Communities support commitment to Luke and promote interaction between different personnel groups
Communities help support the integration of new employees and employees with different backgrounds in Finland and at Luke. The Intercultural Community (IC) is a community and wellbeing forum for international employees and other special groups. In 2023, the IC held a four-day excursion to Luke’s locations in Eastern Finland, a number of social occasions in various locations, scientific webinars and an annual meet-and-greet in Helsinki. Open to everyone at Luke, the communities mainly communicate in English, and their activities have at least dozens of regular participants.
Luke’s Early Career (EC) community consists of doctoral candidates, postdoc researchers, other research scientists at the beginning of their careers, and specialists who work in the research interface. The goal of the community is to be a mouthpiece for Luke’s employees who are taking their first career steps, increase their visibility, identify development needs in this career phase, promote communities and networks, and prepare concrete plans for the community’s activities.
The community’s activities focus on career advancement, scientific networks and social interaction. Its chair and members are responsible for the content of activities, while the HR unit offers administrative support.
In 2023, the EC started seminars held every two weeks to allow its members to demonstrate their work and discuss other current themes. At the annual EC meet-and-greet held in Oulu in August, the participants visited Luke’s location in Oulu, the University of Oulu and its Graduate School, heard scientific presentations by members of the community and doctoral students at the University of Oulu, practised the popularisation of science, and discussed the target group’s wishes and needs with Luke’s President and CEO. In spring 2023, the EC participated in the Tulanet EC event held by the Finnish Meteorological Institute and decided to host a similar event.
According to feedback, the community has significantly increased commitment to Luke and advanced interaction between different personnel groups and the management level. The HR unit supports the activities of both volunteer communities financially and functionally. For example, any proposals and requests presented by the communities are addressed when planning training and coaching programmes.