Juuriharja Brings First Whistle to Poland: Ethical Leadership Meets Practical Solutions

Juuriharja, a dynamic Finnish company, is making waves in ethical business practices and leadership development. With a focus on helping organizations achieve sustainable success, Juuriharja expertly combines consulting, leadership development, and policy advisory services with innovative SaaS solutions. Among its standout offerings is First Whistle, a state-of-the-art whistleblowing channel that helps companies create safe, ethical, and transparent workplaces.

With a unique blend of consulting services and innovative SaaS solutions, Juuriharja has become a leading expert in ethical business practices in Finland. This expertise, along with their forward-thinking solutions, is now setting its sights on the Polish market. To explore this exciting expansion, Tuomas Asunmaa sat down with Erika Heiskanen, CEO of Juuriharja, to discuss why Poland stood out, the opportunities and challenges of combining consulting and SaaS, and what the future holds.

Why Poland?

Poland emerged as a natural choice after a detailed analysis of European markets. The country offers a promising landscape for our whistleblowing channel, First Whistle, as organizations here are increasingly focused on strengthening compliance and transparency. Additionally, many of our Finnish clients already operate in Poland and we have always had warm memories of collaborating with Polish professionals.

Was entering the Polish market surprising in any way?

Our first focus was building relationships with local partners to help us get started. We were impressed by the ambitious and professional people we met here. They were open, knowledgeable, and eager to collaborate. It is exactly the kind of energy and expertise we hoped to find.

Your business combines consulting and software. Isn’t that a challenge?

Blending consulting with SaaS is no easy task, but we saw it as a necessary evolution. Building ethical business practices requires more than policies – it requires a strong foundation in culture and leadership. For example, a whistleblowing channel like First Whistle sends a clear signal that a company takes its code of conduct seriously. This combination – tools and cultural transformation – helps our clients create a robust ethical core.

Many advised us against combining consulting and software because of the different business logics. But at Juuriharja, we love to simplify complexity. It is not always easy, but we are fast learners. Simplicity requires deep thinking, trial and error, and constant improvement – but that’s exactly what we thrive on.

What’s next for Juuriharja and First Whistle in Poland?

Our goal is to grow our presence on the Polish B2B market and help businesses create more transparent and ethical workplaces. Whistleblowing is still a relatively new concept here, so we’re excited to share the experience we have built in Finland and learn from our Polish clients as we go. It is a journey we are really looking forward to. In addition, Juuriharja’s unique approach and innovative solutions like First Whistle are already available in Poland.