Lapp Connecto to receive Open-minded Trailblazer Recognition Award from the Finnish Red Cross

For 2019, the Savo-Carelia branch of the Finnish Red Cross has decided to award recognition to two recipients because the excellence of their work made it impossible to distinguish between them! One of them, Lapp Connecto Oy has received recognition in North Savo.

Lapp Connecto Oy - An employer of immigrants in Vieremä

Lapp Connecto Oy, a company manufacturing cables and wiring harnesses for the needs of machine and equipment building, has operated at Vieremä since 2008. It also has operations at Hyvinkää and in Poland.

For several years the company has hired immigrants and has trained them in its own units. Rather than focusing exclusively on their previous qualifications and background, the company has valued the desire to learn. Immigrants appreciate Lapp Connecto and want to work there.

The employer has also trained its Finnish employees on how best to relate to immigrants and what to focus on, in their orientation, in order to achieve the best results for everyone.

Lapp Connecto’s activities with immigrants have been bold and open-minded.

The following is an interview with Janne Rautula, Manager of Lapp Connecto Oy’s Vieremä factory:

Question: How did you get the idea and the audacity to start hiring immigrants for your company?

Answer: Because we are a production facility we often have resource needs, and sometimes also challenges to get workers. So we have open-mindedly sought to hire workers for our company, regardless of their nationality, by arranging orientation visits, for example. This has led to language and work practices, often involving immigrants.

Question: Approximately how many nationalities do you have in your factory?

Answer: Currently we are employing people from about 10 countries – including Finland, Thailand, Bulgaria, Russia, Estonia, Iran, Ukraine and Nicaragua, for example.

Question: Have the immigrants contributed anything new to your company?

Answer: We feel that our multicultural workplace is a blessing. It has greatly enriched us, and the way in which we relate to immigrants has changed over the years. Finland is, after all, a small country, and those of our employees who come from elsewhere have helped to broaden and elevate the world views and tolerance of the whole personnel. At the same time we’ve also learned to relate much more cheerfully, honestly and fairly towards both our daily work and our fellow employees.

Question: What have been your biggest wins on this journey?

Answer: Our language skills and communication have improved in one way or another. But the biggest win of the multicultural environment has definitely been the good workers, great colleagues and long-term employment relationships we’ve gained.

Question: Are there perhaps any future plans regarding multiculturality that you are prepared to disclose now?

Answer: We’re part of the global LAPP Group and multiculturality is a natural part of our company’s operating culture. We’ll continue to commit to personnel development and a vibrant and varied working community.