Voimatel Improved Employee Satisfaction with Dimex Workwear

Voimatel builds infrastructure that is critical to security of supply while also building a community with people at its heart. “We are also building a community, guided by the principle that people are our greatest asset. If our people are not doing well, Voimatel cannot do well,” says Mikko Heinonen, CEO of Voimatel.

A few years ago, the company set out to find a solution to a long-standing question: How do you solve the workwear challenge for nearly a thousand employees?

The initiative was sparked by direct and strongly worded feedback from installers, sent by email to the entire company. The message, aimed particularly at management, read: “Try putting on the flame-resistant clothing intended for installers in the summer heat and working in it all day. Then tell us how it feels,” recalls Jari Parviainen, a telecommunications installer at Voimatel.

Voimatel took the feedback seriously. “Our installers had a problem – we recognized their dissatisfaction. At the same time, it gave us an excellent opportunity to review the risk assessment and costs associated with our workwear. We considered whether improving employee satisfaction could create a business case where costs would decrease and productivity improve,” Heinonen says.

Voimatel conducted a competitive tendering process and chose Dimex, with whom they also found a strong alignment in values. “Our strategy includes a defined sustainability programme, which was also an important part of this process. The same applies to our partners – our values need to go hand in hand. With Dimex, they did,” Heinonen says.

Dimex is a specialist in heavy-duty workwear and aims to be the best possible partner for its customers. The collaboration was therefore about much more than simply purchasing clothing – it covered the entire process: risk assessment, design, selecting different garments for different tasks, fitting, wear testing, procurement, warehousing, garment labelling, and laundry services. As part of the collaboration, the decision was also made to develop a dedicated workwear collection for women.

The results of the process are clear for Voimatel: “We were able to improve employee satisfaction and overall cost efficiency. Productivity and job satisfaction increased. It’s as simple as that,” Heinonen concludes.