National Conciliator Minna Helle a forerunner for a new kind of communication culture

ProCom, the Finnish Association of Communication Professionals, has granted the National Conciliator Minna Helle the Communications Activity of the Year Award.

According to the award jury, “Helle is a leader and an opinion-maker who believes in the power of interaction, and she has taken on a refreshing role of a pioneer. With her calm, equal and fact-based communications she has made it easier for people to understand and respect the work of the National Conciliator.”

Minna Helle took on the post of the National Conciliator in early 2015 and immediately adopted new kinds of ways and channels of communication: she posts on Twitter about the progress of negotiations. These concise 140-character reports have turned out to be a useful and quick way to inform the media and other interested parties of developments in negotiations.

Using Twitter was also a necessity: the National Conciliator has no communications staff and when Helle started her work her official website was not yet ready. Helle writes and sends all her tweets herself.

“Minna Helle is an outstanding example of how the authorities can communicate in new ways.  It means seeking of new ways and channels. It also means up-to-date information based on facts. But most importantly, Helle’s way of communicating gives her work a face, and this inspires us all to improve our communications. The often used phrase, “Communications is management and management is communications” is a reality in the case of Minna Helle,” says Permanent Secretary Jari Gustafsson from the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment.

Minna Helle no longer needs to rely on her Twitter account alone: the National Conciliator’s new website is up and running in Finnish, Swedish and English.  With her clear and fact-based style, Helle has succeeded in describing her work and objectives to the general public in a number of interviews, keynote addresses as well as in her blogs and columns.

“I am extremely pleased and flattered by this recognition. It encourages me to continue my work for better interaction. I am a strong believer in transparency. When you give out as much information as you can, you also get a lot of information and that is the best way to learn new things. Transparency is also the key to trust, which we sorely need everywhere in society,” says National Conciliator Minna Helle.

Inquiries:
Minna Helle, National Conciliator, tel. +358 29 506 2525