HR Developer to help in Training and Organizational Reforms
I started my journey in the developing world as a Training Expert. Before leaving my country I had worked 7 years in that field — 2 years in a big Finnish forest industry company (Veitsiluoto Oy, now merged to Stora Enso Oyj), being responsible for the training of the staff of its forest department (1500 employees), and 5 years under the Ministry of Education as Principal of Hirvas School for Forest Workers in Lapland. During that time I expanded the school to seven municipalities to respond to the demand of the labor market.
After having studied Portuguese a few months in 1980 my family moved to Mozambique, where I started as Training Coordinator in charge of establishment of two training centers (one for mechanical wood industry and one for forestry) for a state-owned forest industrial company – MADEMO. Before the civil war re-started we managed to open a school for training of sawmill staff. The war forced us to move out after 1,5 years. I continued for 2 years in Zanzibar as FINNIDA’s Training Expert planning and executing staff training programmes, training trainers, participated in village forestry programmes and assisted in organizational development of the Forestry Department. My leave of absence from the Ministry of Education in Finland was used up and we returned to Lapland.
Soon after I was contacted again. This time the offer was to go to Latin America. After a 1 month’s language training in Barcelona, I left for Nicaragua for a 2 years assignment as Training Coordinator. There the main task was to establish a Forestry Training Institute for IRENA in Esteli, northern Nicaragua. It included construction and equipping of the facilities, preparation of curricula, acquisition of training materials, and selection of school management, teachers, and students. The assignment included also preparation of “Plan de Desarrollo de Recursos Humanos de Nicaragua” for systematic development of the forestry education in the country as a part of the overall Forestry Sector Development Plan. Despite of the on-going civil war we managed to start the school before I completed the assignment. Preparation of the National Human Resource Development Plan in Nicaragua made me familiar with the master planning concept, which was the reason why I was selected to take over the leadership to prepare the entire Master Plan for the Forestry Sector in Nepal.
Having a 10-year background in training and organizational reforms, it was quite natural to continue expanding my knowledge in policy and legal reforms. These subjects have been my specialties since then during the entire 9 years career as “master planner”.
Major organizational reforms, in which I have played a significant role include:
- Expansion and relocation of the Hirvas School for Forest Workers in Finnish Lapland
- Establishment of the the Instituto Tecnico Forestal in Esteli, Nicaragua
- Restructuring the Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation and units under it in Nepal
- Restructuring of the forestry sector administration in Thailand.