Social sustainability

We advance a fair and digitally inclusive society

We work every day to build a secure digital environment, so that everyone's equal rights are realised. Respecting human rights and our principles of doing right in our own operations and within our supply chain, we can work together for our employees and with our partners to create a sustainable future. Non-discrimination, equality, good leadership, and occupational wellbeing and safety are important subjects in our operations.

Elisa's social sustainability in brief

Material topics

  • Being a responsible employer 
  • Ensuring responsible sales and customer communication
  • Ensuring a sustainable and ethical supply chain
  • Driving accessibility and ease of use in our services

KPIs

  • Employee engagement
  • Customer satisfaction in relation to NPS 
  • Share of employees who have completed Code of Conduct training
  • Supply chain sustainability development
  • Availability of Elisa’s high-speed connections to all Finnish households (new, 2022)
  • Proportion of women supervisors (new, 2022)

Governance bodies

Responsible employer and equality:

  • Elisa Executive Board > Human Resources

Sustainable supply chain:

  • Elisa Executive Board > Finance > Procurement > Sustainable Supply Chain Working Group

Accessibility:

  • Elisa Executive Board > Corporate Responsibility Management Board > Accessibility Working Group

Policies and guidelines

  • Elisa Code of Conduct
  • Elisa Human Rights Policy
  • Elisa Anti-Corruption and Bribery Policy
  • Elisa Code of Ethical Purchasing

Elisa policies and guidelines

Employee awareness

  • Ongoing mandatory training related to our Code of Conduct and anti-corruption
  • Targeted training for selected employee groups in human rights, diversity and inclusion, unconscious biases  and sustainable procurement

Responsible employer

We employ thousands of professionals in Finland and internationally. Our success now and in the future is based on our continuous learning and our skilled and adaptable employees.

For several years already, we have been developing our facilities, working culture and work equipment to support safe and equal wellbeing at work in both physical and virtual working environments. 

Elisa’s management principles are based on coaching, having clear goals and shared values. Coaching leadership, regular learning discussions and jointly agreed goals allow Elisa employees to freely choose the working methods and places that suit them and their work best. 

At Elisa, we are committed to providing a working environment that encourages everyone to learn, share their ideas and develop their work. It’s important for us that everybody can be their true selves and feel that they are being listened to for themselves. Discrimination, bullying and harassment are prohibited.

Elisa Corporation also has one of Finland’s best relocation programmes in cases where positions need to be rearranged.

Promoting diversity

At Elisa, our goal is that everybody can play their part in advancing our mission: a sustainable future through digitalisation. We invite everyone to give their best.

Elisa's internationalisation continues to emphasise the importance of equity for Elisa from the perspective of employees, different customer contacts and collaboration with partners. By appreciating diversity in the world of work, we improve wellbeing at work, productivity and customer satisfaction. The experience of an equal working community strengthens the feeling of psychological safety, which promotes communication and vital innovation. Respect for one another is also an essential element of our collaboration with partners and stakeholders.

By means of common principles, we promote an inclusive community where no one is discriminated against or treated unfairly for reasons such as their race, age, religion, language or nationality, and in which everyone can equally experience participation. For us, this is not only a key effort, but also a core part of our principles and ethical standards.


In line with the Elisa Code of Conduct and the Human Rights Policy as well as the principles of equality, we treat all our employees equally and with respect in terms of recruitment, access to employment, pay, career development and termination of employment. We do not accept any form of discrimination, harassment or sexual harassment. 

These principles also apply to advertising and marketing, for which we have drawn up guidelines and a process to ensure ethical behaviour. Elisa's employees and our partners have a duty to inform us of any violations of these principles.

The measures and objectives of Elisa's management of equity and equality are adopted by the Elisa HR Management Board. Elisa's Equality Working Group contributes to the achievement of the agreed objectives and ensures the implementation of the principles of non-discrimination. The Working Group reports to the Elisa HR Management Steering Board. We gather feedback and measure our success with an employee survey twice a year.

Wellbeing and safety

Elisa's internal operating instructions cover proactive occupational wellbeing, safety training, as well as instructions for what to do in the event of anomalies and threats, and safety risk management. Our employees and subcontractors have the right to work in a healthy and safe working environment. They are obligated to take responsibility for the development of the working community.

Elisa's occupational health and safety system includes occupational health care, job entry and health examinations, eye examinations, vaccinations, reimbursement for physiotherapy, and rehabilitation. In Finland, we offer high-quality healthcare with services considerably in excess of the statutory requirements. We also provide sports and leisure activities to support wellbeing at work in Finland.

