Niina Majaniemi

Niina Majaniemi, MBA, is Customer Success Account Manager at Microsoft, working with B2B customers. She is an empathy expert and an author, and does volunteer work to help the elderly people stay included in society, and her passion is to run marathons in warm countries.

Niina Majaniemi focuses on the value that empathy brings for businesses and individuals; for example how it affects revenue, brand, or customer- and employee satisfaction. In todays ever-changing business environment we can´t afford to miss empathy from our strategy. Niina´s keynotes show and inspire how to take strategies into action and how not to miss out on the amazing benefits that empathy brings for business.

As an empathy expert Niina has researched empathy in business for years, and written several publications and articles about the topic. In 2019 she was the main writer in Empathy in Business e-book published by Microsoft. In 2020 she published her first full book, The Empathy Strategy. Her next book launching in October 2021 by Aviador and it digs into the value of empathy in business, and how you can apply lessons learned from marathon training into business. She is an active speaker and coach on the topic for different companies and organisations globally, with an angle for all levels of the organisation; from front line workers to C-suite.

Today 8/10 employees hope that their employer would offer them empathy training. Niina wants to help educate people on this topic and ensure that we build better workplace cultures. She shares interesting case examples about companies that have raised their revenue by using empathy as a tool. Her keynotes and workshops include planning session because she wants to ensure she knows what her audience needs and wants. They also include personal consultation via e-mail after the session.

Commercial organisations, associations, public sector and educational institutions invite her to educate their people about the value of empathy in business, and to teach people empathy skills and how to strengthen them. Method can be a keynote, speech, or workshop including both the value and skills training. She works in English and Finnish.

Feedback from Niina´s work:

“It has been a pleasure to have you in our introspection day as a team, thank you for bringing us such a relevant topic, present in all the different angles of our lives. GRACIAS!”-From Microsoft LATAM Finance team

“Many thanks Niina for sharing your thoughts and insight -what a wonderful way to start the day!”-From Henry ry.

“What I really love about Niina´s book is that she clearly and eloquently sets out the business case for empathy and more empathy equals more profits, more innovation and higher productivity” -Statement from Belinda Parmar, CEO of The Empathy Business, keynote speaker and speaker at Davos.

Some of Niina’s recent keynotes:

Mythbusting empathy – why we miss out on the benefits

“Empathy is for the nerds” or “empathy is about being nice, not about money” are sentences we often hear -and often coming from authoritative leaders. But who in these days anymore thinks that a culture of control and intimidation is the way to work and reach your goals?

With this keynote Niina Majaniemi proves that todays people crave leaders that are more of servants, coaches and mentors. Niina shows how we need brave people who dare to lead with understanding who don´t give up their own values, agendas or opinions; they keep them but at the same time respect and understand others. Leading or working with empathy does not mean that you let others walk all over you, instead it means you keep your ideas but at the same time treat others with respect and create an atmosphere of trust. This takes courage – are you up to it?

Soft skill with Hard Impact -Empathy as a KPI

It´s a common misunderstanding that empathy is just about smiles and understanding – when in fact it is a kpi. Niina brings you the facts and shows you how empathy makes an impact on revenue.

Forbes has named empathy as the keyword for 2021. Google says that empathy is the skill for the future. Microsoft states that empathy makes you a better innovator. There´s no denying anymore the impact of empathy. According to The Empathy Business empathy is positively correlated with growth, productivity, and earnings. The Index also makes a case for empathy boosting the bottom line as the top 10 most empathetic companies generated 50% more earnings than those ranking least.

Those are just a few examples that prove that empathy is for those who want tangible business results. Niina Majaniemi has studied the topic for years and has almost 20 years of career in international business, with plenty of case examples and ways to prove that empathy truly is a skill no business can miss these days. Find out more in this keynote that focuses on showcasing how empathy is the treasure chess for 2021 and onwards.

Your fancy presentation slides wont win you the deal – try listening.

Going forward empathy is going to emerge as an increasingly important part of any marketing strategy. We are in a new era where customers are no longer passive. The digital explosion allows the customers want more, demand more, and know more. Communication is a true dialogue. Empathy helps us to see the world of the customer. It is about having the emotional intelligence to choose the right emotional response to make the customer satisfied. Learn about how empathy can increase customer satisfaction, with case examples.

Innovation lives in freedom

Do your people feel secure enough to state all -even stupid – ideas out loud? Do you provide channels for innovation? Do you acknowledge everyone, despite their ability, culture or gender?

So many profitable ideas remain hidden if your company culture lacks acceptance, listening and respect. Can you afford to miss out on those ideas? Empathy is a wellspring for innovation. Learn how empathy increases innovation and how you can work in a way that you support that model.

Best practises from sports to business

Any form of goal oriented exercise and training can be a benefit also in business . You can take the best practises from marathon running or other sports and apply it to business. Niina Majaniemi has travelled around the world to run marathons; she has trained running behind snowploughs and then competed in hot temperatures. That has built stamina that is needed also at work. Business is constantly changing and you need to know how to build profitable way of working. Just like training for a marathon, it takes time and effort to build an empathic work culture. But the rewards when crossing the finish line are invaluable -and it makes you crave more. What lessons can you take from marathon training to building an empathic workplace culture? What are the pitfalls of training and how to avoid them? Hard work towards any goal finally rewards the person and people around them – financially and mentally.

Give yourself permission to walk

Exhaustion and burnout have increased since covid-19. But we are not only facing a pandemic of this virus; we are facing a pandemic of anxiety. Work life demands a lot from us the competition is high. We are expected to have 10 years of experience already applying to our first job.

Almost every fourth employee in Finland have experienced work related exhaustion symptoms. The average U.S. employee is not only disengaged at work, but half of U.S. employees are searching for a new job. This can impact businesses’ bottom lines by more than $600 billion in lost productivity per year. Exhaustion does not only come from hectic work life. It can also be related to our abilities and feeling left out in this gruelling world. 15 % of the worlds population has a disability – and it can affect all of us, since often it is temporary. Many times you do not even know if a person has a disability since it might be invisible. How do you ensure these people are heard and given the same possibilities to thrive at work as everyone else?

If 74 % of employees say they would work longer hours for an empathic employer, it is clear that this is what people crave. We need to build more empathic workplace cultures. In this keynote Niina Majaniemi shares why we should and how we can increase employee happiness with empathy, focusing on empathy, accessibility, and employee wellbeing.

Surviving the crisis with empathy

How does empathy help navigate through crisis? What are the fundamentals of communicating in an empathic way with your stakeholders during crisis?

If ever empathy is needed, it is in the time of crisis. That is when the true essence of empathy becomes visible and the benefits become clearer than ever. More understanding and empathy are needed from people in business as well as politicians while they handle the crisis. If crisis communication lacks empathy, it can define your brand for decades in a negative way. To survive from crisis and changing times, empathy should be embedded into the entire organization. It is a hard skill that can help people and teams navigate through change if it is embedded from the board-room to frontline.