Corporate Spirit newsletter is a quarterly publication of Corporate Spirit targeted for our interest groups. In this paper we handle the new developments in the area of employee engamenet surveys, leadership assessments and how to best utilise them. We also discuss the added value we have been able to create for our customers and share interesting success stories as described by our stake-holders.

1. HR INTELLIGENCE TO SUPPORT BUSINESS SUCCESS.
Sami Laine, HR Partner, Finavia Corporation
During the next few years, Finavia will invest close to 900 million euros
into developing Helsinki Airport. It goes without saying that employees’
ability to perform is essential in order to make that investment profitable.
At Finavia, employee engagement surveys and leadership assessments
have been carried out for several years. According to HR Partner & HRD
Manager Sami Laine, the results are monitored with a keen eye, even
at board level.
“The surveys play a significant role, as Finavia is systematically building
a high-performing culture. Based on the results of each survey, we
choose our development areas for business units and corporate
levels. The units are responsible for improving their respective areas
while the HR department provides the required support.”
At Finavia, people generally take exceptional pride in their work. Aviation
has always been a somewhat mysterious, intriguing area that naturally
creates interest as a workplace. According to Sami Laine, this is also a
factor that builds engagement and a willingness to contribute. Along
with identifying areas that need improvement, employee and leadership
4
2014
”ENGAGEMENT IS AN ESSENTIAL SUCCESS FACTOR”
surveys play an important role in seeing how successfully important
matters such as objectives and overall progress have been communicated.
“The latest AirPeople™ survey, conducted by Corporate Spirit Ltd,
revealed that motivation levels are already at a very good level. As
we prepare to take the next leap at Helsinki Airport, it is evident that
further training is required. Special services and top-notch safety are
essential success factors in our quest to make Helsinki Airport the
most important hub between Europe and Asia.”
Building a high-performing airport culture takes time. Together with
big investments, it goes without saying that Finavia is looking at a
couple of exceptionally busy years ahead. In situations like this, Sami
Laine is happy to be able to deal with committed employees that are
interested in training and developing their skills further.
“Building a high-performing airport culture requires a lot of skill
and engagement, but it also needs elements such as creativity and
determination to get things done. The fact that Finavia’s people consider
their work interesting and meaningful helps us in a remarkable way.”
Finavia provides airport, passenger and air navigation services to facilitate smooth air
traffic. The company continuously maintains and develops its network of 25 airports and
Finland’s air navigation system. Finavia’s customers include airlines, other operators in
the aviation sector and passengers. Every year, over 19 million passengers fly via Finavia’s
airports. In 2013, the company had EUR 352 million in revenue and 2,800 employees.

2. EDITORIAL HIGH PERFORMANCE CULTURE EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT
CHANGE IN THE AIR
The year 2014 has marked the 100th anniversary
of commercial aviation. The impact has been
phenomenal. Last year, just a century after
the first commercial passenger caught the
first flight, over 6.3 billion passengers passed
through airports around the world.
Over this period, airports have been going
through a massive transformation. They
have changed from small landing strips to
complex businesses which have to operate as
commercial enterprises and manage many
diverse and demanding stakeholders.
How can airports raise their game in the face
of these rapid changes? Whilst airports differ in
ownership structure, size and national culture,
all airports have to perform the same basic
functions. This provides a great opportunity for
airports to learn from each other and develop a
shared understanding of what works well.
The development of shared metrics, for
example passenger satisfaction data (the
ASQ) and environmental measures (carbon
accreditation), has been a major catalyst for
sector wide change. Once a common language
is established, benchmarking becomes a real
possibility and best practices can be shared.
This approach has now been extended in
European airports to the measurement of
organisation culture through the ACI Europe
AirPeople™ survey, which has been designed
together with Corporate Spirit to enable
European airports to benchmark how they are
doing in relation to other airports so they can
gain a better understanding of what it takes to
develop an engaged, motivated and committed
high performance workforce.
It’s a major step forward and one which we look
forward to developing with the European airport
sector and Corporate Spirit over the next few years.
DR RICHARD PLENTY AND
TERRI MORRISSEY
Directors
This Is… Ltd
A BETTER VIEW
OF THE AIRPORT
Along with many other types of business, the airport sector
is facing the challenge of finding the right balance between
investing in capital infrastructure, streamlining operations and
developing a high-performing culture that is able to adapt to
changing needs and requirements.
As the speed of change increases and challenges at work become more diverse, the
influence of external factors on employee engagement becomes more significant.
In the midst of political and economic turbulence, organisations face tougher
requirements than ever. Predicting the future has become almost impossible.
Several research projects carried out by Corporate Spirit clearly indicate that when it comes
to the airport industry, this development is as real as anywhere else. One of the biggest
challenges, from both employer’s and employees’ points of view, is to maintain cost-efficiency
while smartly investing in the future. Furthermore, working in an airport environment has
several distinguishing characteristics that need to be recognised when making the most of
critical issues such as employee engagement and performance.
Corporate Spirit has recently conducted a research investigation that has analysed airport
personnel’s views and opinions about their work and organisation culture. At the same time,
the critical issues for the organisation and work were examined. The survey was conducted
in co-operation with the sector’s European trade body for airports ACI Europe and This Is…
Ltd, a company specialising in organisation and leadership development in the airport sector.

