“People are friendly, they take you in.”

This was our Head of HR Joanna Clark’s very first observation about Kemppi's culture when she joined the company nearly three years ago.

Despite being an international company with 650 employees, Joanna felt that Kemppi had maintained the warmth and closeness of a family-owned business in Finland.

“Kemppi is a nice-sized company. As a newcomer, it was easy for me to get a handle on what people are doing and to get to know them better”, she says.

While the welcoming atmosphere and pride in welding excellence stood out, Joanna quickly realized that the company’s set of values didn’t fully capture the real-life experience she was having.

“The values were so broad that they didn’t speak to me, really. I thought Kemppi is such a great company and there’s so much behind these values – we need to put more substance behind them”, Joanna says.

“Additionally, the common acknowledgment that we are good at what we do, and this is who we are left less space for innovation”, she adds.

"When You Look at Strategy, You’re Also Looking at Culture”

When Joanna joined the company in 2022, Kemppi was in the process of renewing its overall business strategy.

The timing couldn’t have been better to stop and think about what Kemppi’s culture and values are really all about!

“I thought it was a prime opportunity to dive deep into our culture and think about whether our current culture leads us to be successful in implementing the new strategy”, Joanna says.

“I think when you are looking at the strategy, you are also looking at the culture”, she adds.

Recognizing the importance of alignment between culture and strategy, Joanna didn’t hesitate to act — starting with a closer look at Kemppi’s existing values.

Everyone in the Company Was Given the Opportunity to Contribute

First, we started off with crafting a questionnaire sent out to each Kemppi offices and production globally to figure out the current status of the experience about the values and the culture.

“Almost 60 % of our employees answered the questionnaire, which we were really happy about”, Joanna says.

The insights from the questionnaire set the stage for a series of brainstorming workshops over the next few months. These sessions brought together around 50 employees from diverse roles and locations across Kemppi.

“We also tested some initial ideas for the renewed values and provided opportunities for contribution”, Joanna says.

And the journey didn’t end there!

Over the next eight months, drafts and ideas for the renewed values were shared and refined in collaboration with employees and the Kemppi family board.

And the feedback was clear:

“The values weren’t necessarily wrong since people did recognize them. However, they weren’t action-oriented – employees hoped they would be tweaked to be more concrete”, Joanna says.

Simple But Heart-Hitting Renewal

Then it was time for the next step: gathering all the materials together and articulating the values.

Joanna says they received help from an external marketing agency to clarify and craft the description of the renewed values.

“We wanted them to be simple but heart-hitting”, Joanna says.

With the values clearly defined, the team also developed an actionable plan to embed them into the daily lives of Kemppi employees. The focus was on making the values more than just words on paper — they needed to guide actions and decisions across the company.

Narrowing Down to 3 Tangible Values

From the original four, values were narrowed down to three, more tangible and action-guiding ones, which now also supports the business strategy.

Most importantly, they demonstrate the real-life experience of Kemppi employees.

Here they are:

Empower others.

We help others achieve their goals – whether through the products we make, or through the support we provide to colleagues. We work better, faster and with greater impact when we work together: listening, collaborating, and acting with a shared sense of purpose, and celebrating each other’s success.

Make progress happen.

Kemppi’s success is founded on being obsessed with continuous improvement. Innovation is not only an activity but an attitude that is embraced every day, in all parts of our business. To be true to our past we must be continually curious about how to become better, and courageous enough to turn these ideas into actions.

Build trust everyday.

As a company, trust is the most valuable thing we produce. Every customer relies on Kemppi products to perform brilliantly, and that requires every one of us taking responsibility for our contribution to making this possible. We do our best, we do what we believe to be right, and we trust in each other to do the same.

How Are Words Embedded into Action?

Even though the renewal process has been finalized on paper this year, the real impact is weighed in everyday life – implementation phase is where the work starts.

“Now we have a strong foundation and a clear understanding of what we want to become and what steps to take moving forward”, Joanna says.

Joanna explains that they are now beginning the implementation process, starting with the team leaders.

Each team leader has been provided with a workbook to guide discussions with their teams, focusing on topics such as what the values mean to them, where they identify potential risks, and what key actions need to be followed in line with these values.

“I had the opportunity to attend one of our business unit’s sessions on the renewed values, and it was exciting to see the real, authentic conversation happening between people! I believe the discussion around values creates a deeper level of connection.”, Joanna says.

Joanna’s 3 Key Learnings to Share

#1 “You can’t form values alone. The process must involve everyone in the company – or at least give them the opportunity to contribute.”

#2 “It always takes longer than you think – don’t rush it.”

#3 “Values need to be brought to a concrete level for people to truly understand and take action accordingly.”