1. CITEC
WITH THE WORLD UNDER
YOUR FEET
NEWS AND
STORIES
WITH AN
ATTITUDE
FROM CITEC
1 • 2009
PARTNERSHIP ADDS VALUE
Citec has helped Wärtsilä deliver more than 1,000 power plants.
RENEWED TRAINING CONCEPT
Both customers and staff benefit from the Citec Academy.
FEEL THE PULSE
Polar’s training computers are demonstrated
through training tools.
Some hobbies require more nerves than others.
Read more about skydiving on page 10.
2. 2 EDITORIAL CONTENTS
3
Attitude is the key
to success
You are holding the very first issue of the Citec customer and
personnel magazine, Citec Attitude. One of the first things to
decide when creating a new company, a new product or a new
magazine is the name. I’ve been involved in many naming processes,
but rarely has it been as simple as in this case. The editorial staff
came to the meeting well prepared. We had reminded ourselves of our
brand promise. What did we want to communicate? A suggestion was
on the table; we looked at each other and smiled: Attitude.
In psychology attitude means a person’s conscious or
unconscious view on something, which can be openly
shown or hidden, cognitive or emotional. Attitude has
a multidimensional meaning for us here at Citec. We
believe that it is your attitude towards colleagues,
customers, projects and the world around you that,
to a large extent, determines how well you succeed
in your tasks. You can have excellent grades, a
rich family and 20 years of qualified technical
experience. But if you have the wrong attitude,
the result of your work is often a failure.
Ice hockey teams sometimes comment on
losses by saying that ‘today we didn’t have
the right attitude on the ice’. It is actually
quite descriptive.
In this first issue you will meet quite a
few people from Citec with the right – and
in some cases even audacious – attitudes.
You can familiarise yourself with the
interesting customer projects we work with
and hear what our customers think about
us. Long-term investments are becoming
increasingly important in customer relations –
Rune Westergård at Citec together with Osmo
Härkönen and Christian Rönnholm at Wärtsilä
talk about the benefits of partnerships in the cover
story.
So, enjoy your read! And please send feedback to
us on the editorial staff – or send your tips on topics
you think we should write about in coming issues.
Have a nice winter!
Michael Smirnoff
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
4 From Silicon Valley
Meet Citec Information’s new Managing Director in
Sweden, Johan Samuelsson, and read about his
exciting background.
6 A long-lasting relationship
Citec and Wärtsilä have renewed their partnering
agreement. Long-term trust and open communication
are needed for a successful partnership.
10 Free falling
Skydiving is a hobby requiring a great deal of courage.
Citec’s Joakim Nybäck realised a long-held dream
this autumn when he enrolled in a skydiving course.
14 Citec Academy opens doors
Lately a great deal of work has gone into unifying,
coordinating and systemising training within Citec.
13
18
18 Don’t worry – be happy
The latest research into happiness shows that we
can influence our own level of happiness to a much
greater extent than we think.
22 The average employee
He’s 38 years of age, has a bachelor’s degree in
engineering and has been at Citec for slightly more
than four years.
PUBLISHER Citec companies,
P.O. Box 109, FI-65100 Vaasa,
+358 (0)6 324 0700
EDITORIAL BOARD Rune Westergård,
Michael Smirnoff, Katriina Valli,
Tom Eriksson, Peter Appel,
Anna Jeanne Söderlund
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Michael Smirnoff
PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Anna Jeanne Söderlund
PRODUCTION
Botnia Information and Citec
LAYOUT Glenn Nylund,
Annika Lillkvist, Janne Nylund
COVER PHOTO Steve Fitchett
PRINT Fram 2009
COMPANY KEY FACTS
Citec Engineering offers complete
engineering solutions, Citec
information offers services related to
technical communication. The total
number of employees is 1,000 and
the estimated turnover for 2008 is 60
million euros. Citec is headquartered
in Vaasa, Finland and has offices in
Finland, Sweden, the UK, France,
Russia, India and China.
10 CITEC CUSTOMER MAGAZINE 1. 0 9
IN THIS ISSUE
CITEC
16
12
CITEC ATTITUDE 1•2 0 0 9
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3. 4
CITEC STUNTS CITEC STUNTS 5
UPCOMING EVENTS RECENT ACQUISITIONS
New brand pictures Formatic outsources documentation
n What is your first impression
of your new employer?
“That there are very competent
people here who really know about
documentation. I’ve dedicated
the beginning of my employment
to visiting all six Citec offices in
Sweden.”
You have lived and worked in
Silicon Valley. How did you end
up there?
“I studied in the US and fell in
love with the San Francisco area.
The last ten years I’ve worked in
different companies in Silicon
Customer
seminar
n Citec Information will arrange
its traditional customer seminar
in Helsinki on June 11th. Because
the topic should be as up-to-date
as possible, it will be decided only
three months before the actual
event. Last year the theme was
standards and legal issues in
technical documentation, and the
choice of topic received a great
deal of positive feedback from the
customers.
The main event of the Citec
Academy has grown each year
and last year there were 80
participants. The goal for this
year is to have at least as many
people participating. Besides the
main event, Citec Information also
arranges smaller local customer
events in Sweden and India.
