Diversity and Inclusion – Enablers for Business Success

Heli: Right now, there is a lot of talk about diversity and inclusion, which has brought back many warm memories of our collaboration at Konecranes Academy. Diversity from different perspectives (social culture, professional culture, gender, age, business area, personality/cognitive diversity, and so on) was an integral part of the training program. 

Peggy – Why was diversity on the agenda at that time?

Peggy: Konecranes wanted to build a common way of working. People ran the business in local and global teams and needed to improve their ability to work together. People are complex, but we still share many similarities. It is very easy to put people into boxes and make stereotypes. When looking closer, there is still more in common than what separates us. In training, we used tools for understanding personality differences and cultural diversity. 

What is your experience, Heli, when working with many companies?

Heli: Indeed – for example, the leadership challenges seem to be very similar, regardless of whether we come from different countries, organizations, units, or professions. When managers have an open dialogue, they often conclude that they have learned a lot from each other, no matter their background. 

We tend to make assumptions too fast and don’t see the underlying strengths in others. The challenge is to keep a curious mind and see possibilities in diversity. 

Konecranes Academy was a significant investment for Konecranes; what were the business drivers?

Peggy: Konecranes demerged from Kone in 1994, and there was a need to clarify Konecranes’ way of doing things and strengthen Konecranes’ identity. Shared values were an essential factor in enhancing a unified working culture. In the program consisting of regional modules, we also felt a significant value for employees to visit the “homeland” of Konecranes to understand our culture and way of working. So, the final module was always held in Finland. The mix of participants was essential to give them experiences with different jobs, cultures, and more, while still providing a sense of belonging to the same Konecranes family. 

Do you Heli remember some special diversity issues that we faced?

Heli: In the training program, we created circumstances for people to learn about each other’s differences. When participants solved different challenges together, diversity turned out to be a key strength. It is self-evident that we are all different, but through our own experience, that knowledge became something more concrete. It was always heart-warming to hear participants’ comments at the end of the training on how they had realized the importance of diversity and inclusion. 

The investment in the Konecranes Academy paid off. It built the bases for growth and, at the same time, helped maintain an entrepreneurial culture. It strengthened managers’ understanding that they are part of the Konecranes family and are responsible for business, customers, and people, which are equally important. 

How do you, Peggy, see the future of diversity and inclusion?

Peggy: I think this topic will always be important; it might change shape a bit but is always essential. The significant differences are easy to address, or at least easier. More challenging are minor differences in experience and background knowledge – e.g., how to include new employees in strong teams and accept other ways of working/thinking. Diversity and inclusion are essential parts of change management.

To enhance the value of diversity and inclusion, we need to focus on the benefits of diversity and the common ground we share. I firmly believe in positive thinking, which helps a good spirit roll. 

Konecranes is a world-leading group of Lifting Businesses™, serving a broad range of customers, including manufacturing and process industries, shipyards, ports, and terminals.

Konecranes Academy was an international training program for middle management. It was run 1998-2014. Over 1000 managers from all Konecranes locations participated in the program. The program was developed after Konecranes demerged from Kone in 1994 to enhance Konecranes’ values, culture, and way of doing business. 

During the training, diversity in different forms played a key role. Participants worked a lot in diverse small groups. They solved different challenges and exercises together, which helped them learn more about each other and further approaches based on cognitive, professional, and cultural differences. The main tools and frameworks used in the program to understand diversity were the MBTI (Myers-Briggs Type Indicator) and the view of culture as a normal distribution vs stereotyping (Riding the Waves of Culture, Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner, 1997).

Peggy Hansson was Director of Competence Development at Konecranes until 2008. She built the Konecranes Academy, where Dazzle was in charge of the Leadership and Communication module from 2001 to 2014. Heli Vähätiitto was the program director at Dazzle.

WRITERS

Peggy Hansson
Head of People and Talent, Finnforel

Heli Vähätiitto
CEO and Strategy Co-designer, Dazzle Oy