Greetings from Alumni: Hannaliina Luttinen, HR Business Partner at Baxter Oy

This time around in our Greetings from Alumni series, we interviewed our alumna Hannaliina Luttinen, HR Business Partner at Baxter Oy. During her time at Hannes between 2001 and 2010, Hannaliina worked as an HR assistant and HR coordinator.

1. Hi Hannaliina! How has the autumn been so far?

Hi! Thanks for asking. As often, autumn has gone by quickly, and now it is only a month until Christmas — which my family is very much looking forward to.
At work, change is truly the new normal, which keeps things both interesting and challenging. World news continue to be upsetting, and I wish we would soon see a turn for the better.

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

I have been at Baxter for some 12 years, and all this time the scope of my work has been very broad. I belong to the Nordic HR team, wherefore I was very much used to working virtually even before the COVID times.
Currently I support three of our Nordic commercial business units and Technical Services Team in the Nordics, Benelux, and CHAT. I also have Nordic responsibility for talent management and I am the go-to person in Finland-specific matters. I coordinate the diversity, inclusion & equity activities for the Nordics and also participate in the European groups at the same.

It is quite challenging to describe what my days look like as they vary a lot. My cousin’s daughter was visiting during the autumn break and asked me if I just sit in front of the computer all day and speak English. So yes, a lot of Teams meetings… but on a variety of topics, which makes it fun and engaging. My role as a HR business partner is mainly to collaborate with leadership, people managers, and employees on all HR-related matters and annual HR processes. With the HR team we work a lot on projects and also focus for example on sharing HR information to the organisation, arranging HR-related trainings, and creating or improving our Nordic HR policies and practices.

3. What was the biggest change when you moved from a law firm to Baxter, a medical equipment manufacturer? Has the law firm background helped you in your current job?

I moved to Baxter directly from maternity leave so that was perhaps the biggest change for me personally at the time. However, it was a conscious choice at the time to go from company offering services to a company having tangible products. I made the move with an open mind and willingness to learn as working in a sales organisation and with health care professionals was new to me. What really spoke to me from day one was Baxter’s powerful mission to save and sustain lives.
My experience at HS remains really valuable to me — I sometimes refer to this time as my HR university. It is when I really developed into an HR professional through learning by doing in each HR case and project I was involved in. And to me that is the best way. I can easily see that working at a law firm taught me a lot about, for example, ethics and compliance, quality of work, prioritisation, and multitasking — not to mention understanding of employment law and legal documents — all skills which I still need today.

4. What is your favourite memory from your time at Hannes?

There are so many! I worked at Hannes for almost 10 years so you can imagine it is hard to choose just one. The first things that pop into my mind work-wise are the responsibilities around HS Academy, Trainee & Thesis Programmes, and Bits & Pieces Newsletter, all of which I really enjoyed doing. But definitely the most precious memories are those related to the people I got to work with and also had a lot of fun with in different Avocados activities, after works at Belge, and summer and Christmas parties.

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

I work with people many of whom have, through our mission, a very clear purpose at work so I have thought about this quite a lot. However, for me this question is easier to approach from the motivation angle. I am motivated by the connections I make with others, support I can provide, and the results or impact I am able to make, most often with others. Being seen and valued for my strengths keeps me going.