Technical fair
n Citec Engineering will arrange
an internal technical fair on June
12th in Vaasa. The topic will follow
Citec Engineering’s focus theme
in 2009; customer orientation and
competence. The aim is to share
technical and customer-specific
knowledge. As the name implies,
this will be a day with a different
approach than traditional training,
hopefully starting another tradition
within Citec Academy.
Current fairs
Citec will be present at Power-
Gen Europe in Cologne,
Germany on 26–28.5.2009.
Citec will also take part in
the IPMA world congress in
Helsinki 15–17.6.2009.
Citec Engineering will
participate in the Hannover
Messe in the Power Plant
Technology section
20–24.4.2009.
Citec Information will attend
the STD spring conference in
Finland.
n Citec continues with the stunt theme
in marketing. This summer, photo shoots
were held for a series of new brand images.
Together with existing images, the pictures will
be used in advertisements on the internet and
in other marketing material.
The climbing images were taken on the
mountain La Panocha (which means an ear of
corn) in the Spanish town Murcia. The model
climbed up the mountain side for real, but
the safety lines have been edited out from
the final images. Images with a diving theme
were taken at the same time. The planning
and production was made by ad agency
Daddy Finland in cooperation with Citec’s
Communications Director Michael Smirnoff.
n Formatic Finland, manufacturer of snow and
cross-country groomers, is one of Citec Information’s
newest customers. During the autumn Citec has
created spare part catalogues and user manuals for
the company.
“Previously we’ve written this kind of
technical documentation ourselves, but we
never felt really satisfied with the end result”,
says Managing Director Tore Carlson.
The cooperation with Citec began when
the Finnish company Formatic was bought
by their German competitor Kässbohrer
Geländefarzeug in the beginning of 2008. As
the business is now part of a larger company,
the need for technical documentation grew.
Nowadays, for instance, all spare parts are
ordered through a centralized system.
“Now we can focus on building the best machines
possible. Technical documentation can be handled by
those who are experts in the field and have the top-class
tools for doing the job”, says Carlson.
New life science
business unit
n Citec Information has
strengthened its position within
life sciences by the acquisition
of Merk Consulting. Swedish
Merk provides documentation
and marketing services to
companies within the areas
of pharmaceuticals, medical
devices, biotechnology, veterinary
care and general healthcare.
Life sciences is a key area
for Citec Information in its
international growth strategy. Gary
Manders, one of the owners of
Merk Consulting, heads the new
Life Science business unit set up
within Citec Information.
“It is exciting to add our
knowledge to the tremendous
capabilities within Citec. I believe
we can create strong synergy
effects for the benefit of our
customers”, says Manders.
Citec turns 25
n On the 12th of June the entire
Citec Europe will be celebrating
the company’s 25th anniversary at
Hietasaari in Vaasa. In India the
celebrations will most likely be
held in September. According to
the plans, the birthday celebration
will also include workshops and
seminars.
NEW CUSTOMER.
Formatic’s
machines are used
to prepare the
snow on downhill
slopes.
CLIMBING. Model Maria
José climbed up a
mountain in Spain for
Citec’s new brand picture.
citec.com acquired
n Citec continues its global expansion and as new
countries are added to the Citec family, it is increasingly
important to communicate our international profile in
the virtual world. Hence, Citec has recently acquired the
ownership of the citec.com domain. We will start using the
.com address globally during this winter.
HEAT. Temperature rose
to 40 degrees at the
photo session.
Valley, both small and large. I
experienced the rise and fall of
the dot-com era at the epicentre,
so they were very interesting and
educational years.”
Why did you decide to move
back to Sweden?
“I don’t actually have a good
answer to that question. I liked
living in the US, but didn’t have
anything to keep me there. I was
in Sweden over the summer and
started to think about finding work
in my home country. If I’d come
during the cold season, I might not
have had the same willingness to
stay…”
You’re very well educated, with
a degree from the Stockholm
School of Economics and an
MBA from Harvard. How did you
end up at Harvard?
“It has always been my dream to
study there, so I put in quite a lot
of time in applying. I studied there
1996-98 and they were the best
years of my life. We didn’t have
any books; instead the teaching
was based on discussion and
problem solving. Everyone had
work experience from different
areas; one person was a fighter
pilot. So the discussions were very
stimulating.”
What was the most important
thing you learned there?
“In a typically American way,
the importance of networking
was emphasized, so now I have
contacts all over the world. After
three weeks at Harvard I’d learned
to know more people than in four
years at a Swedish university.”
Johan Samuelsson has
been working as the
Managing Director for
Citec Information in
Sweden since October
2008.
From
Silicon
Valley
to Citec
5 QUESTIONS
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4. COVER STORY: PARTNERSHIP COVER STORY: PARTNERSHIP
HIGH FIVE, WÄRTSILÄ
The strategic partnership between Wärtsilä
and Citec is built on trust, open communication
and long-term cooperation – more or less
the same characteristics found in a happy
marriage. The partnership allows Wärtsilä to
fully concentrate on their core activities.
RELATIONS BUSINESS. In autumn 2008 the partnership
agreement between Citec and Wärtsilä was renewed
and widened. Both companies benefit from the contract,
says Rune Westergård and Osmo Härkönen.
mats sandstr öm
6 7
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5. 8 COVER STORY: PARTNERSHIP
A partnership is almost
like a marriage
It wasn’t love at first sight for Citec and Wärtsilä.
