Vaisala - Annual Report 2005

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Personnel invited to innovate

Innovation Management was an important development area in 2005, as in the previous year. Vaisala participated actively in the Industrial Innovation Management program organized by the Technical Research Centre of Finland. Vaisala participants focused particularly on developing innovation management practices. These were also highlighted in business units, which continued to participate in the Technical Research Centre of Finland's Voitto project and Helsinki University of Technology's Coinno research project.

A designated Innovation Management Forum was established in the beginning of 2005 to coordinate the development work. The Forum was very active throughout the year. As one of the new innovation initiatives, Vaisala personnel were invited to participate in an Innovation Competition. The goal was to activate the personnel to organize into small teams and to develop new business-, product-, and service concepts in pre-defined strategic areas.

Approximately 120 employees from nine different countries participated in the competition. The event culminated in September in an Innovation Fair, where the 13 finalists, selected from 65 proposals, were introduced.

Customer-focus highlighted

A development project was launched in January 2005 to highlight Vaisala's Customer focus value. The first phase focused on the development of customer segmentation. The decision was taken to continue the project, based on an analysis presented in May. The goal was to establish shared customer care models and procedures throughout the organization.

During the fall, the account management development project focused on establishing the basis for the new organization, which enables easy access for customers to Vaisala's offering, and helps sales to further develop their understanding of customer applications and needs. In November, efforts to develop customer care models were highlighted.

Personnel development and its main emphasis

Efforts to further develop employees' application skills continued in 2005. Approximately 80 people from the Vaisala Helsinki head office participated in a hydrological-meteorological education program, developed together with the University of Helsinki, the Finnish Meteorological Institute and the Finnish Environmental Institute. An Aviation Weather course, developed together with the University of Helsinki and the Finnish Meteorological Institute, was attended by 52 Vaisala Helsinki personnel. An Introduction to Weather course was given twice during the year as part of the new employees' orientation program in Finland. Basic weather training was also launched in offices in the United States. The goal is to provide all employees with a basic understanding of weather phenomena.

The sixth international Vaisala Business Learning Program begun in September 2005. The program includes modules on strategy, cultural abilities, finance, account management, and management skills, as well as innovation management. A total of 24 Vaisala employees from Finland, the UK, the United States, Germany and Canada are participating in the one-year program.

The development of project know-how was seen as an important development area in all business units. The Vaisala Instruments division launched a management and leadership skills program for Project Managers in the fall. Both new and experienced managers in the Helsinki head office received training on different aspects of managerial work. Systematic training on personnel management processes and practices for managerial staff was also launched in the U.S.

A group of employees participated in a supplementary course organized around the City of Vantaa's Noste-program. The course aims at a further qualification in electronics and electrics.

In-house product and application training as well as language and cultural training continued in the Vaisala Group. Training on communications in a multicultural environment was provided in the U.S.