Helvar CPO Kaisa Tikka-Mustonen: “Arctic HR’s interim support grew into long-term partnership”
Helvar, a leading lighting solutions provider, boasts 100 years of innovation and leadership. Helvar’s intelligent and energy-saving solutions aim to enhance the wellbeing in spaces for the users. The mission is clear: to turn everyday places into brighter spaces.
For 1,5 years, Arctic HR has served as Helvar’s chosen partner, providing a people operations consultant to the in-house team.
The collaboration initiated when Helvar needed a replacement during parental leave. Arctic HR has contributed to operational HR functions, while also offering strategic support. For 1,5 years, Emma Slavov integrated into Helvar’s global HR team of six professionals, led by Kaisa Tikka-Mustonen.
“In my role as Chief People Officer at Helvar, my approach to people operations is quite modern. The core of our business is very human-centric and we take pride of our people agenda. Therefore, our standards are set high – encompassing both culture and quality”, Tikka-Mustonen explains.
This is Helvar’s first time outsourcing interim HR roles. Any initial concerns proved to be unnecessary:
“Defining tasks is never a problem – but finding the ideal personality and fit is always a challenge. In-house dynamics differ from temporary contract; it’s just a whole different feel. However, Emma was like one of us: whole-heartedly committed and quick to tune into our culture. She carried out our strategy with the same standards as we do. It was a rare, lucky situation.”
As in any big organization like Helvar, situations and priorities can shift fast. During the collaboration, several unforeseen recruitment needs came to the table. Arctic HR provided proactive process and project management – and found the right key players with short recruitment timelines.
“From the beginning I knew that Emma had more competency than the initial role required. Dealing with unexpected hiring needs taught us the value of having an HR partner with extra competence. You never know what the future holds. We were fortunate to have Arctic HR supporting us”, says Tikka-Mustonen.
Tikka-Mustonen has worked in many roles in HR; from scaleups to big companies like Helvar. Considering the challenges of replacing an in-house team member with interim solution, she didn’t take the success for granted.
“As a professional, Emma is a true generalist who looked at the strategic big picture. She represented Helvar 100% – both as a committed team member and individual high achiever. She took full ownership of her role and calibrated all situations fast; with wonderful tools and strategic capacity.”
As Helvar continues its growth demerging to two individual business units, the demand for outsourced HR vision continues.
Arctic HR meets these needs effectively, providing workshops and training to support the leadership team of the lighting components unit. Topics include the leader’s role, human-centric leadership, performance management, feedback, and employee motivation.
As the committed collaboration between Helvar and Arctic HR continues, Tikka-Mustonen wholeheartedly recommends Arctic HR as a reliable partner: “Working with Arctic HR started from a temporary need and grew into what feels like strategic, long-term partnership. I appreciate the continuity.”
More information:
Elina Iso-Markku
CEO, Arctic HR Oy
040 543 5228
elina@arctichr.com
