Long Career within Trust

Originally, I came to Ensto as an intern. I had been working in a bakery for 18 years since I was 15 years old, and during that time I completed my master's degree as a pastry chef. When I was diagnosed with a dust allergy, I had to retrain myself. In 1996, I completed my practical training at Ensto as part of my two-year mechanics and automation technology education, and even before it ended, I was offered a permanent job at the production plant at the Porvoo head office. I accepted it.

Trust Capital

Trust is one of Ensto's values and I think that if trust is betrayed, it will be difficult to regain it. I was elected health and safety representative 17 years ago and then also as chief shop steward. At that time, that was a full-time job, but of course I was responsible for four different units. I still work as an occupational safety representative, but part-time. My main job is operating assembly machines of SLIW connectors and underground cable products. Once, our founder Ensio gave me a book called Trust Capital and after giving it, he came in a couple of weeks to ask if I had read it! I did – as well as a couple of other books he donated.

Continuous Learning

My time at Ensto is best described by continuous learning. I have worked in many positions in the production and learned a huge amount. When I began in the permanent position, the production of plastic enclosures was starting in Porvoo, and in fact I was the first employee hired for it. Everything was new for all of us, so we had to learn things ourselves from scratch. I trained to use brand new machines and do programming on them, and as the business expanded, I started as a team leader. In addition, I participated in work guidance and workplace instructor trainings organized by Ensto. When the customization of the enclosures began, we received several hundred projects in a short time, so the plastic milling methods had to be mastered in a hurry. For 10 years, I worked as a team leader and supervisor within plastic enclosures.

Good Contract Atmosphere

I appreciate that at Ensto you get to do things yourself from start to finish. In my opinion, there has always been a good contractual atmosphere here and it has been possible to settle things in the corridors of the factory without much bureaucracy. I have gained experience working in several units at the same time. We have made dozens of different contracts several of which I have taken forward to the labor union, so that others have also been able to adopt the tried and tested contract templates. This has felt meaningful. Furthermore, I have always believed that the working atmosphere must remain good, and everyone should be able to feel that it is nice to come to work!  

The Best Thing about the Job

My work has been diverse, and I have learned a lot about machines, products, companies, and technologies, as well as people and contracts. In positions of trust, you learn all the time – no two days are the same. The best part of my job has been the nice colleagues, some of whom have become my good friends. You get to know people when you walk six kilometers a day along the corridors of the factory at several different addresses and chat with them along the way. Over time, we have become familiar and talked about non-work issues as well.

Super Important Safety at Work

It goes without saying that safety at work is extremely important to me. After all, I have been an occupational safety representative for almost 18 years! Safety is one of Ensto's focus areas and it really shows in the daily work. We have been working for occupational safety for years and it has been constantly improving. In recent years, we have taken various auxiliary devices in use and paid extra attention to ergonomics. For example, I use lifting help myself, and have to admit that because I am so involved in safety issues, I also take them into account at home. It's really great that the number of accidents is low and the record for the Porvoo factory is 430 days without accidents. This is thanks to systematic development with monthly and annual targets.

Retirement

I will retire at the end of April. 27 years is a long time, but I have enjoyed it very much. I'm planning to take at least the summer to recover and have refused all organizational tasks. Probably, I will continue working part-time in the autumn. In retirement, I plan to continue baking! I have for decades been baking sandwich and cream cakes to order for friends, and I will continue that in the future. Sometimes I might also bake for my own use, too…

Jouni Roponen

The writer of the blog has worked 27 years at Ensto as Production Worker in the Porvoo plant and is now about to retire.


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