Mikko Kuusakoski Knowledge-driven Leader for 2022, individual category

Many congratulations to you, Mikko Kuusakoski, for winning Individual of the Year at the Knowledge-driven Leader 2022 Gala!

In the grounds for their selection, the jury stated that:
“As the prime mover for the Mutusta Dataan (From gut feelings to data power) system, Mikko has firmly established knowledge-driven management as part of the organisation’s everyday life and decision-making. This change has been achieved in an agile and cost-effective manner, and in a very short space of time. The knowledge-driven management system in question combines experience-based data and operational data and takes into account the knowledge-driven management needs for different tasks. Staff are encouraged and trained to use visualised data in their own work.”

Jatke Oy Chief Information Officer Mikko Kuusakoski, we celebrated your selection as Individual of the Year at the Knowledge-driven Leader 2022 Gala on 27 October 2022:

What does this award mean for you?

It means a lot to me to be honoured in this way, especially as it was my colleagues from Jatke that got inspired to enter me into the competition. We have worked together as a large group to build the best employee experience in the industry as a component of Jatke’s overall strategy, and knowledge-driven management is part of the overall employee experience. This personal victory is therefore, in my view, an achievement made possible by high-quality teamwork.

Where have you drawn inspiration from in your development of knowledge-driven management?

For the most part, I’d say it has been my own experiences of working life that have driven me forward. My goal is that the employees of our company have access to the essential information for making decisions, and that this information supports decisions that move us towards the company’s objectives. Also, the first steps that new employees take in their work are made easier when the essential information can be easily found.

This information, and easy access to tools that produce and utilise it, is particularly important in the construction industry. This is because we do business through projects, and these projects need to start and progress smoothly, even if there are new people or new operating models involved. Also important for overall management is the availability of effective metrics of success and a multifaceted overview of the business, even if the projects are very diverse.

What has been your greatest challenge in integrating knowledge-driven management into the company’s daily activities?

We have utilised Jatke’s personnel surveys to map out the challenges involved, and we have found that it is essential to ensure sufficient support and training for both old and new operating methods. This also applies to knowledge-driven management, as generated data does not add value to the business until people know how to utilise it.

In terms of knowledge-driven management, this has meant internal meetings, events, Teams trainings and the creation of an internal study portal. All of these are aimed at bringing down as low as possible the threshold for learning and applying new knowledge. This also means that the pace at which new information or new operating models are introduced must be designed in such a way that there is sufficient time for training and adoption as well as smooth integration into the current operating models.

If we do not take care of these matters, challenges will certainly arise in everyday operations. Thankfully though, we can have a positive impact through our own diligent work.

What has knowledge-driven management made possible at Jatke?

The Management Desktop is now serving Jatke personnel in their decision-making, right from the work foreman through to the CEO, and it brings together Jatke’s knowledge-driven management into one single view. It is difficult to say what factors are directly attributable to this low threshold for knowledge-driven management, but we can at least say that key metrics for occupational safety and procurement have consistently improved since the tracking tools for them have been in place. The metrics for customer satisfaction, meanwhile, have been at the highest level right since their introduction. The metrics have also helped us to identify some shortcomings in our processes, and work has started to correct these. The two objectives here are that we would be doing things right and also that the metrics would be producing the right data for us.

I myself have always thought that having usable data for decision-making and well-functioning digital tools serves as a kind of multiplier for the whole business – something which enables more efficient business operations as a whole. If the data is incorrect and the tools are bad, however, then the multiplier effect is negative, so it is vital to ensure that the data is correct and the tools work well. The introduction of metrics and the Management Desktop has highlighted this principle well – both in terms of successes and areas for improvement, so I believe that the multiplier is positive at Jatke, and the goal is to keep increasing it as we move forward.

What are your future goals for knowledge-driven management? What do you want to achieve?

In addition to the Management Desktop, we will also be building desktops for other key roles, such as construction site, procurement and calculation desktops. These will make it easier to implement knowledge-driven management even more broadly in our business operations. These tools will also be linked together more closely and work stages will be automated. The goal in itself is a simple one, and it is guided by Jatke’s overall strategy: Jatke will attain the best employee experience in the construction industry.

Mikko Kuusakoski
Chief Information Officer
Jatke Oy
mikko.kuusakoski@jatke.fi

#tiedollajohtaja2022

On the Knowledge-driven Leader 2022 Gala webpage, you can also find interviews with Mika Mäkinen, CEO from Noja Rahoitus, the winner of the organisation category, and Outi Määttä from Gofore, winner of the initiative category.