Can employees be encouraged to visit the office through exercise and group activities? Yes, answers the core group organizing Wärtsilä's communal WeDay activities.
After the pandemic, Wärtsilä's Turku office realized that many new people had joined the company over the years, whom long-term employees had never met in person. This sparked the idea for the communal WeDay activities, where people meet each other casually through various activities.
“The goal of the activity is to get people to the office and networking with each other. Wärtsilä has a total of 17,800 employees, 4,400 of whom are in Finland and 400 in Turku, so we want to organize activities so that the local community can meet, get to know each other, and do things together,” says Lauri Pessinen, who works as a project controller at Wärtsilä.
Remote work is common at Wärtsilä, and employees usually visit the office a couple of times a week.
“For many, their team colleagues work elsewhere in Finland or abroad, and people often only come in if something special is planned,” says Markus Koivusaari, who works as a Strategic Logistics Specialist at Wärtsilä.
Getting to know others living in the same city requires extra enthusiasm from someone working in a large international corporation, but through WeDay, new employees at Wärtsilä can easily get to know others working in the same office with a low threshold.
“As a location, Turun Tiedepuisto offers opportunities for a wide variety of activities. We have organized yoga, sound bath relaxation, and a Take Your Child to Work Day in and around the office, as well as a sauna evening and an underground art tour. In addition, we have played things like padel, badminton, table tennis, and darts. We also organize joint coffee breaks, breakfasts, and a monthly after-work event,” says Virpi Wiman, who works as a Service Manager at Wärtsilä.
Some of the We Day activities are partially self-funded, while others are covered by Wärtsilä. The events are organized with a small budget, because instead of extravagance, the most important thing is people meeting each other. There are usually 15–30 participants, or in the best cases, even hundreds.
“Turun Tiedepuisto has incredibly good transport connections, and there are several good restaurants here.”
“The most people attend events if food or treats are offered. We plan WeDay activities in monthly meetings, where we decide what to organize and when. There are currently about ten active members, and the group is growing all the time,” Pessinen continues.
Wärtsilä moved to Turun Tiedepuisto in the summer of 2022. The office and its location receive praise from the WeDay active members, and the events organized by Teknologiakiinteistöt are also appreciated at Wärtsilä.
“Turun Tiedepuisto has incredibly good transport connections, and there are several good restaurants here. Overall, the area offers plenty of services, so there's no need to leave during the workday for anything. The events organized by Teknologiakiinteistöt are really nice and high-quality, and people from our office regularly attend the Joki coffee events and Tiedepuisto workouts,” says Koivusaari.
Wärtsilä's old premises were located on Stålarminkatu in Martti, and although the spaces exuding Turku's industrial history were replaced by a modern multi-space environment, Pessinen, Koivusaari, and Wiman, at least, do not miss them.
“Our office is bright and modern. The open space took some getting used to at first, but there are plenty of meeting rooms, and peace and quiet are available for those who need it in the silent work area, which covers half of one entire floor,” says Wiman.
Wärtsilä
17,800 employees, 4,400 of whom are in Finland and 400 in Turku
Moved to Turun Tiedepuisto in August 2022
The premises are located in CivilCity and IndustryCity
