Login: FinlandCulture and Talent Highlight
In this series, we highlight the individuals who make our business unique. Here, you will get to know the employees behind the successes – their journeys, talents, and how they contribute to shaping our culture. Through their stories, we gain insight into how individual strengths collaborate to create a dynamic and forward-thinking work environment.
Ropo’s continuous development has not only been visible in the company’s growth over the years, but it has also enabled employees to develop at least the same pace. A perfect example of this is Joona Suihkonen, who currently works in the role of Head of Business Client Service. Nearly eight years at Ropo have included several roles and teams, as well as a bunch of experience and learning accumulated through practical work.
Growing alongside the company
Joona’s story at Ropo began when he was looking for change in his working life. Approximately ten years of customer service experience provided a solid foundation for the role of Customer Advisor, from which a new career path at Ropo opened. After working as a Customer Advisor for about six months, Joona first stepped into a Team Leader role and then into a Customer Service Manager. Later, a slightly different manager position became available on the accounts receivable side due to a parental leave arrangement, and Joona seized that opportunity.
Since last October, he has been working in his current position as Head of Business Client Service. Returning to the customer service side has been enjoyable, although the lessons learned in accounts receivable team also serve him well in his current role.
“My career path has been one of continuous learning. The training and onboarding provided by Ropo have supported the practical lessons that I have accumulated myself along the way in different roles. I noticed very early in my career that the best way to learn is by boldly doing and trying things. For example, accounts receivable was a completely unfamiliar field to me when I moved into it,” Joona says.
According to Joona, he joined Ropo around the time when the company’s operations started growing significantly. However, that did not intimidate him; rather, it encouraged him to grow together with the company.
“At first, Ropo had that kind of ‘small company spirit,’ but quite soon it became clear to me that growth was happening and things were changing. As a result, there were many changes in my own career right from the beginning because the growth was so rapid. Although Ropo is now a company of a completely different scale, certain characteristics and ways of operating from those early days have not disappeared, which is a good thing.”
Silence refers to success
According to Joona, his current role is extremely diverse and therefore highly motivating. At the center of everything is enabling the success of both his own team and Ropo’s clients.
“My team works continuously with our clients, and our goal is to enable the smooth functioning of our services for them. The client perspective is present in everything we do daily, and we continuously strive to develop our services and find solutions that ensure success,” he explains.
The work of Joona’s team is directly reflected, for example, in client retention and client satisfaction among Ropo’s clients. Feedback on daily services is received continuously, and Joona’s team always responds to it as efficiently as possible. Broader client satisfaction surveys are conducted a few times a year.
“The clearest sign of our success is that our clients are satisfied and want to continue using our services. Our continuous feedback surveys exist so that we receive up-to-date feedback from our clients. If something needs to be corrected, we can react quickly. The broader client satisfaction surveys then provide a better understanding of how we have succeeded across Ropo as a whole over the long term.”
So, could it be said that quieter days are a sign of client satisfaction?
“Yes, you could say that”, Joona says with a slight laugh.
“Usually, if it’s a quieter day, it means that things are going well for our clients and everything is working. On those days, there is more time to advance longer-term projects and initiatives, which is very welcome alongside the more hectic days.”
Supporting clients and the team
According to Joona, the content of his workdays varies greatly, although certain elements, such as goals and more routine tasks, remain the same from day to day. A typical workday usually consists of reviewing the previous day’s data, going through reports, and carrying out tasks typical for a manager, such as taking care of employees and communicating with them.
“I usually start my workday by checking what the previous day has, so to speak, ‘contained.’ This mainly means reviewing data and reports and investigating various matters. Based on these, I can consider what we could improve and where we are currently succeeding. In addition, my workdays may include meetings with clients and advancing development initiatives,” Joona says.
His responsibilities also include ongoing communication and cooperation with Ropo’s various teams. Joona is often involved in exchanging ideas whenever an issue relates to or affects Ropo’s clients in some way. In addition, he looks after his own team and provides them with support as their manager.
Joona feels that he has grown as a manager primarily through experience. There have also been several mistakes along the way. However, he sees mistakes as the most important opportunities for his personal growth.
“The most memorable achievement so far at Ropo is, in general, how much I have been able to experience and learn over the years. I now have a certain confidence in my own work, and I have found my own leadership style. All of that has come through experience,” he explains.
From work place to the ice rink
In the country of ice hockey world champions, it may not come as a surprise that many people have at least tried the sport at some point in their lives. After his playing career, however, Joona has continued in ice hockey in a somewhat different role: as a referee.
“During the winter, I referee ice hockey games here in the Kuopio region and sometimes elsewhere in Finland as well. During the hockey season, it takes up most of my weekends.”
According to Joona, there is a lot in common between his role at Ropo and his role as an ice hockey referee. Despite the different operating environments, success in both roles requires recognizing one’s own leadership style and having strong communication skills.
“By discussing things, you can get quite far, and it is rarely necessary to rely entirely on the authority that comes with your role,” he states.
Just as in working life, very different situations can arise in which experience ultimately speaks for itself. According to Joona, it is specifically through his work at Ropo that he has learned to recognize leadership approaches that can also be utilized as a referee.
“In practice, that means knowing when you need to be a firm leader and when a more conversational approach and compromises work better.”
Joona Suihkonen
Head of Business Client Service
Ropo Finland