The decision for a shared future came about
slowly over a longer period of time. When Citec
and Wärtsilä signed their first partnering agreement
in 2003, Wärtsilä had already been a Citec customer
for about 15 years. And Citec wasn’t the only choice
for a bride.
“When we decided to outsource our engineering
department, we had several candidates. The fact that
our final choice was Citec was because of know how,
cost efficiency and trust. And of course it was a plus
that both companies are based in Vaasa”, says Osmo
Härkönen, Vice President, Wärtsilä Power Plants.
The background for the decision was that the
department that designed power plants at Wärtsilä
wasn’t functioning as well as it could. There were 53
people working in the department, but a large part of
the design work was still being bought from several
outside suppliers. The Wärtsilä employees spent too
much of their time on purchasing, coordinating and
managing tasks. “We had many top experts, but
their capacity wasn’t used fully, as a large part of the
working time was being spent with other things. We
made the decision that engineering wasn’t part of
our key competence and that the department should
be outsourced and we would be buying the services
instead”, says Härkönen. He sees a large number of
benefits in outsourcing and partnerships. Wärtsilä
can even reduce expenses by only buying as much
design work as needed. In the long term, cooperation
can help to develop efficient processes, which will
become cost effective.
An increasing number of companies today are
choosing to focus on their core activities and
purchase other functions. In addition to traditional
subcontractor relationships, different types of
partnerships are gaining ground.
“You could say that a partnership is a business
based on relationships while subcontracting is based
on transactions”, says Rune Westergård, Chairman
of the Board, Citec companies. “This doesn’t mean
that the service cost has no meaning in a partnership,
but there are also many other values created in the
long term. When you know each other well, you can
work together more effectively and develop smarter
new solutions that are more cost effective.”
Huge
improvement
in delivery
accuracy
n At the beginning of 2006,
Wärtsilä Services delivered
only 10 % of their technical
documentation to the
customers on time. Slightly
more than half a year later, the
number had climbed to 90 %,
after Citec began to take care
of the job.
“Before, documentation was
often forgotten and not seen
as important. It was when
we realized that a missing
manual could delay final
payment in a large project
that we understood how
important those folders are”,
says Christian Rönnholm, Vice
President, Wärtsilä Services.
When Citec took over the
work, five persons were also
outsourced from Wärtsilä to
Citec. The reason for choosing
Citec was partially that the
power plant department at
Wärtsilä already had a partner
agreement with Citec, and that
the company was based in
Vaasa.
“With Citec’s experience
we’ve been able to develop
processes that allow
documentation to be handled
cost effectively and quickly.
Before, the work was often
unstructured and time
consuming”, says Rönnholm.
COVER STORY: PARTNERSHIP 9
LONG-TERM PARTNER.
Over the years, Citec
has helped Wärtsilä
design more than
1,000 power plants.
For Citec, the partnership with Wärtsilä
means that it is possible to invest in recruitment,
competence and tools. A large part of Citec’s rapid
growth in India is due to the Wärtsilä partnership
– about 40% of all work done for Wärtsilä today is
made in India.
For a partnership to be successful, more is needed
than a legal agreement; most importantly an
understanding of what a partnership means and how
it is implemented in practice. Common tools and
integrated IT systems are a must. Also a large amount
of faith and openness is needed from all parties.
Both Härkönen and Westergård point out that the
cooperation, in a way, was actually at its best in the
beginning. Since then both Citec and Wärtsilä have
had a large amount of recruitment and it takes time
for the new employees to learn the idea behind the
partnership.
“When people sit at different locations, it easily
happens that they don’t communicate as much and
as openly as they should. But we’ll get better at
including the Citec employees; the project managers
have an important role to play in that aspect”, says
Härkönen.
Rune Westergård adds: “For Citec employees this
means that we shouldn’t be passive and wait for
work instructions. We should be more proactive.”
Another requirement if a partnership is to succeed
is that clear, measurable targets are set and that they
are followed. A steering group consisting of Wärtsilä
and Citec representatives meets 3–4 times a year
to go through feedback from the organisations, to
define new targets and to develop processes.
Citec is the first company that Wärtsilä has such
a deep partnership agreement with. And although it
is a marriage built on communication and openness,
it’s ok to window shop.
“Of course you feel a little jealous when Citec
offers other customers the same smart solutions we
have developed together”, says Härkönen and adds:
“But of course that works the other way too. We can
benefit from the experience and competence Citec
has obtained via services to other customers.”
A long history together
End of the 1980’s
Wärtsilä starts buying engineering
services from Citec.
Beginning of the 1990’s
The cooperation grows to include
technical documentation.
2003
The planning department at
Wärtsilä, with 53 employees,
is outsourced to Citec. The first
partnership agreement is signed.
2004
Technical documentation is
also included in the partnership
agreement.
2005
Five employees from the technical
documentation department at
Wärtsilä Services are outsourced
to Citec.
2008
The partnership agreement is
renewed and widened to include
all Wärtsilä business globally
TRUST. Citec is the first company
that Wärtsilä has such a deep
partnership with.
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6. 10
SPORTS: SKYDIVING SPORTS: SKYDIVING 11
FREE FALLING – SAFE LANDING
Having the courage to bail out
of an aircraft requires trust
above all else. Trust in the
equipment, trust in the jump
master and perhaps most of all,
trust in yourself. This autumn,
Key Account Manager Joakim
Nybäck’s long-time dream came
true when he enrolled in a
skydiving course.
