FORTUNE on Nokia and the Best Companies To Work For in Europe
Note that FORTUNE rates Qualcomm Number 8 in America's Top Employers
>> Best Companies To Work For: 10 Great Companies in Europe
Combining style and substance, these European companies stand out.
FORTUNE
February 4, 2002
Milton Moskowitz
Robert Levering
fortune.com
* ING Group * Porsche
* L'Oreal * Pret A Manger
* Morgan Stanley * San Raffaele
* Nokia * Skandia
* Novo Nordisk * ST Microelectronics
Introduction
A French employee of United Airlines made a telling comment as we were boarding a U.S.-bound plane last fall. Asked what we had been doing on our trip, we said that we had been looking for great workplaces. "In France?" he asked incredulously. As a matter of fact, we found a wonderful workplace in France, at L'Oreal, the world's largest cosmetics company. MBAs compete fiercely for a chance to work at the sophisticated, flower-bedecked headquarters in Clichy, outside Paris, and blue-collar workers consider themselves fortunate to find jobs at the company's open, airy factories. It's an electric atmosphere, where employees at all levels feel in control of their work.
We found a number of other terrific employers headquartered across the region. But the airline worker's comment was a typical reaction when we discussed our project. Part of the reason is that the European business press has rarely covered the issue. It's not that there isn't a story to tell. "When I see financial analysts," says Lindsay Owens-Jones, CEO of L'Oreal, "I always tell them that one of the reasons for our success is the special relationship we have with our people. But they don't want to hear that. All they want is the numbers."
We've prepared FORTUNE's list of the 100 Best Companies to Work For in America for the past five years (and initially in book form nearly 20 years ago), but this is our first such effort in Europe. It's clear that U.S companies don't have a monopoly on great workplaces. The ten European firms featured here are world-class employers. Great workplaces, wherever they are, have a lot in common. The rah-rah atmosphere of British sandwich-shop chain Pret A Manger certainly matches that of, say, Southwest Airlines. We found employees at several companies--most notably German automaker Porsche and Danish pharmaceuticals firm Novo Nordisk--sounding a lot like Americans as they spontaneously talked about the family atmosphere at work. And on both sides of the Atlantic, the hottest workplace issue was how to balance work and family.
Yet there are differences. For one thing, the food is better in the European company cafeterias. For another, we got the sense that European companies care more about the architecture of their workplaces than their American counterparts do. Certainly the facilities we visited at L'Oreal, Nokia in Finland, and ING in Amsterdam were amazing showplaces.
Another difference is that European companies tend to be more international than American ones, which have a huge domestic market outside their back door. Unions are much stronger in Europe than they are in the U.S. And some European companies appear to take social responsibility more seriously than businesses in the U.S.; several issue exemplary annual reports assessing their performance as corporate citizens.
The biggest difference between American and European firms is that the state plays a much heavier hand in workplace matters in Europe. From mandating long vacations (a minimum of four weeks) and extensive paid maternity leaves to establishing such standards as the 35-hour workweek in France, governments set a bar below which no company can fall. That means there is less variation among companies in pay and benefits.
Such legislation does not, however, inhibit businesses from offering programs designed to improve their workplaces. Nor does it mandate the way in which management relates to employees on a daily basis. It is, after all, those daily interactions that determine whether employees feel respected and valued.
Since great workplaces run on the energy generated by a loyal and committed work force, it helps to be a world leader. There is certainly a sense at Nokia, ST Microelectronics, ING, Skandia, L'Oreal, and Morgan Stanley in London that they are top players on the world scene. At San Raffaele hospital in Milan, employees feel they are delivering care not to be found at any other hospital in Italy.
A word about our methodology. When we embarked on this project, we canvassed a wide range of people in the U.S. and Europe, but mostly in Europe. We put the question "Which are the great workplaces in Europe?" to journalists, securities analysts, business school professors, consultants, and social-investment researchers. We also consulted surveys of European university students that asked which companies they would like to work for. As we went from city to city, we asked a wide range of people, including employees, which firms they would recommend. We ended up with a list of 75 candidates. After analyzing these companies and asking people in each country to rate the candidates, we narrowed our selection to 13 companies. We visited each of these, conducting interviews with managers and hourly employees. In the end, these interviews were the crucial factor in our final selection of ten companies (listed in no particular order). We followed the same rule we do in the U.S., even though no formal surveys were conducted: For a company to make the grade, it must have employees who tell us they love to work there.
