Can employees be encouraged to visit the office through exercise and group activities? Yes, says 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 those who had worked there longer had never met in person. This sparked the idea for the employee-led WeDay initiative, where people meet each other in a relaxed atmosphere 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 to ensure the local community meets, gets to know each other, and does things together,” says Lauri Pessinen, who works as a project controller at Wärtsilä.
Remote work is common at Wärtsilä, and people usually visit the office a couple of times a week.
“For many, colleagues on their own team work elsewhere in Finland or abroad, and often people only come in if there’s something special happening,” says Markus Koivusaari, who works as a Strategic Logistics Specialist at Wärtsilä.
Getting to know other people living in the same city requires extra enthusiasm when working in a large international company, but through WeDay, a new employee at Wärtsilä can meet other people working in the same office with a low threshold.
“Turun Tiedepuisto offers opportunities for a wide range of activities. We have organized yoga, sound bowl relaxation, and Take Your Child to Work Day at the office and its surroundings, as well as a sauna evening and an underground art tour. In addition, we have played padel, badminton, table tennis, and darts, among other things. We also organize joint coffee breaks, breakfasts, and a monthly afterwork,” says Virpi Wiman, who works as a Service Manager at Wärtsilä.
Some of the WeDay activities are partially self-funded, while others are covered by Wärtsilä. The events are organized with a small budget, because instead of extravagances, the most important thing is people meeting each other. There are usually 15–30 participants, or at best, hundreds.
”Turku Science Park has incredibly good transport connections and there are several great restaurants here.”
“The most people attend events if there is food or treats on offer. We plan WeDay activities at 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 WeDay activists, 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. In general, there are a lot of services in the area, and you don’t need to leave here during the workday for anything. The events organized by Teknologiakiinteistöt are really nice and of high quality, and people from our company 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. At first, the open space took some getting used to, but there are plenty of meeting rooms in the office, and peace and quiet are available for those who need it in the silent working area, which covers half of an 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
Premises are located in CivilCity and IndustryCity