It is a glowingly beautiful day in October without
a cloud in the sky and a mild wind. A perfect day
to go skydiving. Joakim Nybäck – Key Account
Manager for Citec Information – is ready to take to
the sky and bail out at 1,000 metres above ground for
the fourth time. “Positively looking forward to it”, is
how he describes his feelings.
“The first time I climbed out of the aircraft and
let go, it felt like my stomach was left behind while
I flew away. The second time was even more nerve-wracking,
since I knew what to expect. It’s hard
to describe the feeling when jumping; it’s unlike
anything else I’ve ever done before. But I definitively
like it.”
Joakim had been toying with the idea of skydiving
for years, but it was only last autumn that he finally
enrolled in a beginner’s course and, shortly after,
jumped for the first time.
“It was just three evenings of theory and practical
exercises and then up we went. That may not sound
much by way of preparation, but the first times the
parachute is triggered automatically and you get
instructions through a radio, so there isn’t that much
that can go wrong; although you do have to know
how to steer or you’ll just drift with the wind.”
Since skydiving is a potentially life-threatening sport,
the safety requirements are rigorous. To be allowed
to pack a parachute in the first place requires plenty
of experience. Reserve parachutes must be repacked
at regular intervals regardless of whether they have
been deployed or not. As it happens, this particular
morning the jump master notices that the reserve
parachute Joakim is about to use is due for repacking.
He must step aside and let the other jumpers go first.
Meanwhile, another jump master checks that all
the straps are fastened and tight enough. He also
reminds Joakim of the proper attitude when bailing
out; hips front and arms out to the side. They also
go through the process of deploying the parachute
manually, even though Joakim’s parachute will be
triggered automatically until the seventh jump. Only
then will he be expected to deploy his parachute
himself.
“Once I get more experience, I can also jump from
a greater height and eventually use a smaller and
faster parachute. You can spend 20–30 seconds in
freefall then and I’m really looking forward to that.
Everyone talks about how great freefall is.”
Finally after several hours worth of waiting and
preparation things get going. The parachuting club’s
aircraft – an old plane with at least 40 years worth
of air under its wings, that is said to be more modern
than it looks as the engine is new – stands at the
southern end of Vaasa airfield.
Joakim and another beginner squeeze inside
alongside a couple of experienced jumpers who will
be instructing them from the plane. Besides not
having a fear of heights, if you want to go skydiving
you’d better not suffer from claustrophobia either;
the jumpers are packed like sardines in the tiny
aircraft.
The aircraft rolls down the airstrip, takes off and
vanishes from sight for a while. Then it suddenly
appears again and just as suddenly there’s a shape
next to the plane; Joakim Nybäck at the beginning of
his fourth jump.
Slowly he becomes larger as he floats down at a
speed of about 30 kilometres per hour, i.e. about
the speed of a fast march. The experienced jumpers
following him drop down at a notably faster rate
with their smaller parachutes. After a few minutes
Joakim approaches the same bit of grass that the
plane took off from – and lands by tumbling down
with the parachute around him.
“I braked a bit too soon and hit the ground too
fast. This was the first time I could decide for myself
when to brake”, he explains.
And what did the jump feel like?
“It was intense. I’m calmer now and can
concentrate better on doing what I was taught to do.”
In Finland the skydiving season ends in November
as it gets too dark and cold during the winter for
jumping. Even experienced jumpers say that the first
jump in the spring always makes you extra nervous,
no matter how many times you’ve jumped before.
“This is probably my last jump for the season,
which is a shame since I’ve just got started. I’ll be
nervous in the spring, but at the same time this is a
hobby that I really am going to keep up. It’s just too
difficult not to!”
INDESCRIBABLE. Joakim Nybäck
says that he can’t really describe
the feeling when jumping. “But I
definitively like it.”
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7. 12 CUSTOMER CASE: SIEMENS INDUSTRIAL TURBOMACHINERY BUSINESS AREA: VEHICLE INDUSTRY
13
Impressive
turnaround
Citec Engineering’s Vehicles business area has raised its turnover
by 30 per cent during 2008. Long-term work has finally begun to bear fruit.
Citec has been involved in the design and engineering
of trains since 2005, when the engineering
department of the train manufacturer Talgo
(presently Transtech) was taken over. About 25
employees were shifted to Citec as a result of the outsourcing.
“The advantage in business process outsourcing like this
is that the company taking over the personnel takes care of
resourcing; both competence and number wise. The need for
personnel often varies depending on the order situation”, says
Business Area Manager Ralf Wallin from Citec Engineering.
The arrangement was very convenient for Transtech as
the demand for engineering resources began to lessen after
the deal. For Citec this meant that the planned growth in
work didn’t take place. The sales department was forced to
compensate for the missing work from Transtech and only
lately has the work finally begun to bear fruit. The hard work
has been worthwhile however, as the turnover of the Vehicles
business area grew by 30 per cent during 2008.
The toughest challenge has actually been to convince new
customers that Citec has an in-depth know-how about rail
vehicles.
“We are selling knowledge services rather than a product
and it takes a long time to build up trust”, says Wallin.