Elisa’s HR department is responsible for development of wellbeing and health and safety operations, as well as appropriate training for Elisa employees. The facilities services unit and the IT department are responsible for working conditions. 


The working environment committee, which has representatives of employees, the employer and occupational health, meets regularly and coordinates occupational health and safety work. The committee takes care of the measures under the occupational health and safety (OHS) programme, including monitoring working conditions and conducting risk assessments.

Daily management by coaching is a key contributor to ensuring employee wellbeing and occupational health and safety. Modern ways of working impose special requirements for management. Measures to avoid employee burnout or work-related stress, as well as ways to ensure work motivation and social networks, are focus areas for the management.

Early intervention is an essential part of Elisa’s daily and wellbeing management. It supports Elisa’s personnel strategy and business goals. Systematic, correctly timed and correctly targeted collaboration between the different sectors of health management guarantees that employees of all ages remain capable of working and increases the personnel’s value in the labour market.

We also act responsibly in business or organisational changes that affect employees. It is important that employees are invited to actively and collaboratively participate in the change process. This operating model clearly exceeds the requirements of the Act on Cooperation within Undertakings in Finland.

We have helped to establish industry-level collaboration with all key players in the OHS field to improve common industry procedures and safety guidelines. In Finland, a major part of the maintenance work in our telecommunication networks, like mast maintenance work, is carried out by our subcontractors' assemblers. For us, regular performance management and follow-up in OHS is an important part of our collaboration with subcontractors. In Estonia, the maintenance is mainly done by our own employees. 

Diverse customers 

Elisa serves more than 2.8 million diverse consumer, corporate and public administration organisation customers in Finland, Estonia and internationally. Customer orientation is one of our guiding values, and customer satisfaction is an important factor steering our operations, as is understanding their needs.

An in-depth understanding of the needs of our diverse customer base is a prerequisite for developing our services and for achieving equality in changing circumstances. Changes in society impose special requirements on services, products and communication at the customer interface. These changes include the multiculturalism that follows from internationalisation, the aging population, the requirements of sustainable development, and the faster renewal cycle of media and communication services brought about by digitalisation.

Elisa is committed to net neutrality and providing all services without any discrimination.

Safe data management and data protection are significant parts of the customer care we provide. More at elisa.com/dataprotection.

In our marketing, we follow the law, the rules of the sector and good practices. The Finnish Competition and Consumer Authority supervises and provides guidelines for marketing in the industry. Our customers have the right to opt out of direct marketing. Our Marketing unit handles our marketing activities.

In our telephone marketing, we apply the Consumer Protection Act, the Personal Data Act and certain other special laws, as well as guidelines and regulations from the authorities. Elisa’s subsidiary Enia is responsible for Elisa’s telephone sales service. Its quality monitoring ensures compliance with the agreed rules.

Our customer support pages give guidance and support. The Elisa OmaYhteisö community provides answers to questions about our products and services. Elisa is also active on social media (such as LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter). 

Accessible services for everyone

Including everybody in digitalisation in society is of vital importance for us.  

Our goal is to design services according to the needs of our customers facing the biggest challenges so that our services are definitely accessible to everyone (Design for All).

We also work continuously to develop our online services to ensure an equal service experience, accessibility and ease of use. We collect targeted feedback on this development work, e.g. from senior citizens and people with visual impairments.

The feedback is analysed and utilised in development plans and business operations.

Sustainable supply chain and partnerships 

Having a sustainable and transparent supply chain is an important part of Elisa's social sustainability. It is also a relevant issue for our stakeholders. Our procurement consists mainly of purchases of electronics and equipment, equipment for network construction and various services, mainly from within the EU, but also partly from outside it. Approximately 80% of Elisa's purchases are from Finnish partners.

We work closely with suppliers and subcontractors to improve accountability throughout the supply chain. The risks in our supply chain include, in particular, child labour, poor working conditions, forced labour, security breaches, emissions from product manufacturing, poor waste treatment and corruption. We identify and mitigate these risks through audits.


We are a member of 
Joint Audit Cooperation (JAC), an international association of telecommunications operators with the aim of improving accountability and transparency in supply chains by carrying out social and environmental responsibility assessments and audits along the supply chain in line with jointly defined criteria. Our work with JAC and involvement in working groups (on e.g. climate and human rights) will improve the management of supplier relations and our audit capabilities, increase transparency in the supply chain, and enhance skills in best practices in supply chain accountability.