Nokia
It's always nice to be with No. 1, but would you go all the way to Finland to enjoy that distinction? Hundreds have. Of the 24,000 employees Nokia has in its home country, 1,300 are foreign nationals. We conducted two group interviews at Nokia House, the company's spectacular, glass-enclosed, wood-planked headquarters outside Helsinki, where there were people from South Africa, India, Australia, China, and Britain. The lure, of course, is not just being with a world leader. Nokia does attract people because of its success--it fields 1,000 job applications a week on the Internet--but the magnet that keeps them here is a way of working. Just as Hewlett-Packard has its famous "HP way," Nokia has the "Nokia way," a mission statement that stresses openness, integrity, teamwork, humility, and accountability. Ji Yanyan, a young Chinese development manager who got her MBA at the University of Texas in San Antonio, says employees rotate jobs every two years: "You always have to update your business card." Adds Joe Barrett, a native of Britain and a market relations manager at Nokia Networks: "You join Nokia, and no one will give you a very accurate job description. You don't know who your boss is. So you live in this state of confusion--it never goes away. You have to adapt to it."
Kati Vikki, head of process management, says employees are not judged by titles at Nokia. What "drives people is to excel in the eyes of your peers." And Lea Myyrylainen, manager of mobile Internet interfaces, says that unlike at other companies, where advancement is typically a case of moving up the ladder, Nokia even has something that could be considered the reverse. She explains: "A high vice president moves to another function to expand his knowledge and skills. We call this 'downing the ladder.' You go below."
The telecom sector was hammered in 2001, and Nokia felt the pain, laying off 1,000 workers and seeing its stock price fall by 41%. But that was a better performance than those turned in by its chief rivals, and there is no question that Nokia products are still in hot demand: Sales neared a record $30 billion. Employees are adamant that there is no crisis atmosphere. "People are not worried," says Jaana Saarenpaa, a program manager. "They have a lot of confidence in the company." Myyrylainen says the reaction to the tough economic times was very Finnish: "We're going to show them. We are not afraid. We are going to push more."
It's difficult to exaggerate the importance of Nokia to its home country. Nokia accounts for 25% of Finland's exports and 50% of the trading on the Helsinki stock exchange. Finland leads the world in the percentage of the population using cell phones, a tribute to the company that is the world leader in mobile-phone sales, accounting for one-third of the total market, three times that of its nearest competitor, Motorola.
The entry-level salary at Nokia is $2,000 a month, supplemented by performance bonuses. About half the staff is eligible for stock options. A Finnish daily newspaper, Helsingin Sanomat, publishes a list of every Finn who earns more than one million finnmarks a year ($200,000). In 2000, all but one of the top 50 earners worked for Nokia.
There are plenty of on-site benefits, including a sauna (this is Finland, after all), a 24-hour gym, a cafeteria where you can eat well for less than $5, and a medical facility. Every Nokia office is staffed with a physician, and if you need a specialist, a prompt referral is made. Cost to the employee: zero.
Workplace flexibility is also prized. Lynn Rutter, director of communications for the human-resources department, can often be found in Nokia House, but she lives in Scotland. Nokia's design director Frank Nuovo works out of Los Angeles.
For the 1,800 people who work at headquarters, there's the pleasure of working in a wonderful building designed by Finnish architect Pekka Helin and interior designer Iris Ulin. Constructed between 1995 and 1997, it sits on the Gulf of Finland, and its ground-to-roof glass panels offer views of the sea and the sky wherever you sit. The imperative for the architects was to create a space that would promote internal communication and teamwork.
During the winter months the gulf freezes, making ice skating and ice fishing possible. "Everybody thought I was mad to move here," says Mandis Nioko, a South African who was determined to work at headquarters. Sometimes, she says, when a team has a late session, they gorge themselves on sausages and head straight for the sauna. Welcome to Finland--and Nokia. <<
- Eric - |
