A positive approach to work is the key to success for the lobby services team at Sello Hall
The focus is on the customer for Sello Hall’s Entrance Hall Manager Luukas Lahtinen and his colleague Janne Helenius. The team members also spend time together outside work – even at a climbing wall.
Sello Hall is a great place to work
Entrance Hall Managers Janne Helenius and Luukas Lahtinen are permanent employees at Sello Hall, which is located in Leppävaara. It’s no wonder they enjoy their work, as they are in charge of a satisfied customer service team that comes to Sello Hall from Seure personnel service company. Seure employees selected Sello Hall as the best workplace three years in a row in 2021–2023, and it received an honourable mention in 2024!
Janne started working in Sello Hall 19 years ago, and Luukas has been there for approximately half that time.
“As an entrance hall manager, my duties include planning events and managing lobby services during events. I also take care of booking the necessary entrance hall staff through Seure,” explains Janne.
Janne previously studied the guitar at Helsinki Pop & Jazz Conservatory and, among other places, worked at Instrumentarium.
Luukas has worked for large corporations.
“For example, I was at GE Healthcare for more than 20 years – also close to the customer interface. I’m a technical draughtsperson by education,” says Luukas.
Luukas’ job description is also very diverse, and he playfully describes Sello Hall’s entrance hall managers as having to be a “Jack of all trades”, which means a person who knows how to do a lot of different things!
“My most important task is to make sure that the customer feels at home and welcome with a “customer always comes first” attitude that is maintained by our entire team. I also take care of staff training, work shift planning, posting Sello Hall brochures and ordering supplies,” explains Luukas.
Even employees can get stuck in the toilet
There have been many great moments at Sello Hall. One of the most memorable was the Finland-Indian Society’s Diwali Festival of Lights held in October 2024.
“Sello Hall’s facilities turned out to be too small for an event of this size, but the large amount of positive feedback received from the participants and organisers was especially rewarding,” says Luukas.
Janne remembers some highlights from farther back.
“The best moments have probably been gigs where guitar idols from my youth played at Sello Hall: the Steve Vain MasterClass Clinic in 2018 was a real highlight,” says Janne with a smile.
There have also been some blunders.
“Everyone knows that little things always go wrong. Two of our lobby services employees got locked into the accessible toilet space – one right after the other – just before an event was set to begin. The first one ‘escaped’ on their own, but then another employee got stuck and we had to call in a professional to help fix the lock,” recalls Luukas.
A climbing course helped the lobby services team bond
Luukas says that he has enjoyed working with Janne, because he was able to learn from a more experienced entrance hall manager. Janne also speaks positively about Luukas.
“I had worked with Luukas earlier, because we both did security guard gigs at Sello Hall before switching to entrance hall manager work. Luukas is a reliable colleague who gets things done,” says Janne.
The entrance hall managers also share an interest in climbing. A few years ago, the whole team participated in a wall climbing course.
“This also gave us the opportunity to get to know the people working in Sello Hall’s entrance hall, which helped create an even better bond between the supervisors and staff,” explains Luukas.
As a former competitive athlete, Janne likes to spend his free time doing sports. Being active in nature and yoga are his favourites hobbies right now. Janne also reveals that he watches and listens to a lot podcasts and audio books. Luukas often goes to concerts and festivals – heavy metal music is close to his heart.
Sello Hall is part of Espoo’s broader offering of cultural houses
A good work community is the key to success for Sello Hall’s lobby services team.
“In simple terms, you could say that our Sello Hall lobby services team has a particularly positive attitude to work. Each employee’s efforts are appreciated and every one of our employees is listened to,” concludes Luukas.
Sello Hall is part of the City of Espoo’s Cultural Venues and Services along with Espoo Cultural Centre, Kannusali, Children’s Cultural Centre Aurora, Exhibition Centre WeeGee, and the Espoonlahti cultural project.
Read more about Sello Hall on the venue’s website.
Read more about Sello Hall’s selection as best workplace of the year in 2023 on the espoo.fi website:
Sellosali valittiin kolmatta kertaa Seuren vuoden parhaaksi työkohteeksi “Sello Hall was selected as Seure’s workplace of the year for the third time”| City of Espoo (in Finnish).
and on the Seure website:
Sellosali on vuoden 2023 paras palvelualan työkohde “Sello Hall is the best customer service workplace in 2023” - Seure(external link, opens in a new window) (in Finnish).
Sello Hall also achieved an honourable mention in Seure’s survey of the best workplaces in 2024. Read more on the Seure website. Vuoden 2024 parhaat työkohteet “The best workplaces in 2024” - Seure(external link, opens in a new window) (in Finnish).