Leadership Profiles: Maija Hakuli

Leadership

How would you describe yourself as a leader?

Maija believes in creating an engaging, lively environment with her team daily, built on a foundation of clear, open communication across the team.

"As a leader, I strive to create a fair, positive, and fun environment for my team. I prioritize their performance and encourage open communication for problem-solving and support.” Maija describes her approach to leading her team.

The personal well-being of her team members plays a pivotal role in Maija’s leadership:

“I maintain a lively atmosphere and engage with my team daily – I lead by example, jumping in to help during busy or challenging times. I trust my team's expertise and avoid micromanaging, focusing instead on enabling their growth and providing support when needed."

How does Etteplan support leadership and growth?

Although initially starting at Etteplan as a visual designer, Maija quickly progressed to team leader, then team manager, and now department manager.

“I’ve experienced a tremendously supportive journey of growth and development at Etteplan. My superiors recognized and nurtured my potential, trusting my skills just as I now trust my team's abilities.” Maija reminisces on her journey so far at Etteplan.

“Etteplan provides extensive training opportunities for continuous learning and growth. The support from both my team members and superiors has been exceptional, as we all strive to push each other forward for the better."

Culture

How would you describe the culture at Etteplan?

“I think the best way to describe the culture at Etteplan is low hierarchy and open communication. I really appreciate the ability to easily connect with anyone in the company and receive thoughtful responses.” Maija fondly describes the culture within Etteplan as comfortable and open.

“The company helps cultivate a diverse and collaborative environment, which I find amazing to be a part of. After almost 8 years, I’ve made so many friends at the company and I truly feel at home. It's a great feeling."

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

Maija breaks down the strides she takes to help cultivate a safe, inclusive company environment:

"I strive to create a safe environment within the company where open communication is valued. I encourage team members to come to me with any issues or mistakes and always focus on finding solutions rather than assigning blame - learning from mistakes is crucial to succeeding in the long-term.”

The progressiveness of Etteplan was also touched on by Maija.

“I was also thrilled to see Etteplan participate in Pride Month, I think it really helped to showcase our commitment to inclusivity. I try to support inclusive, progressive initiatives like Pride Month whenever possible."

Values

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

“Technical documentation, or any engineering work, is a form of customer service, and Etteplan’s values represent the basis of great customer service. Customer satisfaction is super important to us and they are all connected to the fundamental concept that if the customers are happy, then we are happy.”  

Maija mentions how easy it is for her to pursue our Etteplan’s company values due to how well they resonate with her own values.

“I don't think I can necessarily separate them; they all combine together to allow a focus on customer satisfaction. Personally, I genuinely express myself and align with these values, making it easy to translate them into my work. I enjoy engaging with our wonderful customers, having meetings, and collaborating with them."

How are the values seen in practice?

“We have amazing people working in the team, they are very customer oriented and proactive. Seeing how they're growing within the team is amazing. Seeing your colleagues grow and gain new experiences, and later thrive under new responsibility feels like a really amazing representation of these values flourishing within our company and business.” Maija explained.

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

“Go outside of your comfort zone. If you do, you'll be met with the greatest opportunities and best times in your life - you'll never know your true potential if you never try. Be brave, be yourself, unless you can be batman. In which case, always be Batman.