The target is to continue to grow: turnover and personnel
are to be tripled within three years. At the end of 2007, a large-scale
project was begun with Bombardier Transportation in
Norway, with the aim of completely redesigning and rebuilding
a large number of train carriages for Norweigan Railways.
Citec has worked both with the mechanical and the electrical
part of this project.
The Vehicles team has solid competence within the entire
project chain, from pre-studies to after sales. They have been
involved in working with most rail vehicles that can be found
in Finland, from Pendolino trains to trams in Helsinki. The
unit works both in designing completely new train models and
in modifying existing models.
“Our personnel has a lot of work experience and a very wide
competence. With their previous employer they were involved
in the actual production and followed it with their own eyes.
Our speciality is designing for arctic climates”, says Wallin.
POWER WITH JOINED FORCES
Siemens Industrial Turbomachinery can accept larger orders
thanks to their cooperation with Citec.
Cooperation between Siemens Industrial
Turbomachinery (SIT) and Citec began in the
beginning of 2008. A group of engineers from Citec
Engineering in Finland travelled over to SIT in Sweden to
begin work on a power plant project for Russia.
“It was clear right away that we fit together very well. We
use the same tools and also the personal relationships worked
fine”, says Jerry Fornander, Manager, Layout and Civil
Powerplants at SIT.
After a couple of months in Sweden the Citec personnel
returned to Finland and continued working remotely. Using
the work tool, PDMS global connection, the work could be
done in real time even though participants were stationed in
different countries. All in all 2-5 people from Citec have been
busy with the project over the year.
According to Jerry Fornander there are several advantages in
using an outside partner.
“We don’t have to turn down large orders since we know
we can get extra people in when needed. It’s also a good
way to adapt to economic trends. Working with new people
also gives new points of view and develops the working
environment.”
Previously SIT has mostly subcontracted the building part
of projects; this was the first time when also the piping and
the installation was planned by an outside partner. Citec
helped for instance with cabling in PDMS, something that
was completely new for Siemens. Citec’s office in Moscow
helped with the translations of drawings.
“On the large scale I’m very pleased with the cooperation.
Naturally it always takes some time to work things out, but
over all everything has worked well and I hope that we can
continue working together in some form”, says Fornander.
He emphasises that Citec also has competence in
processing and electrics and that SIT will perhaps be making
use of this in the future.
Nichlas Råtts, who was responsible for the project on
Citec’s side, is also pleased with the cooperation.
“We fit well together with SIT. And even though the
customer is new, the work itself isn’t new for us. Planning
power plants is one of our key competences.”
EXTRA PEOPLE
WHEN NEEDED.
According
to Siemens
Industrial
Turbomachinery,
there are several
advantages in
using outside
partners.
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8. 14
TRAINING: CITEC ACADEMY TRAINING: CITEC ACADEMY 15
CITEC
ACADEMY
EXPANDS
A job through training
As a company selling know how, it is vital that
Citec has competent personnel and good training.
The Citec Academy training concept helps to
maintain the competitive edge.
The times when new employees would learn the
ropes simply by sitting and watching someone
for half a day are over. During the past
year, a great deal of work has gone into unifying,
coordinating and systemising training within the
Citec Engineering Group. This concept is now
known as the Citec Academy.
“The Citec Academy is an umbrella term for all
our training activities, and the main goal for this
training is to maintain the company’s competitive
edge. Citec sells know how, so it is extremely
important that the employees’ training is at a high
standard”, says Päivi Haapalainen, who has been
Project Manager at Citec Engineering for a year,
and is responsible for implementing the training
activities.
In India, where recruitment has been extensive, there
is a great need for basic training. If new employees
are immediately taught the Citec Engineering
way of working, they can start producing faster.
Since December 2008, Namrata Jagirdar has been
appointed Training Manager at Citec Engineering,
India. She has good experience in this area from her
previous work with training in other companies.
“I would like to put into use the skills and
knowledge gained in my career to refine the training
procedure and make Citec a learning organisation
– an organisation where learning adds value to
business,” says Jagirdar.
In the Citec Engineering facilities in Mumbai,
India, a space was recently renovated specifically for
training purposes. Thanks to this, larger groups can
now be trained at the same time.
“The employees in India are often eager for new
information. At the beginning we mainly planned
that we Finnish people would teach them, but the
opposite has also been true: the Citec employees
from India come to Finland to hold courses”, Päivi
Haapalainen explains.
Training at Citec Engineering is held both by Citec
employees and by outside trainers. It has also been
planned to intensify cooperation with customers
and suppliers regarding training, for example by
organising shared courses.
“The prerequisite for learning new things is to
turn our view outwards and not just inwards”, says
Haapalainen.
For a long time Citec Information has already had
a tradition of arranging customer seminars. Once
a year, a larger event is organised in Finland, while
smaller seminars are held in Sweden and India.
“Offering training to our customer via seminars
is a way of showing our expert role. The idea came
about when several of our customers expressed the
wish to meet our other customers”, Director Katriina
Valli from Citec Information explains.
First training, then perhaps a job. At Citec Information
India, an unusual but successful way of recruiting has
been created.
NEW AT THE JOB. Namrata Jagirdar
has been working as Training
Manager at Citec Engineering India
since December 2008.
CITEC ACADEMY
Citec Information arranges
• internal training for junior
and trainee level employees,
especially in India.
