Art as a tool for personnel development

“In Espoo HR, we carried out a total of seven pilots in city work communities over a couple of years, using different forms of art. We wanted to bring a new kind of efficiency in personnel development by applying artistic methods. We also wanted to increase understanding of the possibilities offered by creativity and art,” says Project Manager Jaana Lietzén.

The teams had varied goals in the art workshops. While some set out to promote shared operational culture or grouping, others wanted to inspire new ideas and creativity or to improve well-being and joy at work.

“In addition to working communities, we organised two groups for individual participants in the project with the aim to prevent fatigue through art and to be empowered. The methods used included sound healing, restorative yoga, deep relaxation, bodywork, drawing and painting and poetry, among other things”, says Jaana.      

Cameras, clay and brushes were picked up without any pressure: sometimes a meeting was started by just drawing a free line without evaluating its artistic quality. Painting or improvisation, for example, were used to detach from everyday work, tickle the imagination and gain a new perspective on your skills.

“All the experiments were successful. Even after a few workshops, the participants noticed positive effects,” says Jaana happily.

“Based on the participants’ experiences, artistic methods increase, for example, well-being, the appreciation of others, cooperation, innovativeness and change skills in working communities. They speed up grouping, open new perspectives and ideas and increase the employees’ problem-solving skills and creativity in change management situations, for example,” she continues.

The participants felt that making art together helped to perceive the strengths of their colleagues in a new light. For example, working together on a collage reveals the different but equally important roles of each group member in a concrete manner. The new insights were also applied to client work.

For example, the team of Corporate Group Administration assistants wanted to use the art workshops to strengthen the common working methods and culture of the newly formed team.

“We had talked about the topics discussed in the art workshops before, but thanks to the art experiment, we were able to explore them deeper and better implement them in practice. Art as a tool allowed us to focus our thoughts on the day’s theme in a new way. At the same time, we learned something new about ourselves,” says Kirsi Remes, Customer Service Director, about the experiences of her art workshop team.

“We now have in Espoo at our disposal an effective, tried and tested approach based on different artistic methods, which we can apply to changing personnel development needs,” says Hanna Saaristo, HRD Manager.

The starting point also for this project was the Espoo Story, the City of Espoo’s strategy that invites the units and functions of the city to develop well-being, respectful interaction, cooperation, innovation and change skills. The project is also linked to the City of Espoo’s culture of experimentation.

The experiments were lead by the following artists: Päivi Rautiainen, Simo Routarinne, Riika Pikkuvirta, Sari Laitinen, Merja Valve, Tuomas Tirkkonen, Anne Korhonen, Tiina Nevanperä, Elina Rainio and Pirre Toikkanen.

Additional information, contact person: Jaana Lietzen, jaana.lietzen(at)espoo.fi.

Read more in the following Tiedon Silta article (in Finnish): Artistic methods as a tool for personnel development?(external link, opens in a new window)

Read more in the following Telma article (in Finnish): City of Espoo employees use art and meditation to stay energised at work(external link, opens in a new window).

Listen to what Tiina Lundberg says about the Taime project, among other things, at Yle Puhe(external link, opens in a new window) (in Finnish): How to find the balance between performance and relaxation.