Rastor Institute and the New Approach to Support Students' Holistic Learning
"The Rastor Institute aims to support its clients throughout their entire careers. This includes the need to update knowledge on current topics or even pursue work-oriented degrees. It also encompasses times of change and the need for help in reorienting one’s career. In all these situations, we want to be a trusted partner on our clients’ career paths.”
Topi Järvinen,
Director of Growth and Development, Rastor Institute
Project objectives
Career-oriented thinking is an important way to support students’ skills development in the long term.
The goal of the collaboration between the educational institution Rastor Institute and Kuulas & Co was to integrate a career-oriented approach into the Rastor Institute’s service offerings.
The goal was also to improve student clients’ study options, without increasing the workload, by providing personalized service, including through digital channels. The third goal of the collaboration was to strengthen Rastor Institute's career service operations more broadly.
Project phases
This development project, aimed at transforming operations, placed a strong emphasis on effective change management and practical implementation. To ensure meaningful and lasting impact, participatory planning and co-development were selected as the core approaches.
Co-development brings real value by building a shared understanding of the current state, enriching insights through multiple perspectives, and enabling the cross-functional development and testing of solutions. By actively involving users, staff, and stakeholders throughout the process, it not only strengthens alignment but also fosters genuine commitment to the outcomes. As the work progresses, silos are broken down, hidden needs are uncovered, and new opportunities emerge—creating a powerful foundation for sustainable competitive advantage. This approach ensures that all relevant stakeholders are engaged and that the full expertise of the organization is effectively leveraged.
The project engaged a wide range of functions and contributors across the organization, ensuring broad participation and ownership. Progress and outcomes were communicated actively and transparently, guided by a dedicated communication plan.
The work advanced in two clear phases. First, a structured design process was followed, moving from research to deepened understanding and into ideation. In the second phase, the focus shifted to prioritized themes, with dedicated sub-groups working collaboratively on specific focus areas and solutions.
If you'd like, I can sharpen it further for a sales pitch, website, or proposal tone.
The first phase of the project focused on building a clear understanding of the potential of a career path–driven approach within the existing operating model. This included mapping the big picture and identifying key touchpoints along the student client journey where there were opportunities to improve, adapt, or do things differently. The phase also involved a thorough current state analysis, drawing on interviews and surveys, as well as a light review of the operating environment.
Building on these insights, the work progressed from ideation to prioritization. Initially, development efforts focused on five key themes. In the following stage, these themes and their related concepts were refined, combined, and structured into three overarching themes, forming the foundation of the Career Path Model.
As a result of this collaboration, the Rastor Institute established a systematic way to identify customer needs in a changing environment and respond to them in a timely, needs-based manner. This approach enables the organization to support and guide students throughout their entire career journey.
In conclusion
At its best, co-creation offers a truly rewarding learning journey for everyone involved. One of the most valuable outcomes is seeing ideas evolve and gain impact through collaboration.
These principles form the foundation of the Rastor Institute’s approach: building a deep understanding of clients’ evolving needs throughout their career journeys, while creating meaningful value for all participants across the organization. By bringing together diverse expertise, development work becomes not only more impactful, but also more aligned, engaging, and sustainable.
We would like to extend our warmest thanks to the entire Rastor Institute, and especially to Topi Järvinen, Toni Berkowitz, and the project team, for their trust and excellent collaboration, as well as for the lessons we were able to gather and refine together with you.
Would you like to learn more about our work?
Kuulas & Co is a design agency and training firm specializing in organizational development. We help our clients align their strategic competence 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.
Let’s shape the future of work together and learn together!