Herizon is a community-driven initiative focused on bridging the gap between untapped talent and meaningful employment opportunities in Finland. Working closely with internationalizing companies and local municipalities, it helps foreign-language speakers (often highly educated but underemployed) find their place in the Finnish job market.

Our growth to over 10% month-on-month (MoM) didn’t happen without challenges. While the success of our employment partnerships is clear, the journey required navigating significant hurdles in outreach, particularly during Finland’s ongoing TE24 restructuring. This reform complicated the process of finding the right decision-makers, delaying progress and requiring strategic persistence.

Let’s examine how Herizon tackled these challenges, from cold outreach to overcoming the complexities of municipal decision-making.

The challenge: unemployment among foreign-language speakers

Foreign-language speakers in Finland, particularly spouses of expats, students, and career changers, face systemic barriers to employment. Despite being qualified, they often lack the networks, language skills, or tailored pathways to break into the job market.

For cities, this means a pool of untapped talent remains idle, even as industries like tech and customer service face critical labor shortages. Herizon saw an opportunity to solve this dual challenge by aligning the needs of cities and internationalizing companies with its innovative employment program.

The solution: success-based partnerships

Aligning incentives with a results-driven model

Herizon’s partnership model is simple: cities pay only when someone is employed. There are no upfront costs; instead, a €1,000 fee is charged for every individual successfully employed through the program. This ensures cities only invest in tangible outcomes, reducing their risk while maximizing impact.

Additionally, we offer optional on-site presentations to employment supervisors, enhancing understanding and buy-in for the program at the local level.

Piloting targeted initiatives

Each partnership starts with a pilot program, involving 10–15 participants per city. The objective is clear: achieve a 70% employment rate within three months while gathering insights for scaling and improvement.

The pilot’s focus on highly educated individuals and career changers in fields like tech, engineering, and customer service has proven effective, as these groups tend to transition quickly into the workforce.

Next let's take a look into how we achieved the scalable partnership model.

1. Navigating TE24 restructuring: a moving target

Finland’s TE24 reform—aimed at decentralizing employment services—created an environment of uncertainty within municipalities. As responsibilities shifted between different units and leaders, Herizon often found it difficult to identify who had the authority to approve pilot programs or budget allocations.

The impact of structural change

• Ambiguous roles: Employment supervisors, HR leads, and municipal administrators had overlapping responsibilities, making it unclear who could champion the program.

• Delays in response times: Many potential contacts were unsure of their capacity to act, further slowing decision-making processes.

• Multiple approvals: Some cities required Herizon to navigate several layers of bureaucracy to reach a consensus, significantly extending timelines.

Finding the right decision-maker often took months of trial and error, follow-ups, and navigating ever-shifting org charts.

2. The cold outreach conundrum: LinkedIn and email

Herizon’s outreach strategy relied heavily on cold contact through LinkedIn and email. While digital platforms provide scale and reach, they also come with their own set of challenges:

1. Breaking through the noise

Decision-makers, especially those in public sector roles, receive a high volume of unsolicited messages. Standing out required crafting personalized, value-driven outreach while balancing brevity with clarity.

• LinkedIn pitfalls: Many messages went unanswered, either lost in the flood of requests or dismissed as generic pitches.

• Email difficulties: Even carefully tailored emails often landed in cluttered inboxes, requiring multiple follow-ups to elicit a response.

2. Establishing trust without a prior connection

Without an established relationship, convincing a city representative to allocate time for a meeting was a significant hurdle. Cold outreach alone often wasn’t enough - Herizon needed to back up its proposals with data and social proof to build credibility quickly.

3. Strategies that worked: persistence and personalization

Despite the challenges, Herizon’s outreach efforts succeeded through persistence and a structured approach:

1. Multi-channel targeting

Rather than relying on a single platform, Herizon used a combination of LinkedIn, email, and in some cases, phone outreach. The ability to follow up on multiple fronts helped increase response rates and build familiarity over time.

2. Value-driven messaging

Every message emphasized Herizon’s value proposition in clear, actionable terms:

• Highlighting the €1,000 success-fee model, reducing financial risk for cities.
• Demonstrating Herizon’s track record of employing over 400 individuals at a fraction of typical program costs.
• Aligning messaging with city-specific challenges, such as local unemployment rates or shortages in specific industries like tech or customer service.

3. Leveraging referrals and introductions

Whenever possible, Herizon used its network to gain warm introductions to municipal leaders or employment supervisors. Referrals dramatically increased response rates and reduced the time spent identifying decision-makers.

4. Building momentum once a decision-maker was found

After locating the right contact, Herizon focused on building trust and maintaining engagement:

1. Data-driven presentations

Meetings were structured around key data points, including Herizon’s success metrics and case studies from other cities. This evidence-based approach resonated with decision-makers who needed tangible proof of impact.

2. Structured follow-ups

Herizon maintained clear follow-up schedules to ensure momentum wasn’t lost after initial meetings. Providing timely updates, additional materials, or testimonials from other cities helped keep prospects engaged.

3. Collaborative pilots

When partnerships were secured, Herizon made the onboarding process collaborative, involving city representatives in pilot design and ensuring transparency in progress reporting. This fostered long-term buy-in and mutual learning.

5. Lessons learned: refining outreach for future growth

Herizon’s experiences in outreach highlight valuable lessons for navigating complex partnerships:

• Map decision-making structures early: Spending time upfront to understand municipal hierarchies and reforms can reduce delays later.
• Invest in personalization: Generic pitches rarely succeed. Tailoring messaging to specific challenges and stakeholders’ priorities is critical.
• Persistence: Building trust takes time, especially in the public sector. Multiple touchpoints and consistent follow-ups are essential.

6. The results: partnerships that drive impact

Despite these challenges, the outreach efforts culminated in the launch of a success-based employment model in four cities. These partnerships have already begun transforming the employment landscape for foreign-language speakers while driving consistent growth for Herizon.

A classic startup launch journey about navigating the complexities of outreach, adapting to changing circumstances, and building relationships that last.