• internal training in competence
areas such as project
management and content
creation.
• customer seminars under the
Citec Academy brand.
Citec Engineering arranges
internal training on three levels:
1. Basic company-related
information for all new
employees
2. Design specific
and design tool training
3. Technical area and
customer-specific training
External training, for example
in project management and
leadership skills
In December 2008, a basic course in technical
documentation started on the Citec premises in
Bangalore, India. Eight candidates from various
backgrounds were given an intensive introduction to the
subject over four weeks. The best from the group were
then employed by Citec.
“We’ve used this concept for recruitment six times
now since 2004, and I think it is a very innovative
concept that works well. During the course we can
map out who has the requirements for the job and hire
them”, says HR Manager Vinaya Rao.
Usually 75–100% of the people taking part are hired
by Citec. Those taking part have various educational
backgrounds, from languages to engineering.
FAST START.
In India,
where
recrutiment
has been
extensive,
there is a
great need for
basic training.
“Citec Information is growing in India at
the moment and there is a constant demand for
competent professionals. But it is difficult to find
enough people with the special know how we
need, since technical documentation is a small
niche area in India. This is why it is good that we
can arrange the training ourselves. The system has
been especially good when there is a need to recruit
more than one person at a time.”
The training is free for those taking part and
Citec pays a small stipend for them as well.
CITEC ATTITUDE 1•2 0 0 9
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9. 16
CUSTOMER CASE: POLAR ELECTRO CUSTOMER CASE: POLAR ELECTRO 17
Tangible training
TOOLS
Interactive multimedia training tools
provided by Citec are a significant
element in Polar’s toolkit. They
support sales and marketing, as well
as retailer education.
The Finnish company Polar Electro has been a pioneer in sports
instruments and heart rate monitoring for training. The first
product was brought onto the market in 1982 and since then the
training computers have been developing non-stop. Polar wants its
personnel, distributors and retailers to have a profound understanding
of the technology and scientific background of the product features.
Therefore, the company has put a great effort into developing training
tools with Citec.
“Since 2004, Citec has produced 13 training tools for us. We had
already acquired similar services earlier, but since Citec entered the
picture, there have been a lot of improvements”, says Iiris Inkala-
Rajaniemi, Specialist at the Polar Training Center.
In practice, a training tool is an interactive multimedia prod uct in
Flash format. Earlier the tools were printed on CD’s – these days
they can be downloaded from an online databank. The animations
help illustrate the different functions of the products in an easy to
understand way.
“The bigger the audience, the bigger is the role of the training
tools. A PowerPoint presentation can’t illustrate the functions of the
Have you ever visited Finland
before starting to work for
Citec?
“I’d been in Europe several times,
but never this far north. I think
Finland is a beautiful country and
Vaasa is a very functional city.
The population is small by Indian
standards of course, but there are
many services available. And it is
very clean when compared with my
home country.”
What did you do before coming
to Citec?
“I worked at the Eaton
Corporation, a large diversified
US industrial group. Before that
I worked at Invensys India and
Intersil India. Citec is a smaller
company than my previous
employers, but I have greater
responsibility. I’ve been surprised
in a positive way by how well
all the systems work within a
company this small. And the
enthusiasm among the staff is
amazing.”
What are the largest cultural
differences between Finland
and India?
“It may be a little early for me to
be an expert in that area. But over
all, Finnish people seem to be
more time conscious and efficient
while Indian people are more laid
back. But in large Indian towns
there is a strong drive for success
today.”
There seem to be quite a lot
of engineers in India. Is this
image correct?
“Yes, 1.5 million engineers of
different levels are trained in India
every year. A half million of them
have six months basic training,
but as many have been educated
to the level of a Master’s degree.
So there is a strong tradition
for engineering in the country.
You could say that India is the
engineering engine of the world
today!”
What do you do when you
aren’t working?
“Like most Indians, I’m very family
oriented and prefer to spend my
free-time with my family. I’m a
football fan and often take my
sons to football practice. And we
watch European football on the
TV.”
training computers nearly as clearly and vividly as a
multimedia tool”, says Inkala-Rajaniemi.
Originally the training tools created by Citec
were intended mostly for training the distributors,
but Polar keeps finding new ways to utilize them.
For example in the new Team2 system the training
tool-based Tutorial has been integrated into the
product software. Thus also the end user will have
an illustrative user manual. Team2 is designed for
coaching, allowing users to gain an insight into the
fitness capabilities of the whole sports team, so it is
crucial to describe the system’s wide-ranging features
for everyone involved.
“The functions of the training tools have been
developed over the years. For instance, nowadays
the text parts of the tool can be translated directly
in the document, which is very convenient for sales
personnel all over the world,” says Inkala-Rajaniemi.
Polar was a Citec customer in the area of technical
writing even before the development of the training
tools began. Iiris Inkala-Rajaniemi says that the
cooperation with Citec has worked very well.
“The core project team at Citec has stayed the
same, which guarantees a growing know-how of our
products. The training tool projects usually begin
with practical exercises, which help the Citec team
to understand our products better. From what I’ve
heard, they consider Polar projects challenging but at
the same time fun!”
