Hanken & SSE carried out a project with MTC Flextek focusing on business-oriented competence management, which provided a common language and concrete management tools for building future competitive advantage. MTC Flextek is an expert in metalworking and plastic injection moulding machines, as well as in robotics automation and integrated solutions and supporting services.
MTC Flextek, which employs 65 people, has long recognised the need to develop skills. A concrete roadmap was needed to achieve the renewed strategy, and on the other hand, the desire for training was repeatedly raised in the employee feedback.
"In a smaller company, there are limited opportunities to offer career paths, so the focus of employee development is naturally on developing and expanding skills," says Tiia Suokas, the company's CFO responsible for personnel affairs.
We started looking for an external partner when our own efforts did not produce the desired result, and it wasn't easy to form a unified view of the diverse needs of the personnel on what kind of competence should be developed to take the business towards its strategic goals.
"Although the link between a consultative, academic executive education company and an engineering organisation does not necessarily seem obvious, the collaboration was based on the expertise of both, and resulted in us succeeding in turning an abstract matter into something concrete that can be managed and monitored with indicators in practice also at the management team and board level," says CEO Tomi Tiitola.
Putting skills and competencies into practice
The cooperation, which has continued since 2022, had two phases. In the first phase, we defined the company's strategic capabilities, company-level action plans and responsibilities in the management team. The competencies enabling the capabilities were defined in joint workshops with managers and key personnel. At the same time, a shared vision of what kind of leadership would help enable the capabilities was created.
In the second phase, processes were drawn up for putting capabilities and competencies into practice using concrete tools, including competence-based surveys and development plans on the team and the individual level.
Tiia Suokas and Tomi Tiitola were surprised by the scope of the project and the time and thinking capacity it required.
"It took courage to trust in a process that gradually materialised. Things started to fall into place once and for all when I got to write up the competencies myself with my team."
Today, at MTC Flextek, discussing capabilities and competencies has become an everyday part of every personnel event. The conversations begin with a reminder of the wallboard where the company's strategy, capabilities and values are combined with the customer promise. The development work has been well received by the personnel. The competence perspective has enabled the discussion of strategy in a new way, and individual competence discussions have been found useful.
Seeing how committed MTC Flextek has been to implementing change in practice has been rewarding. A lot has been achieved in a relatively short period due to determined and systematic work, rejoice Mari Tasanto and Emilia Sainisalo, who worked on the assignment. In addition to creating the prerequisites for future business, efforts to develop the competence of personnel are also investments in social responsibility.