A gem of another kind

Jaana Tabally has already made an impressive career of 25 years working for Black Bruin. She started her career more or less the same time as Black Bruin moved to its current premises in Jyskä, on the outskirts of Jyväskylä, and ever since she has handled Black Bruin’s order processing, dispatching and invoicing. And in the beginning of June, 2023, she assumed her first supervisory position as the Team Leader of Black Bruin’s sales back office team.

International business is Jaana´s forte: prior to joining Black Bruin, she was employed by the Finnish Foreign Trade Association’s Jyväskylä office. That was a temporary position, so Jaana had to move on and apply for a new job. So what did she do? She submitted no fewer than 72 open job applications, basically to every export-oriented company in the Jyväskylä area. For that, she is also grateful to the Finnish Foreign Trade Association, the predecessor of Finpro and Business Finland, and their accurate registers, including all addresses Jaana could possibly have been interested in. Luckily for both Black Bruin and Jaana, Black Bruin´s HR department spotted real talent and recruited her. And that led to a long-lasting relationship between the two. And the rest is successful history.

For all kinds of needs

The numbers and sizes of the shipments leaving the Black Bruin factory vary. Approximately 5 – 10 deliveries leave every day for destinations all over the world. For example, on the day of her interview for this story, Jaana and her team were working on a big, 40-feet long container for one distributor with dozens of motors. Besides containers and sea freight, other forms of transportation are also used: air, rail, road – and spare parts are generally sent by courier. The size of the shipments varies from 200 g to those huge sea containers. Almost every day the team sends products to several countries with differing legislation and customs documentation requirements. This is not always an easy job, but so totally worthwhile once you see the big picture.

According to Jaana, the biggest change in the last 25 years has been in the working environment, not the actual work. “We’re being bombarded with stimuli from all directions, email, intra, phone, CRM – a big change from the times at the beginning of my career, and that makes the work more demanding. Having a good team spirit helps to cope with it and relieve the pressure. And we are so happy to have such a spirit at Black Bruin.”

Doing work that really matters brings its own reward

There are many things that Jaana appreciates about Black Bruin, one of them being the company’s size, neither too small nor too big. “It is so motivating to see everything that is happening and needs to happen with your own eyes, everything from order processing, through manufacturing to dispatching – what influences what. And also get the feedback from the customers around the world.” It is the customers, of course, who are the ’other best thing’ in Jaana’s work: ”Every now and then I stop to recall with gratitude that my work really matters, that the customer for example in Australia has received the Black Bruin hydraulic motors on time. It is an empowering feeling. And it is also very rewarding to know that your employer trusts your expertise and all that you do. There’s no micromanaging culture in Black Bruin as there is in some other companies. We are all trusted as professionals to know our own jobs. I believe that really makes the difference and is one of the key reasons for our positive working climate.”

True teamwork

Colleagues and teammates at Black Bruin are what Jaana continues to appreciate most of all every day. ”I fully agree with the teacher of a school class visiting our Black Bruin factory some years ago who said that she’d never visited a company with such a warm-hearted spirit.” Jaana thinks this is due to the company culture where all employees get such good backup from colleagues. “Everybody in our team can stand in for each other, another thing which reflects the excellent Black Bruin working spirit,” Jaana Tabally says.

This is likely a bit premature, but what after Black Bruin?

After her retirement in ten years’ time – luckily for Black Bruin not before – Jaana is thinking of taking on some global volunteer work with animals. This is close to her heart and she could still use her expertise in communication and different cultures to benefit a new field.

And a hint to all those looking for a job: As has been said earlier in this article, Jaana wrote and sent off those 72 open job applications – to practically all the export-oriented companies in the Jyväskylä area. She left no stone unturned. And many of those companies have been in contact in the longer run, too, but Jaana has stayed loyal to Black Bruin. And why wouldn’t she, because she likes it there so much. “When you give it your best shot, it pays back,” Jaana believes.