Suomalainen Kirjakauppa’s strategy was created in collaboration with personnel 

“Our personnel are constantly interacting with customers both in our 56 brick-and-mortar stores and via our online store, and this leads to many insights about customers and business development,” says Kristian Tötterman, Head of HR.

Involving personnel is also in line with Suomalainen Kirjakauppa’s employee promise: everyone is valued, and we encourage our personnel to learn, experiment and innovate.

This is also reflected in how we implemented our strategy process: by providing employees with a flexible network environment that helped them to get involved. It enabled personnel to read background material, reflect on our strategy and answer questions at a time that best suited them. 

Many different perspectives

Suomalainen Kirjakauppa’s strategy process had several phases: developing the network environment, waiting for responses, analysing the responses, and drafting, approving and implementing the strategy. This process took about six months to complete.

The network environment was designed to be a versatile and concrete package that would enable employees to arrive at a common understanding of how Suomalainen Kirjakauppa is doing and what issues are affecting its business.

“We didn’t sugarcoat things – we gave a realistic picture of the situation. It was also important to look at things from many different angles. That’s a good basis for gaining new insights,” says Minna Kokka, CEO. 

 The network environment was designed to be a versatile and concrete package that would enable employees to arrive at a common understanding of how Suomalainen Kirjakauppa is doing and what issues are affecting its business.

Experimenting with a results calculator

The network environment was built around five topics. Kokka launched the process with an inspiring video in which she talked about Otava’s employer promise and how the strategy process would progress.

Personnel could then learn about Suomalainen Kirjakauppa’s common mission and any changing trends (for example, in sales figures or the company’s operating environment), and reflect on related questions. The service stressed that respondents did not have to answer all of the questions. But many did.

The second topic focused on growth and development. For example, personnel were asked to answer questions about what they thought we should stop doing or what wasn’t worth doing.

Thirdly, employees were given the opportunity to reflect on issues related to customers. These questions covered things such as what customers like and how the company could better meet their expectations. 

“We encouraged direct feedback, so that we could identify any shortcomings,” says Kokka.

Personnel were also allowed to openly explore sales figures and profitability calculations, not only by studying graphs but also actively.

“For example, employees could try out a percentage change in our net sales or sales margin to see how it would affect profit. This helped them to understand the importance of these things, and also made them more transparent,” says Tötterman.

Employees were also able to book a one-on-one meeting with Kokka if they wished. Just under five per cent of personnel took advantage of this opportunity. 

For example, employees could try out a percentage change in our net sales or sales margin to see how it would affect profit. This helped them to understand the importance of these things, and also made them more transparent.

Personnel also approved our strategy

Our carefully designed network environment paid off, as more than a third of those who were given the opportunity to participate visited and answered questions there.

“Personnel had given the matter a lot of thought, and they came up with some really insightful ideas and observations that have been incorporated into our current strategy,” says Kokka.

An outsider might wonder whether all of the essential information was imparted through this independent strategy work – for example, maybe the process could have included facilitated group discussions?

“Independent work also resulted in discussions between colleagues in working groups, which certainly deepened our understanding of the topics,” says Tötterman.

On the basis of online surveys and other information, a draft thematic strategy was drawn up and sent to personnel for approval. Some employees also participated in themed workshops. Management wanted to ensure that the topics selected for our strategy were the most important in terms of sustainability.

“It feels good to be on the same track, even though the terrain may vary in height depending on your role,” says Kokka. Feedback from personnel was also good. 

Personnel are well aware of our strategic objectives, indicators and measures.

Metrics drive daily work

The participatory strategy process has also brought about changes in how we mobilise our strategy, as some of it has already been mobilised by involving personnel in the process. Personnel are well aware of our strategic objectives, indicators and measures.

“We monitor indicators transparently, as they drive our strategy. For management, this means constantly reminding people that this or that particular measure is linked to this or that particular strategic objective,” says Kokka.

She adds that, although Otava has clear goals for 2030, we must still keep our eyes and ears open for any signs of change.