Training tools are seen as a part of brand building
at Polar Electro and the feedback about them has
been positive enough that their number is likely to
grow. Citec has also developed a Polar Training Tool
Platform, where new updated training modules,
simulations and videos can be uploaded easily in the
upcoming training tools.
“Recently one of our sales people said that we
should never stop making training tools, because
they are so extremely useful.”
MORE THAN A POWER POINT. Tangible and visual
training tools illustrate the profound scientific
background and cutting edge technology behind
TRAINING Polar products.
COMPUTERS.
Polar Electro
has been a
pioneer in sports
instruments
and heart rate
monitoirng.
Mukul Bhatia has been
the Managing Director
for Citec Engineering India
since May 2008 and looks
after 270 employees.
5 QUESTIONS
Many
engineers
available
in India
CITEC ATTITUDE 1•2 0 0 9
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10. LIFESTYLE: HAPPINESS LIFESTYLE: HAPPINESS 19
HAPPINESS
IS AN ATTITUDE
Being happy is an obvious goal for most
people. But how to achieve it? The latest
research into happiness shows that
happy people are successful, rather than
the other way around.
I’d be happy if I had more money / a new
job / a pretty girlfriend. Most people have
thought things like this at one time or
another, but the truth is that happiness
over a pay rise or from falling in love is
often short lived. We humans have the
ability to adapt to new situations – for
better or for worse. This is one of the
results from the latest research into happiness.
For a long time psychological sciences were mostly focused on things
that made people unhappy, such as depression and life crises. But in the
last few years many researchers have begun to direct their attention to
what makes people happy instead, and during the 21st century research
into happiness has practically exploded.
What are the results of the research? To begin with: happiness is not
a goal or an end result. It is more a process that needs to be maintained.
And to try and achieve happiness by being successful often means doing
things backwards, as it has been shown that things usually go the other
way around: those who are happy become successful.
Does money really make you happy?
Few people truly believe that rich people are happier than others. But
despite this most of us behave as if greater material wealth would really
make us happier in the long run. We want to get a pay rise, buy a new
car, move to a larger house and get a new TV.
The Finnish banker, Kari Nars, is one of the people who are
interested in this phenomenon. After having worked with money all
JAN SANDVIK
EVERYDAY JOY.
If you wan’t
to be happy,
there’s a lot
you can do
to make it
happen.
18
CITEC ATTITUDE 1•2 0 0 9
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11. LIFESTYLE: HAPPINESS LIFESTYLE: HAPPINESS 21
his professional life, he published the book “Pengar
och lycka” (Money and Happiness) in 2006, where
he discusses the connection between money and
psychological well-being in the light of the latest
research into happiness.
According to Nars, money and happiness correlate
strongly for people who live in misery. If you are
starving, you of course become happier if you receive
money to buy food. But as soon as a certain level is
reached and all the basic needs are fulfilled, money
no longer leads to greater happiness. Research shows
that people in the USA are less happy these days than
during the 1950s, even though the standards of living
have risen greatly since then. In Finland, money
stops adding to a person’s happiness once the yearly
income reaches 20,000–40,000 euro. According to
Nars, this is because of our ability to adapt and get
used to new situations. Even in the 1970s, scientists
showed that people who had won large sums of
money in lotteries returned to their previous level of
happiness after a year.
Genes determine one half
But what makes us happy then, if not money? Some
bad news to begin with: a large part of happiness
cannot be influenced by ourselves as it is determined
by our genes. By studying identical twins, researchers
have come to the conclusion that 50 per cent of
happiness depends on our personality and our genes
– some people are simply born happy, regardless of
their circumstances.
And then the good news: only 10 per cent of
happiness depends on circumstances, such as work,
health or marriage. The fact that external influences
play no more of a role is because of our human
ability to adapt and get used to things, as mentioned
before. This is also the explanation as to why people
who have been permanently injured in car accidents
can be happy.
After genes and circumstances have been
accounted for, there’s still 40 per cent of happiness
left over, and this is the part that you can decide over
yourself, according to happiness researcher, Sonja
Lyubomirsky, from Stanford University. It should be
noted that these figures are for people living in stable
countries. In cases of starvation or war, it is obvious
that circumstances will affect more than 10 per cent
of a person’s happiness.
Happiness can be influenced
Professor Sonja Lyubomirsky is convinced that a
person can influence their own level of happiness by
changing their attitude and by actively learning grati-tude,
optimism and friendliness. On her homepages
she describes how to add to ones happiness by actively
remembering and memorizing things that you are
grateful for, for instance by writing them down regu-larly.
Another way is to take part in unselfish activi-
20
ANNA FROLOVA
ASSISTANT TO MANAGEMENT
CITEC ENGINEERING, RUSSIA:
“I once saw
a slogan
in a café-bakery
“We’ll
bake you
happy!”It
would be
great if someone else could bake
us happy, but in fact happiness
is everybody’s own cake. Some
like cakes with chocolate, some
with poppies and some don’t like
cakes at all. What is important
is to know what kind of cake you
want to bake; will it be according
only to your own taste or will you
take into account the taste of
someone else who is important
for you? And will you use a
classical recipe or try the most
recent type of cuisine?”
RÉMY JEANDEMANGE
GENERAL MANAGER
CITEC ENGINEERING, FRANCE:
“I’m
convinced
that that
happiness
really
depends
a lot on
how much
we focus on it every day. The
greatest happiness lies in the
most engaging pursuit to reach it.
