Staff interview with Anne Simula, the Office Secretary of Elinar
When new employees start to work for Elinar, Anne Simula is one of the first persons they meet. She has taken care of the administration of Elinar over eight years now and she knows how important the first impression is. “I still remember how good it felt to start in Elinar”, Anne tells. Now she is the one who takes care of the first impression.
Precise office work in a changing world
Anne has almost always worked as an Office Secretary. The company and industry have changed from time to time but the love for administrative work has remained. “I like to make systematic and meticulous work. I am very comfortable with these tasks – I never get bored” she says with a smile on her face. Anne’s work includes managing accounts payable and receivable, tracking working hours and organizing business trips. Moreover, there are numerous other tasks related to daily life in the office.
“I never get bored.”
Digitalization and internationalization have brought nice changes to Anne’s work because the core of the job has not changed much over the years. “I like learning how to use new systems”, Anne says. “And I often use English during my workdays, so my language skills do not rust”, she adds. Elinar trades globally and it has branch offices in Sweden and Norway. In addition, there are employees and customers with different nationalities and thus, the official language of the company is English.
An open working culture with coffee breaks
The organizational culture of Elinar is very youthful and contemporary even though the company was founded already 25 years ago. “We have a really open atmosphere”, Anne praises. “I can talk about any issues for example directly to the CEO whose door is always open”, she says. By saying it, she is referring to Elinar’s CEO Mikko Hörkkö who is sitting in the next room. The company has very little hierarchical structures or tight partitions. All employees, from coders to managers, communicate with each other without boundaries. “Our work community is very diverse – there are men and women of all ages and backgrounds”, Anne explains.
“We have a really open atmosphere.”
In Anne’s opinion, colleagues are the best part of working at Elinar. Co-workers often discuss everyday life and other current topics when they are having a coffee break together. “Cooperation works well when we know each other on a personal level. It has always been nice to come to work when you know that you’ll see the others here”, Anne smiles. Overall, the social and immediate woman herself can be described as the heart of the office.
Long-term commitment to the company and personal well-being
Currently, there are about 30 employees at Elinar – most of them work in Pori. Elinar’s long history and a strong position in the Nordic countries give Anne confidence that the company still has room for growth. “Sure, we have clients and projects around the world all the time, but I see great potential especially in Sweden and Norway in the coming years”, she says.
Anne hopes to stay at Elinar for the rest of her career. She came to the house to replace Elinar’s first Office Secretary who was retiring. “The changeover went well – we both worked part-time in parallel for almost a year”, Anne explains. Because she is working daily in front of a desk, Anne takes care of her well-being through pilates and annual ski trips. But most of all, she jogs every day with the family’s miniature schnauzer called Remu. Anne is not the only animal-loving employee at Elinar – pictures and videos of beloved pets are shown to each other during coffee breaks.
