The Information Society Council discussed recent changes in work life at its meeting on Tuesday 8 March 2005. Despite the different points of view under consideration, shortcomings in management and leadership skills were taken up as a serious common concern. The meeting reiterated that workplaces suffer from insufficient management skills and that managerial training should be included into polytechnic and university degrees much more frequently than now.
The Chairman of the Information Society Council, Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen, set the Council’s section covering working life to work on an initiative regarding measures to improve the situation.
“By inference of the discussion there are weaknesses in management skills especially in new production areas. The Council could consider if an initiative was necessary is this matter,” Mr Vanhanen concluded the discussion at the meeting.
Rapid development of the information industry has speeded up employees’ work pace
Mr Antti Rinne, Chairman of the Federation of Special Service and Clerical Employees, ERTO, presented in his introduction a survey of the opinions among the Federation’s members. According to the survey, employees in the information industry are faced with problems such as coping at work, lack of professional postgraduate education and continuing education and weaknesses in management skills.
“Coping at work decreases with constant hurry and overtime work that continues day after day, week after week and month after month. Nine out of ten works overtime and feels exhaustion. Long working weeks cause sleeping disorders and it is difficult to separate work and free time. Duties of the employees in the information industry often demand creative solutions. Creativity suffers from tiredness,” Mr Rinne pointed out.
“More than half of the people in the survey feel that they need factual information related to their work or professional postgraduate education or continuing education,” Mr Rinne listed as outcomes of the survey.
In Rinne’s opinion, the worst problem in the information industry, however, is the lack of management and leadership skills.
“Approximately 60 per cent of the people in the survey felt that their superiors are poorly aware of the employees’ duties and related problems. Heavy workload and lack of education lead to bad management,” Mr Rinne stated.
Rapid growth in the industry sets pressures for the employer
The number of employees in the information industry has rapidly increased in the last few years. The industry has a few large employers but most people are employed by SMEs.
“The IT sector is sensitive to economic trends and it demands good sense of anticipation of the employers. More pressure is set to prices when IT becomes a common commodity. Work is carried out in global networks and forums, and project work requires flexibility,” Ms Tarja Virmala, Executive Director of the Federation of The Finnish Information Industries, listed as challenges of the sector.
“We as employers do not consider the situation as serious as Mr Rinne presents, but I agree with him on the keen demand for more managerial training as part of vocational education. Expert duties are more attractive than management positions in the information sector. There is an increasing demand for good superiors," Ms Virmala concluded.
In his conclusion Mr Vanhanen, Chairman of the Committee, emphasised the information industry’s rapid growth which has set challenges for the sector’s development but also brought prosperity to our society thanks to the high productivity in the industry.
“We are talking about an industry that has had the highest increase in productivity in the last 10-15 years that has ever been reached in any industry. The ICT sector has in fact become our third pillar beside the forest and metal industries. Internationalisation has happened very rapidly. Interesting questions to follow include: which characteristics have led to this success, how to apply them in other sectors and how to keep the work in Finland. The Information Society Council has to consider at least management issues in the sector and the efficiency of our education system as regards managerial training,” Vanhanen concluded.
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