Perceptions are always depending
on our personal paradigms: ‘Is
the glass half empty or half full?’.
Being positive is one of the keys,
but another important thing is
our involvement in challenging
situations. The greatest
happiness doesn’t come from
ease and security, but from being
fully engaged both in family life
and work.”
MERJA LEPISTÖ
ASSISTANT, CITEC
INFORMATION, FINLAND:
“I think
happiness
mostly
depends on
ourselves,
just like
the article
explains.
But we don’t necessarily always
know what makes us happy.
For me, happiness is close
relationships to people with
whom I can be myself. It’s also
an understanding of the fact
that things will usually turn out
fine in the end, even though life
may seem dark at times. If you
remember to smile, others will
smile back at you, and this will
in turn increase the warm feeling
inside yourself.”
ties, such as voluntary and charity work, which pro-vide
a sense of meaning and the feeling of belonging.
This may sound simple and obvious, but Lyubomir-sky’s
research shows that it works.
In other words, we can learn to be happy if we
actively try. On the other hand, to passively sit and
wait for happiness to come isn’t as good a strategy.
After all, success tends to follow happiness and not
the other way around. Happy people have higher
incomes and are better at work. They have stronger
social ties to family and friends and even better
health.
Happiness has a number of positive results, not
just for the individual but for the society. So why not
start working on your happiness today?
SOURCES
Homepage of Professor Sonja Lyubomirsky:
www.faculty.ucr.edu/~sonja
Kari Nars: Pengar och lycka (2006)
New York Times:
The New Science of happiness (1.1.2005)
Los Angeles Times:
The science of happiness (8.9.2008)
SIMPLE BUT TRUE. By learning gratitude,
optimism and friendliness, you can increase
your level of happiness.
CITEC ATTITUDE 1•2 0 0 9
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12. 22
FACTS & FIGURES: CITEC FACTS & FIGURES: CITEC 23
DID YOU KNOW THIS ABOUT CITEC’S STAFF?
rules, then the language itself isn’t
all that hard.”
How have you settled in
Finland otherwise?
“It took three months before I
started to feel at home. It was a
big change in many ways, since I
moved away from home, started
my first job and moved to a new
country at the same time. But now
I’m comfortable here. It hasn’t
been that difficult getting used to
the cold and the dark during the
winter, but during the summer it
was difficult to sleep when it was
light all the time.”
There still aren’t that many
women who choose to study
engineering. What made you
choose this subject?
“I’ve always been interested in
mathematics and physics; I think
many are afraid of those subjects
quite needlessly. An engineering
degree is well respected and you
have a good chance of finding
work and a good future.”
What have you been working
with until now?
“I design power plants and do
frame drawings. Steel is still a
new area for me and I’m learning
new things all the time. I ask my
And what is the
average Citec
employee like?
n At Citec Engineering, he
is a 38-year-old male with a
technical degree, who has
been at Citec for slightly more
than 4 years.
At Citec Information, she is
a 35-year-old woman with a
degree in the Arts, who has
been at Citec for 5.5 years.
colleagues for help and they’ve
been very helpful. Citec is a good
place to work because it is so
international with people from
different countries, and everyone
speaks English. Since it’s also a
growing company, there’s a good
chance of getting new interesting
work assignments.”
n You are from Portugal. How
did you end up at Citec in
Finland?
“I’ve always wanted to work
abroad, so when I was done with
my engineering degree, I started
MORE OF US.
The number
of Citec
employees
continues
to grow,
especially in
India.
looking for a job and found Citec
through an employment site. I’m
planning on staying for a few years
and also on taking my Master’s
degree here. But first I need to
learn Finnish.”
What is it like learning to
speak Finnish?
“Everyone says that it’s difficult,
but I think it’s really because there
are so many rules. If you learn the
21 different nationalities work at Citec. In addition
to the largest groups, Finns and Indians, you
will also find, for example, Greeks, Americans,
Kenyans, Moroccans and Iraqis.
442 persons work for Citec Information. At the
beginning of the millennium, the number of
employees grew rapidly; although growth has
now become more moderate.
26% of Citec staff work in India. The others can
be found in Finland, Sweden, Russia, the UK,
France and China.
34% of all Citec employees are women. At Citec
Information the share is as big as 57%.
637 is the number of employees at Citec Engineering.
By the time this magazine is published, the
number will have probably grown, since the
company has been recruiting at a rapid pace.
1,079 was the total number of Citec employees in
November 2008. Growth has been quite rapid
considering that there were less than one
hundred in 1999.
33% of the employees at Citec have a Master’s
degree, usually in Engineering or the Arts. 49%
have a Bachelor’s degree.
Tânia Costa has worked
as an engineer for Citec
Engineering since the
spring of 2008.
5 QUESTIONS
An
international
working
environment
CITEC ATTITUDE 1•2 0 0 9
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13. Every star needs a stunt double. And with
Citec your performance will be flawless.
Behind the scenes, Citec’s experts will take
full responsibility for tasks that are not
your main activities. This leaves you free
to take the leading role in your own field of
expertise.
You be the star – we’ll do the stunts.
the one for the job
The Citec companies offer multi-discipline
technical design and consulting, technical
information and documentation as well as
environmental consulting.
www.citec.fi