Corex Finland Took Factory Frontline Leadership to a New Level

“At the end of 2022, Corex Finland conducted an employee survey. Based on the results, there was a need to develop frontline leadership in production and maintenance. Success in frontline leadership is one of the key factors in the success of the Pori board mill, so we began looking for a skilled partner to support us in developing it. Educo was selected as our partner because of its positive client feedback and its clear, goal-oriented concept for developing frontline leadership,” says Juha Halminen, CEO of Corex Finland.

At the start of the cooperation, the goal of the development work was set as improving the daily collaboration between the factory’s managers and employees, and supporting the organization’s strategic goals through daily leadership. Together, a training program suited to these goals was built for production and maintenance managers.

Focusing on the Leadership Skills That Matter Most for Results

The content and methods of the training program were shaped especially by the goals set for the development work and the impact the organization wanted to achieve. In terms of content, the program was built to focus solely on the most essential leadership themes in people leadership: understanding the frontline leader’s own behavior and developing interaction skills, improving one-to-one discussions through the coaching process and coaching skills, building trust, and learning to adapt one’s leadership style according to employees’ needs.

The training program began with a joint kickoff event, where Juha Halminen, CEO of Corex Finland, explained the background and goals of the development work. Janne Annunen, CEO of Educo and one of the trainers in the program, introduced the participants to the upcoming learning journey of approximately eight months.

After this, the frontline leadership learning journey continued with the development of self-awareness and interaction skills for frontline leaders, using Wiley’s Everything DiSC® Työyhteisöprofiili. In the next phase of the learning journey, the production and maintenance managers independently completed Blanchardin Luottamuksen rakentaminen, an approximately 35-minute online overview, followed by an online learning discussion facilitated by the trainer responsible for the theme.

The most important phase and central theme of the learning journey was SLII® training, which gave production and maintenance managers a concrete leadership model for daily people leadership. It taught frontline leaders and gave them tools for using a leadership style that matches an employee’s development level based on competence and commitment — situational leadership. To support the practical application of the SLII model, weekly application assignments were introduced and reinforced through shared learning discussions.

In the final phase of the learning journey, interaction skills and the SLII model’s leadership styles T2 (Coaching) and T3 (Supporting) were deepened through Blanchardin Käytännön coaching™ training and a shared learning discussion.

Experiences and Results

“Teamwork among managers has developed in a positive direction, awareness and competence in using the tools have increased, and the learnings have been applied in everyday work, including DiSC, one-to-one discussions, and leadership according to the individual’s situation,” says Production Manager Minna Kurittu.

Maintenance Manager Jukka Majuri has also observed a change in frontline leadership.

“DiSC and SLII in particular were very concrete and illustrative everyday tools that increased understanding of people’s differences and helped take individuals’ needs and competence into account in leadership,” says Majuri.

“In the employee survey conducted after the training, the highest scores were given to the statements: I know what is expected of me at work, and my work goals are clear to me. The employee survey results are positive and support the view that we have reached the next level in frontline leadership. We are not yet professionals in frontline leadership, but the direction of development is good,” adds CEO Juha Halminen.



Corex is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of board cores and is part of the international VPK Group. Corex manufactures board cores for the needs of the paper, board, and plastics industries. Corex employs approximately 1,300 people in fifteen different countries, with around 150 of them working in Finland in Pori, Loviisa, Liljendal, and Imatra.