High-quality induction and commitment are an important foundation, even for a summer job

The Mäkelä Alu factory is never closed: production, surface treatment and deliveries of aluminium profiles continue as usual, even during the summer holidays. During the holidays, we ensure normal delivery reliability for our customers with the help of summer workers, among others.

To keep our operations running smoothly, we have focused on our induction process.

“We offer a high-quality induction process to new employees, and they all receive induction in the same way. The only difference in spring is that there are more new employees in the building at the same time,” says Jenni Hautakangas, Mäkelä Alu’s HR Manager.

People want to work at Mäkelä Alu summer after summer, which is a sign of a successful induction process and that we have managed to keep good people. For many, a summer job is also a step towards a permanent job.

“We have worked hard to make the transition to Mäkelä as smooth as possible. Many summer workers have had good experiences, which is why they return to work with us. This is a great situation from a customer service perspective,” says Jenni Hautakangas.

 

You become part of the community very quickly

We want to keep our good employees committed to the company, and for some we have the opportunity to offer holiday or weekend shifts all year round.

“Students who want to make some extra money will benefit from this opportunity. At the same time, you can gain work experience in your own field,” says Jenni Hautakangas.

This was the case, for example, for Joakim Jokiniemi, who works in our order-delivery department. He is studying Economics at the University of Jyväskylä, majoring in accounting.

“I worked at Mäkelä Alu last summer. I was able to do some occasional temp jobs during the winter, and now I’m returning for the whole summer. I work in invoicing,” he says.

The experiences gained at Mäkelä Alu have been good.

“When I started at the company last summer, I was immediately made to feel welcome. The people I work with are friendly, and very soon I found that I was a trusted member of the work community. It felt nice,” says Joakim Jokiniemi.

“I can well believe this, because we don’t take on errand boys or girls; we really train them to be employees and colleagues. You can’t do everything straight away and colleagues will support you as needed. Then, when things start going well, you are given some responsibility,” says Jenni Hautakangas.

Joakim, like other staff in the office, has also had the opportunity to work remotely from time to time. However, he has preferred to work in the office.

“For me, it was important to experience the workplace culture. The people at Mäkelä Alu are nice and the conversations in the coffee room are always fun,” he says.

 

From summer temp to permanent employee

In many cases, employment that started out as a summer job has continued for longer periods and ended up as permanent employment. That was the case for Leevi Hautamäki (in the main image of the article), who came to work at Mäkelä Alu at a very young age.

“It all started when I came here for a work experience period while I was in secondary school. I was 16 years old when I first got to work on the extrusion line,” he says.

After that, Leevi Hautamäki worked for three more summers.

“I’ve done both powder coating and anodising. The work is different in different locations, but what I like most is working on the extrusion line, which is where I am at the moment,” he says.

In addition to his summer jobs, Leevi sometimes had longer temporary work periods. Most recently in anodising.

“Finally, I asked the anodising supervisor if I could have a permanent job and it worked out,” says Leevi, now 21 years old.

He has enjoyed his time at Mäkelä Alu and finds the company to be a nice place to work, with relaxed and good supervisors.

“I also like the flexible working hours, which makes it easier for me to organise my leisure time.”

 

Employees needed

Mäkelä Alu usually has about 50 summer workers, and this year is no exception. It is not possible to take on summer workers for every job, and the aim is to use in-house staff to work on the expert tasks that require specialised skills.

“Summer jobs usually focus on work that involves a lot of routine and repetition. These are easy to get into. However, when you take on any task, it becomes a gateway to the work community, and you can continue on to any of our in-house vacancies,” says Jenni Hautakangas.

The current market situation has had a slight impact on recruitment numbers, but when the situation returns to normal, we will still need good people in-house.

 

OUR INDUCTION PROCESS IN BRIEF

Our online induction material includes written material and videos. New employees are required to go through the material and then complete an exam. In addition to general matters, the materials cover topics such as management, personal and general safety, moving around the plant site, cleanliness and recycling, and issues related to other common rules. The new employee is trained for practical work in their own department, with the support of colleagues.