Review calls for clearer leadership at Kela

Kela’s leadership system should be clarified further, according to a review of Director General Lasse Lehtonen’s leadership, Yle reports. The review found that Kela, Finland’s national social insurance institution, is strong as an institution and that its management is competent.

The review identified clearer arrangements for the senior management system and the creation of an atmosphere of trust and cooperation as areas for development.

It proposed that Kela’s board clarify the responsibilities and roles of different directors and the senior management, examine the directors’ roles in relation to the organisation’s rules of procedure, and consider making those rules more precise.

Kela board chair Jaana Laitinen-Pesola presented the review’s main findings at a press conference on Wednesday. She said discussions about leadership would continue during the autumn, including how the proposals could be put into practice. The board itself received the review only on Wednesday.

Laitinen-Pesola said Kela’s board supports the organisation’s management.

The board decided to commission the review in late autumn after Lehtonen’s comments about remote work and Kela’s staff prompted widespread discussion.

The board commissioned the review from external expert and psychologist Ilona Rauhala. Its completion was delayed because Lehtonen, who was on sick leave, could not be interviewed.

Lehtonen went on sick leave in December because of a serious illness and returned to work at the beginning of June.