People and culture

Diversity and inclusion

Creating an inclusive culture that drives engagement and performance is one of the priorities in our People Strategy.  

Inclusion is a state of being valued, respected, and supported for what you are. It is about focusing on people’s needs and ensuring that the right conditions are in place for each person to achieve their full potential. At Wärtsilä we value, respect, and embrace diversity and inclusion (D&I). We are proud of having a diverse representation of nationalities and cultures at all levels, departments, and functions of the organisation. Currently, our workforce comprises some 130 nationalities.

Diversity and inclusion are not merely derived from words of encouragement – they need to be supported by actions. Wärtsilä has created a variety of actions and methods, ranging from recognising unconscious bias and prejudice, learning from the diverse cultures of our people, to building cross-functional teams that increase our cognitive diversity and strengthen our ability to innovate. 

Employee wellbeing matters

Wärtsilä wants to provide a healthy working environment that supports growth, wellbeing, and work-life balance. Our global wellbeing framework consists of five holistic pillars: Mental & Intellectual, Physical & Nutrition, Social, Emotional, and Balance & Rest. The objective is to improve our current state in all these areas through effective leadership, designated programmes and activities, as well as to build a wellbeing focused culture, where our people feel safe and cared for. 

Building a learning organisation

A learning organisation is a state of being, where each of us commits to learning, unlearning, sharing, and improving. Wärtsilä is on a journey to become a learning organisation, to stay competitive and innovative, and to inspire our people to make a difference. Wärtsilä wants to empower its people to stay curious and develop their competencies. According to the 70-20-10 learning principle that we use in Wärtsilä, learning is a continuous process, and it happens by doing (70%), by sharing (20%) and by studying (10%).  

The development programme ‘Grow – Building our Learning Organisation’ focuses on psychological safety, a growth mindset, feedback culture, and continuous improvement. The expected outcome of this programme is to create an environment where we actively listen and dare to speak up, where new ideas are born, where we learn from mistakes, where we actively ask for feedback to develop, and where we learn how to continuously improve.  

Coaching and mentoring provide several benefits to the organisation. These include helping people unlock their personal potential, building relationships and collaboration between colleagues, enabling the cross-border transfer of knowledge, fostering leadership and career development, as well as expanding the professional network within the organisation. 

Wärtsilä employees attended a total of 24,785 formal learning days in 2023. However, it is important to recognise that a major part of learning takes place during the everyday flow of work, and not in formal training. Wärtsilä prides itself on offering numerous opportunities for our people to learn and develop in accordance with the 70-20-10 learning principle. Most of the learning takes place outside the classroom and cannot, therefore, be measured in terms of conventional training hours or learning days. 

Top nationalities of Wärtsilä employees at the end of 2023

Workforce breakdown by gender in 2023, based on headcounts