The Finnish National Opera and Ballet

The Finnish National Opera and Ballet is Finland’s largest arts institution. To make each season happen, it employs more than 550 permanent and over 800 visiting staff. People from 36 different countries come together to create the magic of opera and ballet. Job titles are so varied, they range from soprano to shoemaker. All of these factors make the Finnish National Opera and Ballet an amazingly diverse work community and the implementation of Sympa HR has made it easier than ever to manage all of the resulting HR data.

An HR solution that supports the work of all managers

”Despite our varied backgrounds and over 100 different job titles, we all have one thing in common here at the Opera House – our love of opera and ballet. We chose Sympa because we wanted an HR solution that could be used independently by our very broad and diverse management,” says Hanna Fontana, HR Manager for the FNOB.

Sympa’s clear, easy-to-use and visually appealing solution was well received by management, both on the artistic and the administrative sides of the company. Onboarding was organised for large groups, as well as at an individual level. To her delight, Fontana has noticed that most managers now have a fluent command of the solution. Sympa HR is regularly praised for its accessibility.

Sympa’s HR adapts to unique needs

Fontana remembers the onboarding process particularly clearly, as the opera had a long list of requirements. Both employee and visiting artist data needed to be transferred into the solution, and templates had to be customisable.

”Sympa HR’s customisation to fit our needs has been a delight. We’ve been able to take care of a lot of fixes and make changes to the solution independently.”

Support has been available whenever needed. Sympa’s experts have been closely involved in solving problems along the way, some of them rather surprising.

”Our questions may at times seem a bit bizarre. Some of our employees’ names, for instance, use a lot of special characters, and we got help in registering these in the solution,” Fontana laughs.

All data in one place

Sympa has made everyday life easier for both Fontana and the management, since information has been moved from Excel and notepads to one central location The system already provides reports of early support for employees, as well as reports on nationalities, employment contracts, requests for work equipment, and user rights. Holiday and absence data will also gradually be transferred to Sympa.

Careers up to 20-40 years are commonplace at the Finnish National Opera and Ballet, where work doubles as a passion and a calling. Thanks to the data collected in Sympa, Fontana can provide effective support to employees from the recruitment stage to the end of a long and distinguished career.

”The support processes made possible with Sympa are particularly important in an art institution like this. I do my job best by being invisible and sometimes reminding staff about the importance of rest and recovery, Fontana adds.

Fontana has even recommended the Sympa solution to her colleagues in other Nordic opera houses, as they face many similar challenges.

”What’s most important to me professionally is that people thrive in their work. We have been highly satisfied with Sympa. The solution makes it easier than ever to give our multifaceted work community the support that it needs.”