Productivity up in Kymenlaakso – boosting the efficiency of the wellbeing services county’s support services with an ownership strategy
Netum provided the wellbeing services county of Kymenlaakso with an ownership strategy aimed at more efficient organisation of support services.
The wellbeing services county of Kymenlaakso, like other wellbeing services counties in Finland, launched its operations in 2023. Once the practical challenges of the initial phase had been overcome, it was time to look at operations more strategically: how could the productivity of support services in the wellbeing services county be improved?
Kalle Eklund, Director of Administration at the wellbeing services county of Kymenlaakso, describes the improvement of cooperation between the wellbeing services county and the companies it owns as a key objective.
- "We wanted our ownership steering to have a long-term strategic vision that could be applied to all Group companies. In addition, we needed concrete short-term measures to organise support services as smartly and cost-efficiently as possible," Eklund says.
Netum was selected as the partner for the preparation of the ownership strategy. Kymen Tuki Oy, the most important support company of the wellbeing services county, was used as a case example. It provides construction, property maintenance, medical technology and logistics services, among others, to the wellbeing services county. The in-house company, owned by the wellbeing services county, accounts for up to 10 per cent of the Group’s total revenue.
Jyrki Gerlander, CEO of Kymen Tuki, states that the company has experienced significant growth over the past couple of years, both in terms of service offerings and employee numbers. The wellbeing services counties’ pressure to cut costs, combined with the upcoming amendments to the Procurement Act, led to a clarification of the ownership policy.
- "Now was the time to think about what the wellbeing services county should own itself and why. Basically, it’s a question of how to use tax funds as efficiently as possible," says Gerlander.
Management of changes
Netum took over the development of the ownership strategy under the leadership of management consultant Johanna Lammi in autumn 2024. First, Netum carried out an extensive study, which mapped the initial situation, clarified the goals and prepared a roadmap. Lammi describes the background material as extensive and diverse. The final solutions were worked on in a workshop involving decision-makers from the wellbeing services county and representatives from different sectors.
- "We found that without a proper ownership strategy, we cannot make decisions on reorganising our operations. Ownership steering must first be put in order to identify what works well in the wellbeing services county’s day-to-day operations and what needs to be changed. The ownership strategy guides the wellbeing services county towards more systematic decision-making," Lammi summarises.
According to Lammi, the wellbeing services county’s ownership strategy is about change management. It requires taking control of extensive topics and identifying needs for change beyond technology.
- "Netum has developed strong management consulting expertise, enriched by an extensive technical team. If necessary, we can quickly detach business intelligence experts to different projects, as well as data and digital experts," says Lammi.
Management Consultant Johanna Lammi
On the same map
The wellbeing services county wanted to have as concrete and usable a tool as possible to meet the strict savings targets and anticipate future legislative changes. The ownership strategy includes an ownership plan template for each company owned by the Kymenlaakso wellbeing services county. The wellbeing services county now has a template that is suitable for the ownership steering of different companies.
Netum’s ability to immediately understand the nature of the wellbeing services county’s operations was a surprise in Kymenlaakso.
- "There are major differences between the activities of the private and public sectors, and the language and terms used alone are often very different. There was no need to explain the governance model from the ground up to Netum; the understanding of the wellbeing services county’s special features in relation to decision-making by municipalities, the state and businesses was already at a high level," says Eklund.
Juha-Pekka Leskinen from Netum, who was involved in the project as a strategy consultant, praises the smooth cooperation with the customer from the start.
- "The wellbeing services county’s very active approach to the development of operations and long-term planning, as well as its extremely professional attitude, made the consultation as successful as it was. It was a pleasure to see how well the cooperation worked among the wellbeing services county’s civil servants and how goal-oriented they wanted to be in improving operations," Leskinen says.
The CEO of Kymen Tuki describes the cooperation as interactive.
-"Netum knows how to take the customer into account and adapt its operations accordingly, and not the other way around. They got a grasp of what we wanted already during the initial discussions," Gerlander says.