Equality

Finnish Environment Institute (Syke) strives to be a good workplace for everyone. Syke aims to be an organisation where no one is discriminated against on the basis of gender, origin, religion, sexual orientation or any other reason. Equality and non-discrimination in the organisation are everyone's business. Our employees are our most important asset, and we want this to be reflected in our operations and everyday work. To build a sustainable society, we need different kinds of people with different views and different skills. This ensures we can deliver research and expert services with a range of insightful perspectives.

Our recruitment focuses on the essentials

Syke's recruitment principles are based on the premise that recruitment practices in public organisations should be fair and transparent. Selecting the most qualified and suitable candidate for the position ensures fairness in the selection process. The selection criteria focus on the essentials of the position, and, for example, excellent knowledge of Finnish is not required of applicants unless it is essential in the position.

We encourage all genders to apply for entry-level positions, demanding expert and research positions, as well as project management positions. Our job titles are gender neutral. Job advertisements are made in such a way that they do not favour or discriminate on the basis of gender and that job seekers from different groups become interested to work for Syke. Whenever possible, interviewers of different genders are used in job interviews.

Fairness of pay level is reviewed yearly

At the Finnish Environment Institute, employees are paid on the basis of the revised collective agreement on the pay system. Employee salaries are reviewed when substantial changes happen in work duties and in case of exceptional performance, although Syke has limited capability for monetary remuneration. Pay statistics show that there is little difference in pay between men and women at Syke for the same level of duties. Syke's pay system is being reformed with the aim of making it more transparent and straightforward.

Work and personnel – high job satisfaction at Syke

Employees are encouraged to participate in the planning, developing, and making decisions in operations. For example, in the spring of 2021, Syke personnel participated in the creation of Syke’s new strategy. According to the 2022 well-being at work survey, the content of work and the ability to influence one's own work were perceived as high in Syke (4.2 on a scale of 1 to 5). Overall employee work satisfaction was 3.84.

Efforts are made to distribute work assignments equally according to skills, without being influenced by gender, age, or other personal factors. The employment situation of temporary workers is reviewed twice per year. We pay attention to linguistic and cultural equality, and all relevant information is translated into English. We are also working to make Syke's working environment more accessible. We take into account the needs of employees working in different locations.

Age distribution in Syke is fairly even, with an average age of 46 and the largest age group being 40-44. 59% of staff are women.

Work-life balance

Syke welcomes family leave and flexitime, and our working time model is very flexible. The aim is to ensure that family leave, other leave, or arrangements to accommodate family time do not affect career progression. We equally encourage all new parents to take their family leave.

Observations of inappropriate behaviour and harassment will be investigated

A good working atmosphere includes appropriate behaviour, respect for diversity, consideration of others and caring for others. Bullying or harassment of any kind is not tolerated.

Syke has an early intervention policy in place, under which we investigate reports of inappropriate behaviour or harassment. We discussed the policy extensively with our employees in spring 2022. We have also introduced the safer space policy at our events.

Continuous monitoring of equality and equity

We are developing ways to observe how equality and equity is being implemented in our organisation. We take into account equality and equity surveys, pay statistics, the results of the well-being at work survey (VMBaro) and the conclusions of internal audits. We will raise awareness of equality and non-discrimination among management, junior staff and other staff through information sessions and training.