PONSSE NEWS Special Edition
The world’s best Ponsse Ladies Established in 2004, Ponsse Ladies offers its members shared activities and training. The club has activities in five countries with over 600 women participating. The hostess of the Ladies, Tiina Nissinen, who has participated in the Finnish Ladies club activities since the beginning, underlines the communality of the activities. “Communality is important for our members. Even if the women themselves don’t directly work at the family companies, many of them work in the background. It’s also important to take them into account.” Training has become more important in the Ladies’ activities throughout the years. Already two groups of Ladies in Finland have completed specialised vocational training in business management. In Germany, the Ladies activities of the local Ponsse retailer Wahlers Forsttechnik have included several software and simulator training programmes, and, recently, also operator training. Through its training activities, the club also wants to develop
Tiina Nissinen, Pia Kainulainen and Piia Vidgrén are positive and energetic Ponsse Ladies.
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The core activity of the Ponsse Ladies club is networking with other women that are part of the forest machine industry, either themselves or through their families. It’s easy to join a group of likeminded people.
Ponsse’s client companies. “We have really active members who have been looking for additional knowledge on, for example, Ponsse’s information systems. We answered this request by organising a software training programme with our training partner,” Nissinen says. LEARNING AND GOOD COMPANY
The Ladies members include entrepreneurs, forest machine operators and women working in company management, either full time or alongside their day jobs. This industry is often regarded as being masculine, but women fit in it excellently. “Through its positive and open minded attitude, Ponsse Ladies wants to show that women can hold their own in the forest industry. Every one of us knows that you don’t go to a felling site in high heels,” says Tiina Nissinen with a twinkle in her eye.
Regular activities of the Ladies include travelling together- domestically and abroad. There’s always something new to learn about the forest industry on the travels, but they are also long-awaited chances to relax and enjoy good company. “It’s very easy to become a new member of the Ladies: everyone has the same background, and you don’t have to explain your own everyday life to other members as you would with people outside the industry,” Nissinen says. In addition to training and travels, many members have gained life-long friendships. The brave women have a good sense of solidarity, and their Ponsse spirit is also visible from the outside. For Tiina Nissinen, leading the Ladies alongside her job as a financial specialist is a kind of lifeline. “I feel privileged in this company. It is an honour to be the hostess of Ponsse Ladies, and to be able to communicate the Ponsse spirit and values of our company.”
