Developing Managers' Leadership Skills in Lapland
The Lapland Wellbeing Services County was established at the beginning of 2023, bringing together over 8,000 employees from 27 distinct organizations into a single unified entity. This large-scale integration meant that the organizational cultures, leadership philosophies, and management practices of all 27 predecessor organizations were simultaneously absorbed — creating a complex environment with significant demands on effective, efficient, and high-quality leadership.
Since its establishment, the organization has undergone substantial structural transformation: team compositions, unit structures, and operating models have all evolved considerably. These changes have wide-ranging implications for supervisors' day-to-day responsibilities, workplace well-being, internal communication, and management practices across the organization.
The need to strengthen leadership capabilities had been recognized at the strategic level and formally embedded in the organization's human resources program. In response, the "Renewing People Management and Leadership" project was launched at the start of 2024. As a cornerstone of this initiative, the Jotos leadership program was developed to build leadership competencies and promote a more effective, smoother working day — offering targeted support for both newly appointed people managers and experienced leaders looking to deepen their practice.
Incorporating learning design into the planning of staff training
Learning design is a learner-centered methodology for planning and structuring effective learning experiences. It involves developing a purposeful process — with clearly defined stages and content — that enables participants to learn in the most impactful way possible. The learning design approach can be applied across a broad range of contexts, including the design and delivery of training programs, staff development initiatives, and digital learning solutions.
The primary objective of this collaboration for Jotos was to develop a replicable model for designing and delivering training programs and courses — one that can be readily applied to the planning and implementation of internal training across the organization.
Through this model, Jotos aims to seamlessly embed the content of coaching and training into broader on-the-job learning practices, ensuring that key insights and lessons learned are translated into lasting change — becoming an integral part of daily work and the shared knowledge of the entire work community.
Project stages
The project began with a thorough exploration of suitable engagement methods. Rather than defaulting to traditional workshops, a pair-based working model was adopted, in which Jotos's specialist planner developed the resulting framework through structured dialogue with Jotos's L&D team.
Through close collaboration and co-development, the work focused on advancing Jotos's training and coaching process model — defining the key steps involved in building an effective coaching program and identifying what must be considered at each stage from a learning design perspective.
The resulting process model spans the full development cycle: from identifying learning needs and defining learning objectives, through creating a pedagogical script, to evaluating effectiveness.
To support each stage of this process, a practical handbook with ready-to-use templates was developed to guide all training designers through the steps of the model. These templates serve as concrete working tools at each phase of planning, breaking the design process down into clear, manageable steps.
The process model provides structured guidance on what to consider at each phase, while the templates act as practical instruments that move the planning forward — stage by stage. By working through the steps in sequence and applying the accompanying instructions and templates, users can put the principles of learning design into practice, craft high-quality learning processes, connect individual learning experiences into a coherent training program, and build robust measures for evaluating effectiveness.
In conclusion
The reform of continuous learning speaks to the lifelong need to develop and renew professional skills. At its core, this reform is grounded in the recognition that, in a rapidly changing world, individuals must continuously update their knowledge and acquire new competencies to thrive in the workplace.
This reality equally challenges organizations to transform into genuine learning environments — developing their own processes and structures to actively support continuous learning. Through learning design tools, we provide the means to plan consistent, goal-oriented learning experiences that are meaningfully embedded in the work environment.
Learning is an inherently complex process, and a deep understanding of its various dimensions is essential when adapting it to the practical needs that arise in work contexts. By applying learning design tools, we support organizations in designing effective staff training programs and in ensuring that learning is not only acquired, but applied and deepened through real work tasks.
Learning design offers a powerful approach to creating positive learning experiences and building the conditions for sustained competency development within work environments.
Follow Jotos and the Lapland Wellbeing Services County to learn more about how this model is being applied to leadership development.
For more information about Jotos, contact Project Manager Vesa Karjalainen.
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Kuulas & Co is a design agency and training provider specialized in organizational development. We help our clients align their strategic skills needs with their employees’ career and learning aspirations. At the same time, we coach employees to become visionary developers of their own work and their work community.
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