Abstract
Tiina Saari – Post Doctoral Researcher, University of Tampere, Finland. Address: 4 Kalevantie, 33100, Tampere, Finland.E-mail: tiina.p.saari@uta.fi
 Markku Sippola – University Lecturer, University of Tampere, Finland. Address: 4 Kalevantie,33100, Tampere, Finland.E-mail: Markku.Sippola@uta.fi
 Harry Melin – Professor, Vice Rector, University of Tampere, Finland. Address: 4 Kalevantie, 33100, Tampere, Finland. E-mail: harri.melin@uta.fi
 Azer Efendiev – DSc in Philosophy, Professor, National Research University Higher School of Economics. Address: 20 Myasnitskaya St., Moscow, 101000, Russian Federation. E-mail: efendiev@hse.ru
 Evgeniya Balabanova – DSc in Sociology, Professor, National Research UniversityHigher School of Economics. Address: 20 Myasnitskaya St., Moscow, 101000, RussianFederation. E-mail: balabanova@hse.ru
 Citation: Saari T., Sippola M., Melin H., Efendiev A., Balabanova E. (2018) Comparing Finnish and Russian Work Life. Mir Rossii, vol. 27, no 2, pp. 90–108. DOI: 10.17323/1811-038X-2018-27-2-90-108
 This article compares the differences and similarities between Finnish and Russian work life, with special focus on how employees perceive the importance of employment and pay, favouritism in the workplace, and satisfaction with leadership. The contrasts between the two countries make for an interesting comparison: Finland is one of the world leaders in quality of work life, while many workplace practices in Russia date from the Soviet era. Our analysis shows that, as expected, pay is much more important than job content to Russian employees, while job content is more important than pay to Finnish employees. Work and employment is highly valued in both countries, but more so in Russia. Russia is often described as backward in its management and leadership styles, yet we found that Russian employees are more satisfied with some aspects of leadership in the workplace than Finnish employees.
Highlights
This article compares Finnish and Russian work life
Our analysis suggests that work is more important to Russians than it is to Finnish employees: 93% of Russian employees describe work as extremely important to them, compared to 62% of Finnish employees (Figure 1)
There are no country differences in the value given to family: 89% of Finns and 90% of Russians say that family is an extremely important part of life
Summary
This article compares Finnish and Russian work life. The main focus is on aspects of work life that, based on the literature, can be expected to differ between the two countries: the perceived importance of employment and pay for employees, favouritism, and employee satisfaction with leadership. There are growing numbers of Russian immigrants in the Finnish labour market today For these reasons alone it is important to research and understand the differences and similarities between the work cultures of these two countries. Work in Russia is often described as entrenched in customs and traditions dating back to the Soviet era [Puffer, McCarthy 2011] One such notion is the belief that Russian work life today is still characterized by blat culture, a reliance on personal favours and informal networks in the workplace [Liuhto 1999, p. Before we move on to describe our data and methods, the following sections provide an overview of the work life indicators used in our country comparisons, i.e. the meaning and importance of employment and pay for employees, favouritism and discrimination, and various dimensions of leadership. It has been shown that power and material values are very prominent in Russia, both in and outside the world of work, while less importance is given to such factors as equality and justice [Fey 2005; Magun, Rudnev 2012, p. 41]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
