Sanoma trained ten Corporate Wellness Coaches for internal use - increasing productivity and joy at work

The graduation of Sanoma Well-Being Coaches was celebrated in June at Sanomatalo with the distribution of certificates and congratulatory hugs. The aim of the almost year-long training was to learn and understand the building blocks of holistic wellbeing and its importance for human wellbeing. The event was attended by supervisors of the Sanoma Well-Being Coaches, the project leader Hanna Myllymaa , Human Resources Director Kaisa Aalto-Luoto and LovelyLife® Coach Trainers Alisa Yli-Villamo and Ulla Heikkilä, who acted as learning facilitators for the wellness coaches.

“Well-being coaches come from all business units and after training they have the skills to support the well-being needs of different units. We have different groups of employees, from journalists to newspaper printers, so different approaches are needed,” says Hanna Myllymaa, HR Wellbeing Lead at Sanoma Media Finland, the project leader.

The graduation photo shows, from top left, Sanoma Well-Being Coaches Satu Ketopelto, Magnus Wallström, Johannes Ojala, Meri Kotamäki, Anne Skönroos and Jenni Rinkinen. Bottom row from left: trainer Ulla Heikkilä, Sanoma Well-Being Coaches Saana Vuolasvirta and Kaj Koivumäki, Corporate Wellness Coach Sari Keurulainen, Sanoma Well-Being Coach Tuija Pircklén and trainer Alisa Yli-Villamo. Missing from the photo is Sanoma Well-being Coach Tiina Ellilä. Photographer: Samuli Pulkkinen.

The training of corporate wellness coaches is part of Sanoma’s Management Promises as a driver of organisational leadership culture project. It is part of a three-year project supported by the Finnish Work Environment Fund. Project launched in autumn 2021, the aim is to strengthen the corporate culture that supports the realisation of the leadership promises and develops Sanoma’s well-being at work competence.

Well-being coaches are an important part of the well-being network

Sanoma’s leadership promises: Trust the professional – Make room for joy – Encourage to dare – Meet the person as a human being! The aim is that Sanoma’s new well-being coaches can be approached in all matters concerning well-being at work. The coaches will work together with supervisors, HR, occupational health and safety representatives.

“The training gave me a broad perspective on supporting holistic well-being. We found an extremely open and strong culture of interaction with the group. We learned a lot of new things about ourselves and about coaching during the training and we were able to weld together the expertise of different business units. I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to participate in the training and I believe it will bring a lot of joy and good for the future. I can warmly recommend this training to all work communities.” Satu Ketopelto, Head of Creative Team, Nelonen Media & Sanoma Well-Being Coach.

Sanoma Wellness Coaches

During the training, a service offer for well-being coaches was built

The feedback collected from Sanoma Well-Being Coaches indicates that their activities are perceived as very important to the work community 4.7 (on a scale of 1-5). In particular, workshops (4.6), coaching meetings and campaigns (4.2) in the organization gave the confidence to continue to implement well-being-enhancing actions in the future. The training package met the objectives well (4.2) and is recommended to other organizations (4.4).

The training included eight well-being workshops and additional self-study online:

  • The aim of the Natural Style workshop was to increase self-awareness.
  • The aim of the Tuning Work workshop was to find ways to take a break from work and strengthen resources.
  • The aim of the Pre-Emptive Brain Health workshop was to understand the elements of brain health.
  • The Positive Cycle workshop aimed at finding and building on strengths.
  • The Basic Psychological Needs and Interaction workshop aimed at identifying your own and others’ needs.
  • The aim of the Meaningfulness workshop was to identify areas of meaningfulness in work.
  • The aim of the Solution Orientation workshop was to redirecting energy.
  • The aim of the Increase Productivity workshop was to increase enthusiasm together.

These topics have also been used to build a well-being coaching service offering, which provides individual and team coaching for Sanoma Media Finland Oy’s personnel. During the training, well-being coaches already delivered more than 300 hours of personal coaching and team meetings to support well-being at work, as well as campaigns to encourage all employees.

“This has been really valuable, rewarding and self-developing, both as a person and professionally. It is a very important subject for the whole company. Happy and healthy people are the company’s most important asset.”

The project has led to the creation of Corporate Wellness Coach Training. More information on the project and its results alisa.yli-villamo@lovelylifecoaching.com.

Satu Ketopelto, Head of Creative Team, Nelonen Media & Sanoma Well-Being Coach

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