HY + drives Finnish experts to the top with the latest research-based data
How can you best take care of your brain, succeed in telecommuting as a supervisor, or train your staff in the most effective ways? The University of Helsinki’s Continuing Education Center HY + offers solutions to these problems familiar to expert organizations.
HY +’s product range is based on the university’s multidisciplinary research. On-demand training for public administration or companies is available, as well as online and personal training.
“The University of Helsinki is definitely Finland’s number one in understanding people,” says Kimmo Kärpijoki, CEO of HY +.
Continuing education is not intended to provide people with academic lectures. Instead, the focus is strongly on pragmatism. For example, the artificial intelligence course is run by business representatives alongside top researchers.
– Education must be important for employment, Kärpijoki emphasizes.
The profit of the social enterprise is returned to the university’s research and development activities
Founded in 2016, the company has a long history, with its predecessor Palmenia starting operations more than 40 years ago. Today, the focus of continuing education is on leadership, management, coaching, learning, communication, and well-being.
HY + has practiced nursing home staff in medicationcoached Management of the Helsinki-Uusimaa Federation and advised Finavia on the development of online courses (links only in Finnish). In 2021, the turnover was EUR 4.3 million and more than 10,000 people participated in the training organized by HY +. The company has also been awarded the Social Enterprise label.
“It means that HY + ‘s profit goes to research and development at the University of Helsinki.”
The company’s plans are ambitious, with the goal of making the expertise of the university’s 11 faculties more accessible to students and providing new services to the private sector, which accounts for about 30% of turnover. After the pandemic, demand has also come from outside the Helsinki metropolitan area.
“We want to see ourselves as a national player.”
The City of Helsinki values a strong connection with the academic community
One of HY +’s long-term customers is the City of Helsinki, which buys, among other things, in-service training for teaching and educational staff. Short courses in neuropsychology, attended by hundreds of teachers and early childhood educators, constitute a significant offering.
“This training is related to meeting students in need of support,” says Marjo Kyllönen, Head of Development Services at the city’s education department.
From a city perspective, the most important thing is that the education is motivating, inspiring and research-based. In fact, skilled educators, many of whom are closely related to the university, are a resource for HY +.
“We can be confident that they have up-to-date knowledge based on research,” says Mervi Korhonen, head of pedagogical services at the city’s development services.
The pedagogical methods used must also be of a high standard as a target audience for education professionals. To identify the best methods, HY + collaborates with the Faculty of Education, which has been successful international university rankings.
The export engine helps other Finns to globalize
Quality education is one of the UN’s goals for sustainable development. In developing countries even 57 million children remain outside the school system. HY + solves this global problem with education exports, which account for a quarter of its turnover.
In 2021, the company implemented three major international projects. Among other things, it is a consultant in the reform of Sri Lanka’s education system by the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
– We are monitoring the progress of the reform in the training of teachers and principals, Kärpijoki says.
In recent years, HY + has designed a diploma program in teacher education in the United Arab Emirates, introduced Polish university leadership to Finnish universities and trained South Korean teachers. As one of the export engines Education Finlandit also helps Finnish universities and companies to expand outside Finland.
Kärpijoki believes that “change agents” trained by a company can bring about permanent change in their home country. In the future, the goal is to expand the export of education beyond the educational sciences.
“At the University of Helsinki, we have a wealth of know-how related to sustainable development, for example, that we could market around the world.”
Skills need to be maintained to keep companies competitive
HY + plays a significant role in the Finnish field of lifelong learning. The movement is organized academic skills training for immigrants (AKVA training) Training funded by the Ministry of Education and Culture, which provided training for regional business, transport and environmental centers, where applicants can supplement their skills, for example by upgrading their degree in chemistry to a degree in biochemistry.
Kärpijoki believes that the trend of lifelong learning will only intensify.
“It offers us a lot to do and business opportunities.”
But why should staff skills be updated? Kärpijoki points out that development opportunities bind people to their jobs. You can also ask if companies can even afford not to train their employees.
“I see competency development as the only way for expert organizations to compete.”