Our people priorities in 2026: What we’re improving for our team and why?
We are at a strong and exciting phase of growth at Cadmatic. We are expanding into new markets, building new capabilities, and welcoming new people into our teams across the globe. At the same time, growth brings change, and change requires us to continuously evolve how we work, lead, and support our people. We had a chat with Anna Aarnisalo, Chief People Officer at Cadmatic, and went through the latest employee survey results to get a better understanding of how we are taking care of our people amid the growth journey.
For Anna Aarnisalo, Chief People Officer, the current growth phase at Cadmatic is both exciting and demanding.
“We are in a phase where a lot is happening at the same time. We are growing fast, building new structures, and developing how we operate globally,” Anna says.
She also highlights that the changes are not only internal. “At the same time, the whole working life is evolving around us, whether it’s hybrid ways of working, new technologies like AI, or changing expectations towards work and wellbeing. We are adapting to these changes just like every organization.”
“This exciting opportunity comes with a great responsibility: we need to make sure our people can grow with the company and have the tools to do so without compromising their wellbeing”, Anna points out.
At the core of her work is one clear focus: enabling Cadmatic to succeed in change.
“Our role in the People team is to make sure our organization can handle change. We support that through recruitment, leadership development, wellbeing, and performance, all at the same time.”
To better understand where we are today and where we are heading next, let’s go over our employee survey results together with Anna. The results give a clear picture of both our strengths and the areas where we are still developing, and are based on a strong and comprehensive response rate, which Anna sees as an important signal in itself.
“It shows that our people want to share their views and actively contribute to how we develop as a company,” she says. “That makes the results highly valuable and gives us a solid foundation to build on.”
What’s working well – a strong foundation to build on
Looking at the survey results, Anna sees a strong and healthy foundation that Cadmatic can build, that can be divided into 3 main categories.
- Strong team spirit and sense of belonging
“One of the most positive things is the strong team spirit and commitment we have across the company. People are proud of what they do, and they genuinely care about their work and their colleagues”, Anna says.
This sense of belonging shows in everyday work: people feel they can bring themselves to work, and there is a shared understanding of what we are building together. According to Anna, this is strongly connected to the kind of expertise Cadmatic brings together.
“We have highly skilled professionals who trust their own expertise and are genuinely interested in what they do,” she says. “At the same time, they get to work in a very interesting global environment, across industries and customers. That combination creates a strong sense of ownership and pride in the work.”
- Psychological safety and openness
Another clear strength is psychological safety and openness.
“People feel comfortable sharing their ideas and even challenging different opinions. That tells me we have a culture where it’s safe to speak up, and that’s essential for both innovation and growth”, Anna says.
Anna also connects this to the changes made in leadership and organizational clarity during 2025, where we took steps to clarify our organization and how we operate.
“The structure is now clearer than before, and we’ve built a mindset where if something is unclear, we actively work to make it clearer. This work is still ongoing, but we’ve already seen a positive shift. There is a strong willingness across the organization to improve how we work and to make things more transparent and understandable”, Anna says.
- Trust in managers and a good balance between work and personal life
Trust also plays a key role in how people experience their work at Cadmatic. The survey shows strong trust in managers, as well as a good balance between work and personal life.
“What’s especially positive in our results is that people experience their workload as manageable,” Anna says. “That is largely built on flexibility and trust. People have the autonomy to plan their work and the support they need from their managers.”
“At the same time, this is something we need to keep paying attention to as we grow. Maintaining a good balance while the organization evolves is an ongoing effort.”
Growth also creates new needs – where we are focusing next
At the same time, the survey highlights three key areas where we still have work to do. For Anna, these are not signs of failure, but natural outcomes of a company that is growing and evolving.
“When a company grows, complexity increases,” she says. “We are adding new people, new teams, and new markets. It’s natural that not everything is perfectly aligned yet.”
- Clarity in cross-team collaboration
One of the key focus areas is strengthening collaboration across teams. “As we grow, we need to make sure we don’t end up working in silos. We want to strengthen how we collaborate across teams, functions, and locations”, Anna says.
This means creating more shared practices and opportunities for people to connect. “Whether it’s through common ways of working, internal events, or clearer roles, the goal is to make collaboration easier and more natural.”
One example is to clarify the decision-making processes and roles. “In some cases, it’s not always clear who makes which decisions or how things move forward. That’s something we need to improve as we scale”, Anna explains.
- Improve communication of strategy and direction
Another important area is communication, especially when it comes to strategy and direction.
“People don’t always see how their own work connects to the bigger picture. That’s not about a lack of effort, but about making sure we communicate consistently and clearly enough”, Anna says.
“We need to make sure that everyone understands where we are going and what it means for their work. Managers play a key role here in translating strategy into everyday actions”, she adds.
- Empower leadership and managerial work
Leadership development is also a central part of the work.
“We already have strong leadership in many areas, but as we grow, we need to support our leaders even more. Good leadership is one of the biggest drivers of engagement and performance,” Anna says.
For Anna, this is especially critical in a phase of change.
“When you go through growth and transformation, managers and leaders play a key role. They are the ones who translate change into everyday work, support their teams, and make sure people understand what is happening and why.”
That’s why Cadmatic is investing in leadership development in a more structured way.
“We want to make sure our leaders have the tools, clarity, and support they need to succeed,” Anna explains. “For example, we are organizing a global Leadership Day in April 2026, where managers from across our locations will come together to align, learn, and build shared ways of working.”
“It’s extremely important that we create the right conditions for our leaders to succeed, because through them, we enable the success of the entire organization.”
What we want to protect as we grow
As Cadmatic continues to grow, one of the most important questions is not just what we need to change, but also what we want to keep.
“We have a lot of things that already work really well,” Anna says. “And it’s important that we don’t lose those as we grow.”
At the core are Cadmatic’s values, which provide a stable foundation even as the company evolves. “Our values guide how we work together and how we treat each other. They don’t change, even if the company grows and develops.”
Another key strength is the level of expertise and commitment within the company. “We have highly skilled people who take pride in their work. That’s something we want to preserve and continue building on.”
Cadmatic also occupies a unique position between a smaller, agile company and a global organization. “We are still a company where individuals can have a real impact. At the same time, we operate globally and work with a wide range of customers and industries. That combination is quite unique”, Anna says.
For Anna, the most important thing is to keep perspective as the company continues to grow: “We are doing a huge amount of good things. Sometimes we focus so much on what needs to be improved that we forget to see how far we’ve already come.”
At the same time, she emphasizes that development is a continuous journey.
“We are not a finished company, and we don’t need to be,” Anna says. “What matters is that we keep moving forward, learning, and improving together.”
For current and future employees, this means joining a company that is evolving, but doing so with intention. Here is Anna’s message to all the future talent thinking about joining us: “If you join Cadmatic now, you are joining a company that is growing and developing. There is a lot of opportunity to learn, to influence, and to be part of building what comes next.”