3. HIGH PERFORMANCE CULTURE
Six international airports from Europe and Asia participated in the
research. ACI Europe’s AirPeople™ concept, developed by Corporate
Spirit together with industry specialists This Is…, was utilised in
gathering the data.
THE RESULTS REVEAL THE SPEED OF CHANGE
The research indicated that airport work is considered challenging
and interesting. Respondents felt that their employers put significant
efforts to the wellbeing of employees. At the same time, the regulated
nature of the environment seems to be associated with a degree of
process formality that can make change difficult to communicate
and implement.
The results of the research confirm that a high performance culture is a
goal worth striving for. After all, by enhancing employee engagement,
developing leadership and creating opportunities for performance
Picture: Finavia
excellence, organisations – together with committed employees – have
better opportunities to build new kinds of competitive advantages.
THE INFLUENCE OF THE GLOBAL BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
AND CULTURAL DIFFERENCES
“The global airport sector is a good example of a workplace with cultural
versatility. To draw the right conclusions and determine the right
development methods, the research has, at all times, to both reflect
the local culture and provide insights into the industry as a whole,” says
Juha Ala-Lipasti, Corporate Spirit’s Head of International Operations.
”In addition to benchmarking survey results against the local culture,
our clients can utilise our business line expertise in the form of
international airport benchmark data.”
The detailed results of the research were presented at Airport Leadership and Change
Management Summit, organised by ACI Europe in Munich 1.–3.12.2014

4. UTILISE YOUR TALENT
Without proper talent management approach, companies have a hard
time trying to be successful. Luckily, evidence shows that companies
that invest in developing talent, leadership excellence and a high
degree of employee engagement are most likely to perform best and
understand the change that drives future success.
An effective talent management system secures business continuity
and at its best, offers the company a valuable strategic tool. Clear
strategic choices, as well as knowing the business and the people, are
key elements in building tomorrow’s business. A strategic development
plan is necessary to tackle competence deficiencies that might, if not
realised, prevent the company from reaching its vision.
360-degree evaluations are a well-known and widely used way to
support the talent management process to improve leadership
excellence. 360 Expert evaluations instead, are still an untapped
opportunity. While being a useful tool to support the selection of high
potentials it also helps organisations to find right focus in high potential
programme design. In addition to developing talents, the evaluations
might motivate and retain the high potentials and invite them to give
their best to the company.
The entire “Talent Management as a Strategic Tool for Future Success” article can be read at
SEASON’S GREETINGS!
Corporate Spirit wishes all its clients, collaborators and readers of this
newsletter a merry Christmas and a successful New Year! This year,
we have donated a total of 8.000 euros to our favourite charities –
WWF and Save the Children foundation.
MEET US AT
Editor-in-chief: Jukka Pohjola | Editor: Piia Aalto | Layout: Mainostoimisto Dynastia | Circulation: 7 200
ANNUKKA VÄISÄNEN has worked for more than 10 years
in HRD, developing leadership and organisations, and is
currently a Senior Consultant at Corporate Spirit Ltd.
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EMPLOYEE SURVEYS
360 ° ASSESSMENTS
INTERNAL CO-OPERATION SURVEYS
SOLUTIONS FOR UTILISING THE SURVEYS
AND ASSESSMENTS
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28.1.2015 600 Min HR – Helsinki, Finland
12.5.2015 600 Min HR – Oslo, Norway
www.corporatespirit.eu/page/tools_for_success