ­ers: Learn­ing from Luku­manu Iddrisu