Leading Change:

Helsinki Youth

Department

Tommi Laitio

Director of Youth Affairs

2.3.2016 MBA, AaltoEE

Helsinki Youth Department

• Mission: Make the entire

city a great place to be a

teenager.

• Methods: Youth clubs,

skate parks, leisure

activities, street art,

squatters, democratic

participation

• 1,4 million contacts /

year, 2000 hobby groups

• 400 employees, 60

venues

• Annual spending 31

million euros

During my first year I visited all our venues.

Four main findings and reactions to them.

1. We do amazing work but people did not know about it.

Solution: New narrative

2. We needed a bigger frame for our work.

Solution: From running services to improving a city.

3. There was no crisis.

Solution: First culture and operations, then structure.

4. People want to work with us and want us to succeed.

Solution: identify change ambassadors

Change process

2012–2013

Listening, Building trust

in new management,

Symbolic wins

2013–2014

Participatory design, PR,

Strategy

2015

Reorganisation,

Recruiting

2016

Behaviour change on

staff-level 2014: Staff workshop

2013: President of the Republic visits a youth club

Staff Participation

353 employees spent a

day interviewing

teenagers

10 Open Staff Forums

10 Planning Groups

5 Staff Events

50 Team Discussions

2 Events for Managers

Appr. 100 Personal

Hearings

All material in intranet

Strategy 1. Youth work is local and needs to be

planned based on every neighbourhood´s

needs. This means more power to young

people.

2. The role of the professional is to help

young people and other organisations to do

good things for young people.

3. Empathic skills are the new urban skills.

Organisation 1. From function-based to an area-based

organisation.

2. Matrix organisation for development.

3. Recruiting new top management.

4. All managers change units.

5. Youth workers get to change their unit if

desired.

6. Planning staff : from experts to service

designers.

What has

changed?

• Helsinki´s leading

department in job

satisfaction

• More contacts to

young people

• More and better

visibility

• Bigger budget

• Exemplary

implementation of

city strategy

Examples: From running the city's youth services to making

Helsinki a nice place to be a teenager.

New and stronger partnerships with arts institutions, police etc

Participatory budgeting with 6700 participants

Annual report on the state of young people

Summer job voucher for all 15-year-olds (appr. 5500 teenagers)

2,2m € donation for migrant work

Joint building projects like an event venue in a gasbell

Day 62 of the new organisation

1. Day-to-day operations running

smoothly.

2. New management works well as a

team. Combination of insiders and

outsiders works well.

3. Managers under a lot of stress. But

there is a desire to make this work.

4. As managers changed units,

different practices became visible.

The issue is not fixed in a day.

5. Should have invested more in

change management for planning

staff.

6. We have built very high expectations

for the change. Now it is time to

deliver.

Lessons

1. The frame you choose defines the

resources you have.

(department vs. Helsinki)

2. Find pockets of existing good practice.

(visits to youth clubs regularly, social

media)

3. People see the big picture if you think

they will.

(workshops, seminars, working groups,

communications)

4. Allow some people to do more.

(ask for volunteers)

5. Be frank but empathic.

(invest in a fair process)

6. Make pain and anxiety visible.

(online barometer for mapping flow)

7. Invest in management.

(change management training)

Tommi Laitio

Director of Youth Affairs

City of Helsinki, Youth Department

Hietaniemenkatu 9B

PL 5000, 00099 City of Helsinki

tommi.laitio (a) hel.fi

tommilaitio.munstadi.fi

ruuti.net

twitter: tommilaitio