Building a people-first and high-performance culture together

I was recently attending an event, where someone asked me about the culture journey we have gone through since the merger of Metso’s Minerals business and Outotec in July 2020. I was happy to share an overview of the significant progress we have made, thanks to the strong commitment, inspiration and drive of our people at Metso Outotec. I talked about all the different building blocks that form the foundation of our culture, from our common values, well-being of our people, diversity and inclusion to leadership principles and enabling growth. I also described the way we measure and lead our culture development through a listening system. Our quarterly employee survey – Our Voice – is an invaluable tool, which enables us to hear from our people on a regular basis and guide our development actions to the right areas. The main point I wanted to make was that we already have a lot to be proud of, but our determined work continues.

After the event, I paused for a moment to reflect to the question about our culture journey. I started thinking about what for me personally has been most rewarding in building our culture during the last couple of years. Instead of all the different actions we have implemented and celebrated together, I started thinking about our people and my experiences in our different locations of the world.

One of my most memorable experiences is from my visit to South America during spring 2022. I got to visit an impressive open pit copper mine in Andina, Chile, located in demanding conditions some 3500m above the sea level.

During that visit, I saw the importance and huge potential of the strategic priorities we drive in our company. In sustainability, we are one of the enablers of modern life and society, and we can play a significant role together with our customers. We accelerate sustainable development by sharing knowledge and by working together with our customers, partners and communities. At the same time, we focus on ensuring the safety and well-being of our people. We succeed when our customers succeed, and our people and culture need to drive us to the same direction as our strategy.

Another more recent culture experience is around the International Women’s Day celebration. It was really encouraging to see so many of our employees taking a stand for inclusion and equal opportunity in our different locations around the world. The day also offered a good opportunity to talk and remind people about all the concrete actions we are taking to promote inclusion. We need everyone on board to build, role-model and foster an inclusive culture, not only during one day of the year, but every day.

Our company purpose is to enable sustainable modern life, and we are on an ongoing journey where our culture plays a key role in taking us to the right direction. I firmly believe in the well-known statement; when you put purpose and people first, performance and profits will follow.