Foreign Ministry published its job satisfaction survey results

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs has published the results of the job satisfaction survey of 2018. Job satisfaction remained at the same level as in the previous year. In the Ministry, the figures correspond to the average survey results in central government. On the scale of school grades, job satisfaction is eight on average.

Personnel was most satisfied with the content of work and possibility to exert influence; operating culture in the workplace; and employer image and values. They were least satisfied with pay. Fair treatment by line managers was considered the management's strength, while appropriate organisation of tasks remains a target of development.

 
The Foreign Ministry's senior management wants to uphold a culture of constant improvement in job satisfaction: management must be developed, weaknesses related to pay must be addressed and harassment must be rooted out.

Towards workplaces that are free from harassment

The survey looked thoroughly into cases of observation and experiences of inappropriate treatment and harassment. In the Ministry, one tenth of the respondents (66 employees) had encountered inappropriate behaviour in the year under review; in the missions abroad, the corresponding result was 14 per cent (161 employees) of the respondents.

A greater number of employees reported observations of inappropriate behaviour. In the past year, 13 employees (1.9%) in the Ministry and 60 employees (5.5%) in the missions abroad had experienced harassment at work. A greater number of the respondents reported observations of harassment. Experiences of sexual harassment were few: three employees (0.4%) in the Ministry and three employees (0.3%) in the missions reported experience of sexual harassment in the past year.  Sixteen employees (3 in the Ministry, 13 in the missions) told that their reports had not been investigated in accordance with the guidelines of the organisation.   In addition, 39 employees (7 in the Ministry, 32 in the missions) informed that even though they had reported harassment to the line manager, the problem persisted.

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs has about 850 employees in Helsinki and about 1500 employees in its missions abroad. Finland has 89 embassies or other offices in 73 countries.
In December 2018, Minister for Foreign Affairs Timo Soini and Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Anna-Mari Virolainen commissioned consultancy company Ramboll to conduct an independent study of how harassment incidents are handled in the Ministry

Conducting the study by an external party guarantees its independence. The study will be completed in March. It will introduce concrete recommendations on how to develop workplaces in the Ministry for Foreign Affairs.  The study focuses on efforts to prevent harassment and inappropriate behaviour in the Ministry and its workplaces, and on open discussion of inappropriate behaviour, ways of dealing with incidents more effectively and consistent monitoring of the process.