Employee of the Year: Tarja Sipiläinen

Congratulations on being chosen LUT’s Employee of the Year! What does being part of the LUT community mean to you?

A sense of community and a shared direction. Everyone does their own work, but the goals are shared. That creates meaning in what we do and makes this community special. This recognition means a great deal to me. There are so many people at LUT who equally deserve this recognition, so I accept it with humility and gratitude.

What is your everyday work like?

Highly varied. No two days are the same. My work includes both independent tasks and close collaboration with different people and teams. It’s important to me that I can influence how things move forward and that there’s a development perspective in the work. I’ve been working at LUT for almost 25 years. My core responsibility is finance, but I also work on matters related to well-being at work, facilities, collaboration with schools, and communications.

You’ve been involved in workplace well-being activities at the LUT School of Energy Systems for a long time. What do you consider most important in this work?

We’re a large and very diverse expert community. It’s important that the basics are in order, but equally important is the ability to see people as individuals and as teams. Well-being at work isn’t something that’s brought in from outside; it’s created through our everyday actions and the way we interact with one another.

You’ve played a key role in the activity of the ABB classroom. Why is collaboration with schools important to you?

I feel it’s important to make the university’s work visible also to young people. Technology, natural sciences, and mathematics are meaningful fields, and they can lead to many different career paths. When young people get to see what LUT is like and do things themselves, it can inspire and encourage them. The positive feedback from visits – from partners, teachers, and students – has encouraged us to continue the activities and to develop new exercises.

Where do you get energy and motivation for your work?

From people, from the diversity of the work, and from being able to make an impact. It’s great to be part of a community where you can develop things together and try new ways of working. There’s freedom to do things, the opportunity to ask questions and bounce ideas off others, and a sense that your own work is useful to the community.

You’re often described as sunny and approachable. Where does that come from?

Probably partly from my personality, but above all from my attitude. It’s meaningful to me to be of help to others. I think the saying “you reap what you sow” describes my mindset well. There’s more than one way of doing things, but with enthusiasm, motivation, and a positive attitude, you can go a long way. When you do your best in your own way, that has to be enough.

Tell us something that others might not necessarily know about you.

Many may not know that writing is an important hobby for me. I’ve published more than a hundred works and write actively all the time. I also read aloud to patients in care facilities and at various events. For me, writing and reading are ways to connect with people, bring joy to daily life, and touch people’s hearts. It’s also one way to make a difference and to be present in communities in a completely different way than in my everyday work.