Hansel Ltd. is a non-profit central purchasing organization whose mission is to serve the public administration in procurement matters. Ahjo acts as Hansel’s training partner under a four-year agreement for 2022–2026. Ahjo’s training programs support Hansel’s cultural transformation by strengthening the communication capabilities of the entire staff, for example in leadership, supervisory work, strategy communication, and expert roles.
The training began in autumn 2022 with presentation skills coaching for the entire staff and leadership training for supervisors. The programs were organized as a series, allowing all employees to participate flexibly while mixing teams during the sessions.
The presentation skills training series involved 130 Hansel employees.
Hansel’s experts frequently engage in both internal and external presentation situations. The goal was particularly to strengthen employees’ presentation and interaction skills and to provide tools for impactful communication.
“Clear expert communication is currently a major topic. We operate in a very specialized field, and putting it into words for our clients and partners is not easy. That’s why we consider developing every Hansel employee’s communication skills extremely important,” says Johanna Kaalikoski, Communications Manager.
Ahjo designed a comprehensive presentation skills program for Hansel. The training sessions were conducted as one-day workshops in groups of no more than 10 participants. Nearly the entire Hansel staff (around 130 people) took part in the training. In addition to presentation skills training, Hansel employees also participated in separate half-day sessions focused on presentation materials.
The results were outstanding. Participants reported significant improvement in their learning. As many as 90 percent of participants felt that their communication skills improved as a result of the training. The program was considered useful, and the majority of participants would recommend it to others. The Net Promoter Score (NPS) was 82. The overall tone of open feedback was also very positive:
“This was an interesting and thought-provoking program. Even though a full day is usually quite demanding, it didn’t feel like it.”
“The best training I’ve attended in my 15 years here!”
“Thank you for a well-executed and highly professional training day. The pacing and time management of the day were excellent. I hope our employer will continue to acquire similar services from your company in the future.”
“An extremely engaging and excellent trainer! The trainer kept our interest throughout the entire day, and our thoughts didn’t wander. The day was well-structured, and participants were actively involved in the training.”
Strategy and workplace communication training were also provided for management and supervisors.
Changes in Hansel’s operating environment require new kinds of leadership and the creation of a shared direction. Ahjo organized two separate training programs for supervisors and management.
The supervisors’ two-day workplace training consisted of presentations, best practices from other industries, discussions, group work, and assignments between sessions.
The half-day training for the management team brought leaders together to collaboratively develop strategy communication. The training focused on target audiences, the relevance of messages, and jointly defining how to articulate the strategy.
A joint culture day was also organized for management and supervisors.
Based on the supervisors’ workplace training, there was a desire for a shared culture-focused day with management. Hansel wanted to provide a common forum where supervisors and leadership could discuss and share their thoughts on the company’s direction and values-based leadership.
Ahjo designed a one-day culture event for Hansel’s management and supervisors, with a primary focus on open dialogue and sharing understanding of values-based leadership. The day included reflections on leadership, change, hybrid work, and the tone of communication situations. As a result, a shared vision of direction and the cultural journey was crystallized.
All of the above has been implemented during our first year of collaboration. Long-term, committed cooperation genuinely drives progress and is rewarding for both the client and the training partner. Ahjo will continue to support the development of Hansel employees’ communication and interaction skills in the coming years.