Leadership profiles: Elina Erjamo

Leadership 

How would you describe yourself as a leader? 

“I think I am, or at least I try to be empathic, approachable, so it’s easy for my team come to me if they need something. Also encouraging, I try to encourage team members and be supportive of their career plans. This is important because not everyone has the same plans, some may be happy in the position that they are in, and some may want to go in different directions. I always try to help them find solutions and ways to reach those goals.”   

How does Etteplan support leadership and growth? 

Having always had great supervisors and managers that have been supportive and also helped find solutions. “My managers have always trusted me and believed in me in my own career path and wishes, so that is the best support which I have got from Etteplan.” With a great competence group of peers and managers, there is always support for any situation.  

“Just be yourself and do what you are best at” was the advice given to Elina by one of her managers when she was in a tough spot, this is something she continues to remind herself and her team of, to build confidence in themselves.  

Culture 

How would you describe the culture at Etteplan?  

“This is quite a difficult question for me in a way, I joined Etteplan from an acquisition of a smaller company and then joined the Etteplan brand. So, from that history I think we have brought some small-company culture, at least to our business unit.” Being open minded and forward looking with our culture, even though Etteplan is a stock market listed company, it is important to make sure there is still a sense of community.  

In what ways do you feel you have an impact on the company culture? 

“I think I am at least able to affect our culture in the unit, raising people's ideas and being present where needed.” Elina also highlights how even the small things can have a large impact, “we have a ‘Thank you’ channel in Teams for Finland’s software and embedded solutions - cloud and applications business unit,” keeping things positive is important for Elina’s team and the culture of the entire business unit. This is one of the practices that she believes could be shared with other teams as well!  

Values 

Our values are: Customer oriented, attractive and proactive. What do they mean to you? 

“Customer orientation is something that is keeping everything up, we wouldn’t exist without them. There is this saying that the customer is always right, and the reason why we don’t think that way is because we need to be proactive in telling the customer when something could be done better, being proactive in finding better solutions for our customers.” 

Attractiveness to customers is important, especially on the technical side, using the latest technology and appealing to a range of customers. “We also need to be attractive to staff, and potential recruits with a good working environment and benefits.”  

How are the values seen in practice? 

“One example of how our values are seen in practice is in our daily activities, even in the small things. Customer orientation is answering emails and questions quickly. By doing this, the customer feels valued.”  

Proactiveness can really be seen in sales, making sure that customers are always aware of the latest offerings. 

Attractive is standing out and being interesting to partners and employees, "we have really good benefits for employees, something we are incredibly proud of." 

Wildcard: If you could offer one piece of advice about anything, what would it be? 

1. Believe in yourself. 

2. There are no stupid questions. You can always ask and get help from your peers and others.