Staff interview with Miia Sysilahti, the Customer Service Officer of Elinar
It was the result of many coincidences when Miia Sysilahti arrived in Elinar over 13 years ago. A young woman studied Information Technology at Satakunta University of Applied Sciences (SAMK) and wondered where to apply for her internship. The traineeships for the company she was interested in had already been filled. Then Miia’s mother remembered Elinar, a local Software Company she had networked within her working life.
“I didn’t know exactly what Elinar was doing, but I decided to find it out and called there”, Miia recalls. The rest is history – with the traineeship, Miia found her place in the company and continued there as a part-time-worker when the training ended. After completing her studies, Miia transferred to Elinar full time.
Human-centric customer service
Initially, Miia’s job responsibilities included managing various document management projects and replacing administrative staff as needed. The young woman’s social skills were noticed, so when Elinar started to develop their own customer service desk, Miia became a Customer Service Officer. At the same time, there was found a need to centralize customers’ message requests more on one person in charge. When there is Miia working at the core of this process, Elinar has been able to respond to messages more quickly and direct them to the right expert, if needed.
Miia is closely involved in developing the customer service experience. Recently, there was an upgrade to a better ticketing system. Elinar also has a dedicated telephone number for maintenance customers. Members of the Customer Service Team take turns to be on call. “We want the customer to reach a real person in the case of emergency”, Miia explains. One of Elinar’s competitive strengths is that all experts work closely at the customer interface. “In the case of a bigger problem, the creator of the solution can help the customer with a troubleshoot and fix the problem.”
Determined work to improve well-being at work
Miia has been selected as an Occupational Safety Representative. She likes to implement practical ways to improve Elinar’s relaxed atmosphere even further. “The best thing about our workplace is, of course, these people – the whole work community”, Miia smiles. And she’s not alone with her opinion. “However, I believe that the current good situation is not has started by coincidence”, she continues. “Everyone gets noticed: colleagues are at least greeted when they come to work and leave. Many people here have known each other for a decade, which eases chatting. Still, there are no cliques – new employees are quickly gaining access to the community”, says Miia.
When people at Elinar started to measure well-being at work more systematically a few years ago, it wasn’t just about sight. “We went through the results not only in smaller groups but also with the entire staff. We discussed, for example, how things could be developed in concrete ways”, Miia recalls. “Today, we meet regularly in different working groups, and one of them is entirely focused on well-being at work. In addition, we started to gather together monthly for a house-wide information event to hear what’s going on with business, and discuss current practical issues. These things have increased transparency in our company”, Miia tells happily.
Well-being at work is about taking consider people and opinions
At Elinar, workers have implemented other practical ideas related to well-being at work, too. While they were working in the open office, they converted a storage room into a telephone booth. Last month Miia asked an occupational psychologist to come to tell more about mental load factors of expert work.
Good work atmosphere is influenced by everyone.
The latest surveys have shown that Elinar’s well-being has raised even further. “I believe that the experience of well-being at work is enhanced by the fact that there are certain people in the house who are working for improving it”, Miia ponders. “But in the end, our good work atmosphere is influenced by everyone. When we take consideration for others daily – like give thanks – it has a surprisingly strong positive impact.”
Creative pioneers
As is often the case with experts, Elinarians working days are often filled with many small tasks, which has led to the fragmentation of work. However, Miia also sees a lot of positive things there. “We have the freedom to work in our own style. If I don’t have any acute tasks on my table, I’m able to select the ones from my todo-list I feel most creative with at that very moment”, she explains enthusiastically.
Miia Sysilahti hopes to work at Elinar for a long time. “This industry is interesting, I like my job, and our company is on a growth path.” Although Elinar, described as a pioneer, works with the latest technologies and AI-assisted automation, people are not forgotten there. “We invest in reliable, user-oriented customer service and employee satisfaction”, says the Customer Service Manager. For Elinar, this means, for example, regular customer satisfaction surveys, comprehensive occupational health care, invests in the work environment, and common playing rules of the house. “My co-workers are so great that when I come to the office, the day always gets better, whether the morning started well or bad”, the mother of two children laughs. Her positive attitude is undoubtedly one of the factors contributing to work satisfaction at Elinar’s office.
