Self-direction does not mean that a company leaves its employees to fend for themselves

In the Mehiläisen Pisto podcast's The New Direction in Occupational Health series, we discuss leadership and self-direction when Outi Sivonen, HR Director at Solita Oy, visits Andréa Alvarez-Tarjasalo, Director of Customer Relations and B2B Marketing at Mehiläinen. In early 2022, Sivonen also published a book entitled Yrityskulttuurit muutoksessa (“Changing Company Cultures”).

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Self-direction is not the same as coping alone

Self-direction and self-management have become important skills in today's workplace. However, Sivonen feels that self-management is often mistakenly thought of as a mechanistic skill and the ability to manage daily work, for example by scheduling the working day.

"The most essential thing in self-management is your personal level of self-knowledge. It is an absolute prerequisite for a person to be able to lead themselves! It all starts with a solid understanding of who I am, what my needs are, how they manifest themselves, and why I act in certain ways," Sivonen says.

Being aware of what is good for you makes it easier to make the right choices in everyday life. Sivonen points out that achieving a good sense of self is an ongoing exploration and that different needs are highlighted in different life situations. Self-management is a set of different skills that make everyday life meaningful and functional.

"It is very difficult to tell people to start leading themselves if their level of self-knowledge is not very high," Sivonen points out.

Self-direction certainly does not mean that a company leaves its employees to fend for themselves. Self-management and self-direction need the support of management and supervisors. Expectations and targets must be discussed openly; no one should have to cope and perform alone.

"The stronger the culture of self-direction in a company, the more it needs strong leadership," Sivonen sums up.

Outi Sivonen stresses that management must be functional and human. When there is more freedom and power, the direction must be particularly clear. Company management must provide the necessary amount of support in the form needed by people. It is important that employees can work in a self-directed way and, at the same time, feel cared for.

"Leadership happens differently in different roles. Everyone leads themselves first and then, in different roles, they can lead projects, client relationships, and teams. I think leadership is first and foremost about behaviour, not a specific position," says Sivonen.

Incompleteness is not discussed enough

Sivonen says that in today's working life, being incomplete is not discussed enough and is difficult to tolerate. Often, the challenges and burnouts experienced are only talked about once they have been overcome and the "old normal" has returned.

"It's quite rare that job advertisements say that we are looking for someone who can show their incompleteness and ask for help," Sivonen laughs.

However, the job market is not looking for genuine people but for unicorns who never tire of anything and are always flexible. Work communities are systems made up of people working together. No business operates as if it were all down to one individual - yet the talk is still mostly about the heroic stories of individuals.

"Very rarely do we see news stories about top teams and communities. It is the top individuals who will emerge. However, in any organisation, value is created by an ability to work together. Despite this, people think that it is better to do and achieve things alone," Sivonen says.

Finnish work culture could also be improved in terms of feedback. In work communities, we should act like adult peers and have the courage to also talk about unpleasant things. An organisation cannot be humane if it is not honest. Such honesty is based on trust and psychological security.

"People want to be met and seen. Nevertheless, we often take a solution-oriented approach. The message to the individual is that you must not be tired and overloaded - you will do this, and then you will be different again. It is more important in such situations to stop and listen to people's thoughts," Sivonen sums up.