Social responsibility
For us, social responsibility means looking after people and the surrounding society, including buildings.
Property development
We carry out construction projects and develop the service networks of our campuses in cooperation with our customers. It is important for us that the end result serves users not only today, but also in the future. We aim to ensure that our new buildings as well as renovated buildings are healthy, safe and comfortable.
Our customers also have their own environmental and sustainable development goals, and we want to help them achieve them. Cooperation plays a significant role in this regard. With the help of the joint development process we have developed, we have been able to take a very customer-driven approach to the planning and design of premises.
We understand the value of our properties and respect their cultural heritage. When changes in the focus of our operations, for example, lead to us selling properties, we find buyers who have the same respect for the properties and the desire to develop them as part of the urban environment.
Research and development
Our vision is to be Europe’s most valued campus developer. To achieve this objective, we invest actively in research and development. We want to understand the increasingly rapid changes happening in the world and their effects on our business, and make the latest opportunities available to our customers.
One change that affects our operations is related to the changing perceptions of learning. This involves a shift from lecturing to phenomenon based learning and learning by doing. This entails creating classrooms and lecture halls that support a more active role for students. At the same time, the perception of learning premises is becoming broader. Spaces such as lobbies, corridors and restaurants can be used as learning environments.
Our research and development projects have achieved internationally significant results and global recognition. The Kampusareena concept, for example, has been recognised as an example of best practices in the InnoBridge project under the EU Interreg programme. We strive to benefit local communities by producing new and innovative practices in various projects and programmes and making them available to everyone.
The Kampusareena concept has been highlighted as an example of best practices in the InnoBridge project under the EU Interreg programme.
Local communities
Last year, we supported the life management and well-being of young people through the youth service provider Nuorisopalvelu Balanssi. Balanssi works with schools throughout Finland, giving young people guidance related to psychological growth and coping with the challenges of adolescence.
Each year, we select one organisation to support. The main criterion is that the organisation’s activities should have a positive impact throughout the country. Many of the organisations we have supported in the past have focused on helping children and young people.
We are also involved in local cultural initiatives and we support biodiversity on our campuses. We believe that even small acts that benefit nature and the environment can make people happier, and everyone enjoys an attractive environment.
Customer cooperation
Our customers include universities as well as businesses and other organisations that operate on campuses. In 2017, 94.1 per cent of our revenue came from universities and 5.9 per cent from other customers.
In accordance with our customer promise, we support the success of universities by developing our properties into attractive campuses. Customer relationship management is part of our company’s strategy and it is aimed at ensuring a high level of customer satisfaction.
In 2017, we restructured our organisation by making the management of customer relations and services a separate function. We recruited new employees as account managers, which is a new role in our organisation. The account managers operate in their respective regions, in close proximity to our customers and other stakeholders.
We survey our customers’ satisfaction with our operations annually. At the same time, we survey the company’s reason for being and aim to identify areas in which operations should be developed.
We received a total of 95 responses to our customer survey conducted in late 2017. SYK’s average overall score on a scale of 1–5 was 3.7. Some 98 per cent of the respondents indicated that our role as a developer of university areas is fairly important or very important, and 20 per cent felt that our operations have improved over the past year (2016: 25%).
We survey our customers’ satisfaction with our operations annually.
Breakdown of customer groups by revenue in 2017
| Universities | 141,2 EUR million | 94,1 % |
| Others | 8,9 EUR million | 5,9 % |
| Total | 150,1 EUR million | 100 % |
Breakdown of customer groups, excluding universities, in 2017
| Cities | 4,3 EUR million | 2,9 % |
| State | 0,2 EUR million | 0,1 % |
| Universities of Applied Sciences | 0,3 EUR million | 0,2 % |
| Hospital districts | 1,0 EUR million | 0,7 % |
| Enterprises and individuals | 3,1 EUR million | 2,1 % |
| In total | 8,9 EUR million | 5,9 % |
Customer satisfaction survey results 2017
Product responsibility, healthy indoor air
Maintaining healthy indoor air quality in all of our buildings is a matter of pride for us. The indoor air operating model we developed in cooperation with the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health is used at all of our campuses. We regularly evaluate the operating model for indoor air quality and the related development needs in cooperation with experts.
12/2017 premises totalling 1.4 million m²
12/2016 premises totalling 1.1 million m²
Sustainable development indicators
| Year 2017 | Year 2016 | Unit | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Corporate responsibility | |||
| Corporate responsibility, charities supported | 1 number/year | 1 number/year | |
| Personnel producing added value for stakeholders, volunteer work, lectures | 2,40 | 1,9 | workdays/person/year |
| Taking stakeholders into consideration | |||
| Completed multi-user properties, new buildings | 1 | number | |
| Demo sites for universities | 9 | 6 | number/year |
| The company’s employment effect in Finland, indirect | 2350 | 2000 | man-years |
| Safety | |||
| Number of personnel with first-aid training | 16 / 35 | 16 / 32 | number/total personnel |
| Safety coordinator and guidance at SYK’s construction sites | 100% | 100% | % |
| Employee competence development | |||
| Employee training days/year | 4,80 | 3,5 | days/year/person |
| Total number and rates of new employee hires and employee turnover | 35 / 3 | 32 / 0 | number/new hires |
| Well-being at work | |||
| Days spent on well-being at work/well-being training | 1 | 0,5 | days/year/person |
| Employee satisfaction survey score | - | 3,9 | (scale 0–5) |
| Performance reviews | 100% | 100% | Held for % of personnel |