Gofore is proudly an international company with Finnish and Nordic roots. Our vision is to bring and combine positive elements, that make Nordic societies and workplaces exceptional, to our local work cultures here in the DACH-region.
Why is a Nordic Work Culture an attractive context for the employees, customers and partners? Let’s look at this question by diving into some of the attributes that make Nordic societies stand out globally. For example, Finland is a leading country in several global metrics, for example the World Happiness and the Sustainable Development Reports to name a couple. In fact, Finland and the other Nordics in general rank top-3 in dozens of global rankings.
Why are the Nordics ranking so high in the global metrics? Let me list some reasons:
- High equality
- High autonomy and freedom
- High social support and collaboration
- High trust
- High safety
For example, high equality is experienced through salaries-equality, gender-equality and equal opportunities through education. High autonomy is based on the well-functioning democracy and efficient society, whereas high trust in governmental organisations and other people is an outcome the transparency, openness and low corruption.
The essence of a Nordic Work Culture
Many of the attributes that make Nordic societies, are also transferred into Nordic workplaces. At Gofore, we want to especially highlight the following attributes, that would characterise a Nordic Work Environment.
- The people are happy and balanced. There is a healthy balance between work and free time, normal working time is enough, but with extremely high productivity and efficient cooperation between people and teams. We do not compete internally or compare ourselves to others but rather work towards the same goals. When we are balanced, we are able to quickly adapt to changes happening around us. We are reachable, helpful and human to each other no matter the role at the organisation.
- There is exceptionally, even shockingly, much transparency and trust in the organisation. Information for example around strategy, business numbers and projects are shared and consumed openly. Of course, our status as a listed company puts some limitations on this, but the principle of transparency is an important value for us that we live and breathe. We proudly put trust in other people and assume only the best intentions.
- It is a safe workplace. With safety, we mean that people can genuinely be themselves and feel comfortable sharing concerns, bad news, ideas, etc. without fear of being muted, blamed, or humiliated. We welcome people to challenge each other (in a positive and constructive manner). Through safety, Gofore’s teams are functional and effective from day one.
- Diversity is embraced. We believe that we are all equal and on the same level. We have been frontrunners for example in implementing more inclusive workplace for neurodivergent people. Read more here: https://gofore.com/en/neurodiversity-at-the-workplace/
- Being humble, but yet ambitious. We constantly and patiently want to improve ourselves and our company step-by-step to the next level. We believe the ambition and action for improvement and evolution is a driving force for our long-term growth.
“Gofore has proven to be a very human centric work place. We take our culture and values very serious, which has made working here a great experience. People feel safe and impactful, which is very important for our daily customer work.”
Martha Vasquez, User Experience Designer
The value proposition
There is a lot of great materials and testimonials available about our unique culture. How Gofore’s is pioneering an ethical digital world. Talk is cheap. The most important thing is what happens every day between the interactions and encounters between Goforeans, and between Goforeans and customers or partners. One thing we constantly hear from our new employees, and that even surprises them positively, is: we are actually living the Nordic Work Culture. Nevertheless, we do not claim perfection, but rather a promise of constant improvement.
