What’s it like to work in a family-friendly company?

I started work at Frends in 2018 and, at the same time, my child began kindergarten. I was nervous. It was a new job, of course, but also balancing work and daycare brought questions. I wondered if I would have the energy, how I would cope, how my toddler life will be viewed and how would I succeed as a mother.

I paused to reflect on the past few years and, in particular, on our culture from a family-friendly perspective.

The Frends culture has proven to be very family-friendly: through different practices it takes into account that there is more to life than work. This is very important to me and, according to a recent study, to 57% of other Finns, too.

I feel that Frends has a positive, equal and understanding attitude towards different life situations and also provides support for them. When I talk about family-friendliness, I don't just mean families with children or the traditional nuclear family, but all kinds of family forms and life situations. The spectrum of family concepts has broadened. Up to 67% of Finns feel that their family goes beyond the traditional nuclear family concept.

Frends has a wide range of benefits to support you in a variety of everyday situations. These include comprehensive occupational health services, extensive sickness insurance, children´s camps, family events, flexible working hours and locations, etc. Now we have the national Bring your Child to Work day, which has been a popular event over the years. We also organize Christmas porridge, to which you can bring your family. I have also tried our childcare service myself and found it to be an effective help in everyday life.

These are tangible messages, both inside and outside the company, about the kind of company we want to be for our employees. They are concrete signals from our management on what our company wants to invest in. They contribute to building and strengthening our family-friendly culture.

For myself, the greatest support has been our culture that is genuine, accepting, open, flexible and respectful towards each individual and their life situation. I can honestly say that I am proud of our culture. For example, flexibility is provided when life demands it. Frends has been able to create a culture that I want to commit to, nurture and build together to make it better. 

Creating a family-friendly culture together

Even though we work in IT, for us, an employee is not a machine that can be turned on in the morning and turned off in the afternoon. For us, every employee is an individual with their own experiences and needs.

The management plays a significant role in creating culture. Their values and decisions are trickling down. I believe that our culture, from management to the professionals, understands life. Life that includes a toddler period, difficult times when you feel you can’t cope, good times when you can cope a little better, and dreams that, sometimes, have to be fulfilled.

We all create a family-friendly culture together by listening, understanding, supporting and helping each other.

This is the culture where I feel good!

Written by: Elina Salo, Head of Talent Acquisition, Frends.

Read also our blog: Frends is a family-friendly workplace.