Vaisala Corporate Responsibility Report 2011

Case: Vaisala Giant Leap Internship Program Introduced in the UK
Come as You Are
In 2011 we extended an already well-established
project from Finland to our UK office.
We took a leap of our own and introduced our
acclaimed Giant Leap concept to our Birmingham
office. Birmingham is a major student city in the
UK with three major universities with over 75,000
students as part of the city’s population. Vaisala’s
UK business has close links with one local university
in particular as it was originally a start-up company
at the University of Birmingham, before being
acquired by Vaisala in 1989. Even today, the offices
remain next to the University campus.
Making the decision to extend the program was actually
an easy one as it has always fulfilled its aims of:
Providing challenging opportunities to capable,
curious and willing students
Giving project supervisors access to some of the
latest thinking in their fields
Achieving important ‘real work’ outcomes for the
business
Managers and potential supervisors were clearly
waiting for this opportunity themselves, as we were
over-subscribed for project topics and making a
selection was quite difficult. In the end we took three
interns on for approximately three months each over
the summer of 2011. The projects covered a broad
range of topics including Marketing; Research and;
Business Development.
The students all had some local connection to
Birmingham, either through studying nearby or living
in the area (or both) which added an additional
positive dimension to the program as we were
supporting the local community.
It was a tough selection process, but as the
intention is to treat interns as ‘real’ employees to give
them the complete working experience, this was just
as it should have been. Choosing the right candidates
from a talented selection pool is never easy. We
oriented the interns as we would any new starting
employees and then set them to work. Feedback on
both the recruitment and orientation processes was
very positive.
Throughout the summer, the Giant Leapers
worked alongside and with their supervisors and
many other Vaisala colleagues, drawing on the
huge accumulated knowledge around them. In
addition they variously interviewed customers,
visited sites in the field and talked with academic
or scientific experts in their project field.
Additionally, they entered wholeheartedly into the
Vaisala community, attending events and social
occasions, including donning fancy dress for the
annual summer party.
There were various benchmark meetings – linked
up over the internet with the Giant Leapers in Finland
– during their internships where they presented their
projects, interim status and final findings. In addition
they all produced reports for their project supervisors
and other interested parties. All were considered
a success, even though one actually disproved an
original hypothesis of their project supervisor! Each
one produced important and valuable conclusions and
information for Vaisala to take forward.
The result of the experience has been
overwhelmingly positive and we are once again
taking Giant Leap interns in the UK during 2012.
Meanwhile in Finland: Giant Leap “Future
Workshop”
At the end of the summer, Giant Leap interns at the
Helsinki office were challenged to think about future
workplaces and work communities. What kind of
employer would these young talents like to work for
in 2020 The workshop atmosphere was creative and
stimulating, and the interns were invited on the basis
of the Giant Leap slogan: Come as you are - just as
long as you are curious!
Lively discussions filled the third floor of the main
building, where interns were keen to challenge the
current thinking and assumptions of “Generation Y”.
What makes work meaningful Dream job in 2020
Leadership and expectations regarding team leaders
The excellent summary presentations given by the
interns gave our Human Resources team a lot to think
about and great ideas for developing Vaisala further
as an employer.
Anna, Katie and Fiona at Vaisala’s
Birmingham office
46 Vaisala Oyj Corporate Responsibility Report 2011