AEL Oy

One of our operating principles at AEL is for our company's management and personnel to commit themselves to customer-oriented and interest group-centered methods. If we consider ourselves a service organisation in this way, we can better influence the quality of our work, concentrate on occupational health and safety and protect our environment.

Monitoring the quality and efficiency of our work and being aware of occupational safety and the enviroment requires every employee's efforts. AEL offers regular training in these areas, as well as information and opportunities for everyone to participate. We create clear indicators and goals in order to develop our business methods, allocating enough resources to achieve them and analysing our success in that effort regularly. AEL follows all legal and statute regulations and official stipulations.

Designed With the Customer in Mind

One of the foundations of our mission at AEL is to incorporate customer-oriented planning and implementation, as well as continuous development of our products and services. Our cooperation with others in business makes it possible to benefit from an open, trusting and continually developing working environment. Above all, AEL strives towards a satisfied customer and a long-lasting business and personal relationship. The operating policy at AEL is measured and developed with various result indicators, like the questions which follow.

• How do we look in the eyes of our business partners?
• How do we look to our customers?
• How well do our processes work?
• How does our organisation learn and develop?

Occupational Health and Safety a Priority

Recognizing, appraising and improving the occupational health and safety of our own staff, our customers (students) and our subcontractors and business partners is an integral part of the daily activities of the entire AEL organisation and its partners.

Our aim is to ensire that customers, subcontractors and our staff feel safe and comfortable as they work in AEL. As a leading educational insitute, AEL particularly emphasizes the need for mental well-being. Occupational health and safety questions are a necessary part of every educational process at AEL.

AEL Considers the Environment

Admitting and recording the strain that is put on our environment and working to reduce that strain is also an important part of the daily work of AEL and its partners. AEL promotes consideration of the environment not only in its tuition but in all of our service modes. We can guarantee a current, accurate account of the issues concerning our environment, utilizing education and information.

Quality training since 1995

AEL was the first training centre in the Nordic countries to receive the ISO 9001 quality certification for its training (ISO 9001:2000). This means that systematic improvements in our training quality and an independent appraisal of our work takes place at least once a year.

Our work has also been assessed according to the Occupational Health and Safety (OHSAS 18001) and the Environmental Protection (ISO 14001:2004) regulations.

In 1922 the major labour market organisations of the time in Finland gathered together to create the Ammattienedistämislaitossäätiö (Foundation for Occupational Advancement). The Foundation was to be responsible for the further training of workers in industry and commerce. The labour representatives in question at the time can best be represented by some of their contemporary equivalents, the Confederation of Finnish Industries (EK), the Federation of Finnish Enterprises and the Central Union of Agricultural Producers and Forest Owners (MTK).

Since its inception, over 80 years ago, AEL has worked to develop the vocational skills of adults that are already employed. In other words, the founding mission of the company has remained the same to this day.

First it was handicraft and industry training

To begin with in the1920s, intensive courses lasting a few weeks or a month were arranged for handicraft and industry workers from all corners of Finland. The purpose of the courses was to teach professional skills and update worker know-how. Tuition was also deciminated thoroughout Finland using specially prepared railway cars in which the courses were held.

As Finland underwent the changes of the Industrial Revolution in the 1920s and 30s, the Foundation for Occupational Advancement was offering competence in industry areas as diverse as electricity, phone, radio, traffic, photography and movie-making.

During and after the wars, the Foundation played an important role in re-educating war veterans for new vocations. The new industry generated by war debts also required major new occupational training.

As time passed, Ammattienedistämislaitossäätiö was increasingly referred to by its acronym, AEL and this was adopted as the official name of the company in the 1990s.

AEL's foremost goal is customer success

As long as AEL has existed, it has been the largest provider of further technical training in Finland. This is largely because AEL has been able to follow and change as commerce has changed. A significant developmental strategy was adopted in the 1990s when AEL began considering tuition in terms of quality and operating accordingly.

Nowadays we like to consider AEL as first and foremost, a business partner and companion in development. This means that our purpose at AEL is to see our customers succeed.