Lisbeth Honkanen: 50 years at Tietoevry and still counting

The Middle School graduate who delved straight into employment is now working as a trusted consultant at Tietoevry Create, supporting Arek Oy in developing and maintaining information system services for the Finnish pension industry. Despite having worked in the same corner of the technology sector for half a century now, she still maintains that no two days on the job are alike. Lisbeth doesn’t hesitate with her answer when asked what has kept her in Tietoevry for all this time:

“I’ve never had any reason to look for work anywhere else.”

The best education has been work itself

When money was tight in her single-parent household, 16-year-old Lisbeth sought employment instead of pursuing academics. However, it became evident that her weekend job at the local pharmacy wouldn’t be enough.

"I had an unexplained craving for working with computers", Lisbeth recalls.

After a motivated job search, she soon opened her mailbox to find job offers from both Kela and Tietokonepalvelu. The tiebreaker between the two career paths came down to an impression she got during the process of interviews:

"The people interviewing me at Tietokonepalvelu were just so friendly."

Lisbeth started working at Tietokonepalvelu as a computer typist on 17 February, 1975. Over the years, through multiple mergers and acquisitions, Tietokonepalvelu has become part of what is now Tietoevry.

Even though Lisbeth chose a quick start in the technology sector instead of aiming for further studies, a lack of formal training has never been an obstacle in her career. Lisbeth kept advancing from one position to another in Tietokonepalvelu.

“I’ve gained all the education that I’ve wished for on the job, and I’ve had the opportunities to aspire forwards. How many can say that they’ve always gotten to do what they wanted to?”

However, Lisbeth asserts that her successful career wasn’t handed to her on a silver platter. Having grown up in a single-parent household in the ‘70s, Lisbeth has had to take responsibility for herself early on. This learned accountability has been central to her career growth.

“I remember a time when people complained, ‘why won’t my boss offer me this or that?’ You have to speak up for what you want and make the necessary effort to achieve it.”

Still hands-on after fifty years

In recent years, Lisbeth has been working as a consultant at Arek Oy, one of Tietoevry Create’s corporate clients, alongside two other colleagues. As a member of the support team responsible for applications and production, she’s continuously tackling front-line tasks and challenges.

“In this job I can put everything I’ve learned along the way to use, and I still get to continue learning more.”

Lisbeth’s favourite part of her current role is that no two days are the same. While processing support tickets coming from the various pension companies that Arek Oy serves, she has the necessary know-how to solve novel problems herself, without needing to delegate work downstream.

“I get to dig in, figure out what’s going on, and expand my knowledge every single day.”

Quality effort is highly valued In Lisbeth's professional community. This is also evident in the team's wholehearted commitment to client service.

“We don’t settle for doing just the bare minimum. That’s a value we all share.”

Community carries to the finish

What aspects of Tietoevry does Lisbeth want to highlight now that she has 50 years of career experience behind her?

“I've always had great supervisors and colleagues. Never have I heard of anyone being bullied.”

When sharing her experience, Lisbeth emphasizes the workplace atmosphere and collaboration.

“I’ve always felt that everything that we’ve done, we’ve done together. And I do believe that no one can succeed alone. We need each other to thrive in our work.”

Lisbeth also praises Tietoevry's employee benefits. As a lover of Lapland, she’s gotten to enjoy multiple stays at the Tietotupa cabin in Saariselkä. Lisbeth takes active part in the raffle for rental slots, even though there are many other entrants and only a limited number of available weeks.

She fondly recalls a time when the benefits tempted someone in from even outside the company:

"My daughter and I were at the workplace in Pasila during the days of TKP Tieto Oy, back when she was still very little. She got to have blueberry juice from our office juice machine, and she told me that when she’ll grow up, she wants to work in a place like this where you get blueberry juice."

The machine’s blueberry juice has been lost to time, but in the end, Lisbeth’s daughter did indeed start her career at TKP Tieto. Today, just like her mother, she works in the pension insurance industry.

"We've laughed about that many times since."

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