Taitori’s room booking system enables valuable encounters for the valued employees of Proxion Oy
Founded in Pieksämäki in 2005, Proxion Oy is a company that provides design, consulting, training, and software services for rail transportation. Today, the company is involved in all nationally significant rail projects, delivers all essential services for the rail industry, and is experiencing strong international growth.
The company has always focused on the people who work there, and especially in the era of hybrid work, it trusts its employees to have the freedom to choose how they work in the way they see best. Since Proxion aims to retain top experts, the evolving needs of employees have influenced the company’s choices in facility solutions.
Mistä yhteistyö Taitorin kanssa lähti liikkeelle?
Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, Proxion Oy experienced rapid growth during this period, and the number of employees nearly doubled. This led to a situation where the company’s facilities could no longer keep up with the transformation.
“We considered how to prepare for a situation where all of our employees would return to the office after COVID. Our total number of employees had increased, new hires were starting from home offices, and our existing facilities couldn’t keep up with the growth. On the other hand, we also wondered if it was even necessary for them to keep up—would people return to offices in the same way as before the pandemic?” says Mikko Oksanen, Customer Relations Director at Proxion Oy.
“We already had a strong remote work culture before the pandemic. We knew change was coming, and instead of investing in new walls, we considered if we could get more out of our current facilities.”
The decision to choose Taitori was made after a brief market review, and some Proxion employees also had prior experience with Taitori’s services from previous workplaces.
“We initially explored what solutions and services were available on the market. We’re an Office 365 company, so it was important for us to find a solution that would integrate seamlessly and effortlessly into our existing systems. Ease of communication also played a role; we could ask directly how things were and what would be best for us to do,” Oksanen continues.
Everyday Life with Taitori’s Service
At Proxion Oy’s largest and busiest offices in Helsinki and Tampere, the Taitori room booking system is in use and can be accessed via Taitori’s mobile app or through a browser.
Since spring 2022, the service has also enabled tracking and analyzing employee behavior through data. Employee activity and office visits have clearly increased after the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions. Although pre-pandemic levels have not yet been reached, workstation occupancy rates in the offices have been high.
“After the initial challenges, we have managed to get the workstation booking system to support the transition back to the office. Our biggest challenges have been more about the equipment requirements of different specialist roles—some need two large monitors, others need specific docking stations, etc. Our goal is to equip workstations to meet various needs and to use the booking system to share workstations across employees, instead of the traditional assigned desk model.”
“Especially in the offices in Helsinki and Tampere, the system has now already seen benefits. Employees know how to use the service and reserve workstations according to their own needs, and the service is constantly being developed based on user experience. The user interface has been easy to use both on desktop and mobile. I feel that we are also listened to and receive personal service when we have expressed wishes and given feedback regarding the use of the service. When I go to our different offices, for example, I have to remember to book my own workstation in advance. That I can definitely use it.”
The modern premises serve the well-being of the fast-growing company’s top experts.
For Proxion Oy, it is essential that employees feel welcome in their offices and operating environment, and this is also reflected in the company’s job satisfaction surveys.
Our current modern premises are strategically located in central areas of the largest cities, ensuring easy accessibility and excellent public transport connections. These locations also serve as a strong representation of our company’s presence and visibility.
“It has always been important to us that we have premises that serve the needs of our employees and are easily accessible, that the information security issues are in order, and that we dare to bring customers there,” says Oksanen.
Taitorin tilanvarausjärjestelmän lisäksi, käytännön toimenpiteitä kohtaamisten varmistamiseksi ovat olleet esimerkiksi yhteisten aamiaisten järjestäminen joka maanantaiaamu.
”Työntekijöitä kannustetaan kunnioittamaan yhteisen viikon aloittamista kalentereistaan. Sen lisäksi totta kai me halutaan juhlia yhdessä silloin kuin on yhteisiä onnistumisia ja pyrimme saamaan tiimien, liiketoimintayksikköjen tai jopa talon koko väen erilaisiin yhteisiin tapahtumiin mukaan. Haluamme, että toimitilat itsessään ovat enemmän energiaa tuovia kuin energiaa vieviä. Koen myös itse hyvin voimakkaasti sen, että työyhteisön merkityksellisyyteen kuuluu paljon se miten ihmiset ympärillä kokevat yhteenkuuluvuuden tunnetta ja ovatko he ylpeitä työpaikastaan”, Oksanen summaa.
Ja lopuksi, suosittelisitko Taitorin palveluita ja tuotteita?
In the era of hybrid work, the natural encounters between people have changed. Offices are no longer visited in the same way from eight to four. It is crucial for companies to adapt to these changing dynamics and create space for encounters between people, as this is key to maintaining a strong company culture and employee engagement.
“We feel that a big help and joy in our work comes from the fact that in expert work, people meet or meet randomly and exchange ideas about what has arisen during the working day in coffee table discussions, informal discussions, and perhaps even at the workplace. It is essential that people can work from home, concentrate, and be at their own pace, and no one is forced to come to the office. But when you want to come to the office, you have to make sure that the tools are in good condition and you feel that working in the office adds value. As a company, we feel that working together on the same premises and meeting people are of special value to us, and we want to encourage our employees to pursue them in particular,” says Oksanen.In addition to Taitori’s space reservation system, practical measures to ensure meetings have been, for example, organizing joint breakfasts every Monday morning.”Employees are encouraged to respect the start of the common week in their calendars. In addition, of course we want to celebrate together when there are joint successes and we try to get teams, business units or even the whole house to participate in various joint events. We want the premises themselves to be more energy-inspiring than energy-consuming. I also feel very strongly that the meaning of a working community has a lot to do with how the people around them feel a sense of togetherness and whether they are proud of their workplace”, Oksanen sums up.
And finally, would you recommend Taitori’s services and products?
“Yes. I would recommend it, and I have also recommended it. When a large amount of information about using business premises is available, Taitori’s added value for growing companies may also be using data in the future.”
A company like Taitori can, based on data based on the use of its service, offer the following insight to its customers, for example:
“Based on the usage data of the workplaces of organizations with a similar growth rate, we have seen that your company may need to expand physical premises or even reevaluate work methods in the next six months. This kind of information can have significant added value for the company.”
