Greetings from Alumni: Fanni Urrila-Kuronen, HR Business Partner, OP Financial Group

This time around in our Greetings from Alumni series, we interviewed our alumna Fanni Urrila-Kuronen, HR Business Partner at OP Financial Group. During her time at Hannes between 2007 and 2012, Fanni worked as an HR trainee, HR assistant, and HR coordinator.

Hi Fanni! How has the spring been so far?

The spring has been great! It is definitely my favourite season, and one can already feel the spring as days are getting longer.

You work as a human resources business partner at OP Financial Group. Can you tell us about your daily work and what is included in the responsibilities of an HRBP?

My current role consists of three areas. First, I work as a HR business partner to the Technology & Data area at Pohjola Insurance. My role is to support the business area's management in all things related to strategic HR work, e.g. strategic workforce planning, organisational design, talent management, and culture. Secondly, I work with our company-wide strategic HR roadmap ensuring that we will have skilled, motivated, and satisfied personnel also in the upcoming years. Thirdly, I have recently started as an agile master in our HR team, facilitating our team's agile way of working. Depending on the "hat" that I'm wearing, my working days understandably vary a lot. Today, I have been, e.g. deep-diving in excels and HR reporting, building our firm's competence management framework, and preparing slides to our quarterly business alignment day. I share my days between my home office in Espoo and our headquarters in Vallila and love the possibility to enjoy both locations.     

What was the most valuable lesson you took with you when you moved forward from Hannes?

Starting my career at Hannes taught me so much! I learned to understand the value of a great, supportive team (it seems many of my previous colleagues are still at Hannes which in my opinion says a lot). I understood the importance of attention to detail, which isn't my core skill naturally. Finally, the humane and warm culture at Hannes in general, led by the firm’s management, was something that you will not find in every organisation.

What is your favourite memory from your time at Hannes?

Hannes will always have a special place in my heart. I remember having a lot of fun although we sometimes worked long hours. Definitely worth mentioning is also the summer of 2010, which I spent at Hannes's Stockholm office, and of course the unforgettable Christmas Parties at Pörssitalo, which I had the privilege to organise a couple of times.

One theme that currently stands out in working life discussions is purpose at work. To conclude this interview, we would like to ask what the things are that keep you going and motivated at work — what is your purpose?

This must be my favourite question! My purpose at work is to help organisations and people to work smarter, not harder. I like to simplify complex matters and processes, as there is already so much complexity in the modern world and working life. As human beings, we need more simplicity and focus. I'm convinced that by having clear goals, people will have more time to think instead of just doing. I also trust that our most important competence now and in the future is the ability to learn. Learning requires time and space to think, which we in turn can create by working smarter.