Different cultural backgrounds spice up the office culture
Evan Rathod and Mikko Weseri appreciate the strong mutual support in their team, but they also welcome disagreements and see them as learning opportunities.
Sofigate’s Solutions Architect Evan Rathod and Senior Advisor Mikko Weseri got to know each other already before autumn 2023, when Evan joined Sofigate and Mikko became his team lead. After finishing his BE in Parul University, India, Evan worked with customers from different sectors like fashion, retail industry, banking, and financial domain. He was based in India, but sometimes the work took him to Europe. That’s how his paths crossed with Mikko’s.
Evan was still employed by another company, when Mikko and he got a chance to work together in a project along with Niko Hölttä, another Solution Architect from Sofigate. Their collaboration was smooth, and a few years later Evan became the first recruitment Sofigate has relocated from abroad.
Mikko’s career has been a series of coincidences, interesting roles and responsibilities. His background is in education and behavioural studies, and he has more than 10 years of experience in HR information systems.
Learning from disagreements
Evan and Mikko hit it off right from the start, even though they have their differences and occasional disagreements as well. They both think it’s good to share varying opinions and have disagreements in the team and across the whole company. Thus, everyone gets a chance to learn and widen their perspective.
Handling a disagreement starts with acknowledging the differing opinions and talking about the situation out loud.
“In most cases, there is no right and wrong,” says Mikko. “We just need to manage not taking things personally.”
Evan and Mikko see their different cultural backgrounds as a great source of enriching the corporate culture and teamwork. Occasionally, the team members need to check their deeply rooted thought patterns and make sure everyone is talking about the same thing.
For example, one time the conversation topic at lunch was hockey. Finnish team members were “obviously” talking about ice hockey, whereas Evan assumed it was field hockey – a sports way more common in India. Those kinds of conversations can shake things up and open new pathways of thinking.
The team’s support extends beyond office hours
Evan’s team has strongly supported him even outside of work. Last winter he learnt there is no such thing as bad weather in Finland, only bad clothing. His teammates advised him on where to find the warmest winter jacket to survive the harsh conditions of Helsinki winter.
Besides weather, corporate ways of working are also very different in Finland compared to India, where strict rules are often applied at the workplace.
“Here I appreciate the work life balance and the focus towards well-being comparatively,” says Evan.
When asked, why Mikko is such a great team lead, Evan gives an answer promptly:
“He is very supportive and helpful, always free to share feedback.”
Similarly, Mikko appreciates Evan for being competent, open and transparent.
“He is a crucial support for peer-to-peer level solution architects. Evan raises up important topics for everyone to learn from.”
Freedom to improve
Both Evan and Mikko appreciate the learning opportunities at Sofigate. Roles are not set in stone and there is always room for development.
“If I want to upskill, we have an in-house academy for certifications and trainings. I’m planning to take part of it,” says Evan. Mikko continues:
“What I love about Sofigate is that you’re responsible for your own future. If you see room for improvement, you’re allowed to go and improve the processes, roles and concepts.”
Afterworks and different Sofigate events unite people also at the Helsinki office. At the moment, Mikko is quite occupied with his two toddlers, but the team still tries to get together regularly with a low threshold to share the latest news.
“The journey continues. Learning from different backgrounds is never-ending,” Mikko summarizes.
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