Interim HR Director brought stability to Virta during a period of major change
Short summary
- The simultaneous resignation of the HR Director and replacement of four out of six leadership team members in autumn 2025 created an exceptionally challenging situation for the fast-growing company
- Greenstep’s interim HR Director was brought in as a bridging solution while the search for a permanent hire was underway
- Within roughly three months, leadership team recruitments, change negotiations, and a full organisational restructure were all completed — “quite an impressive and swift achievement,” noted Hintikka
- The keys to success were rapid onboarding, mutual trust, and open collaboration with the leadership team
Autumn 2025 marked an exceptional period of change for Liikennevirta Oy. The company’s
HR Director stepped down, and at the same time four out of six members of the
management team were replaced. As a fast-growing company operating in a challenging
economic environment, Virta also needed to reassess its direction and organizational
structure.
When the HR Director left the company, Virta decided to address the situation with an
Interim solution.
“After our previous HR Director resigned, we decided to bring in an Interim HR leader
because we had many important initiatives to move forward while searching for a permanent
replacement. Greenstep’s Interim service was a natural choice for us at that moment,” says
Juhani Hintikka, CEO of Virta.
An experienced HR leader brings clarity and direction
The autumn quickly turned into a busy and demanding period. The company needed to
recruit new members for its management team and reorganize the broader organization.
Outi, who joined as Interim HR Director, became closely involved in the management team’s
work and, in addition to supporting these initiatives, also led the company’s change
negotiations process.
“Our collaboration with Outi started much like it would with any new employee — we took the
time to get to know each other and align on our goals. Having an Interim HR Director was
truly essential for us, as most of the issues on the table were related to people and
organization. Recruiting new management team members, conducting change negotiations,
and reorganizing the organization were all completed in about three months. That was a very
good and fast achievement,” Hintikka summarizes.
Outi Kaivo-oja from Greenstep, who served as Interim HR Director, emphasizes that close
and honest cooperation with both the leadership and HR teams was key to their success.
For her, the core of any interim role is getting up to speed quickly, building trust, and making
sure everyone is working toward the same goals.
“It has been a truly rewarding and educational experience for all of us,” Kaivo-oja says.
Trust and experience at the core of a successful collaboration
According to Hintikka, the success of the collaboration was built on open communication and
Outi’s extensive HR experience. She quickly stepped into the responsibilities of the HR
Director role and proactively began advancing key development initiatives.
While several projects were completed during the Interim period, many of the improvements
continue to move forward.
“I can warmly recommend Greenstep’s Interim services. The collaboration was very fruitful,
and Outi has continued working with us part-time on certain HR tasks even after the Interim
period. She is extremely easy to work with — she quickly identified areas for development,
took action, and integrated into the management team as an equal member from the start,”
Hintikka says
