Nina Kähönen is a lifelong learner and solution-seeker with energy and positivity to spare. Her newest challenge is to secure the recruitment of over 150 new colleagues.
These days, my priority is recruiting new colleagues and securing the best employee experience for our talents. Simply put, I ensure that we have operative smoothness in place, while we grow and our people feel well and valued.
My career path has been varied – sometimes up, sometimes sideways, but always forward with positivity and curiosity to learn new things and challenge myself. I have had a diverse and versatile career, with the proper support to change paths along the way.
I graduated in 1997 as a telecommunications technology engineer, but I have never actually written code professionally! I have been at Tietoevry since 2003 when the company acquired its mobile development team from Siemens. Just a few months later, I took on leading the R&D team in the Devices unit. In 2005, I was called in as Interface Manager to set up the operations for our new office in Ostrava, Czech Republic.
After returning from maternity leave, I went to lead our operational and capability development including Process & Quality, Project portfolio management, and Competence development, to name a few areas. One of our biggest customers then was Nokia, which enabled us to rapidly grow from 80 to around 1,200 professionals. At the same time, we were setting up operations in new locations in India and China – while recruiting heavily! This hugely exciting time welded our team tightly together and kickstarted some of my lifetime friendships all around the world.
In the early 2010s, I transitioned to Sales Director of our Telecom and Media unit, where new challenges were again waiting, I took on the unfamiliar situation of a dissatisfied customer with business growth issues. Driven by my sincerity and desire to make things work, I told the customer about our challenges and my goal to ensure their satisfaction with our cooperation, which established trust.
Once again, 2014 was time to take new challenges and place customer experience at the centre of business, and having fun along the way. Customer Experience Management (CEM) unit was founded in the beginning of 2014 as an internal startup at Tietoevry. I was asked to join a new unit – with brand-new challenges ahead! Initially, I led around 100 mobile experts worldwide, and in 2016, web applications were added to my responsibilities. In this larger role, I aimed to change how we work, while increasing transparency and creating a sense of freedom, mutual respect, and creativity within the team. Since my passion was in people, I was able to start culture transformation where we aimed to show our potential and succeed with a culture in which everyone cares about our mission, is valued and helps each other. I was also tackling a familiar challenge: growth and finding new great colleagues. During 2021, we were able to recruit over 40 new people!
For me, progress has not just meant moving vertically in the organization, but also moving horizontally by building new knowhow and capabilities. In addition to cultivating a broad skills toolkit, I have built an extensive network at Tietoevry.
Some think all big corporations are bureaucratic and slow. But at Tietoevry, the large size means that you do not need to look outside for interesting opportunities and unfamiliar challenges. You can jump from being a developer to account management and sales. All of this and more is possible – and actively supported at Tietoevry. So, there is no excuse for getting bored here! What I can say is that we will never run out of possibilities and jokes in this work community.
I have recently joined the Data & AI service area in Tietoevry Transform. We are a global team of 450 experts and a dedicated partner for our customers in their data driven transformation. What makes us special in my mind is that we believe in a lean way of working, empowered global teams, happy talent, and growth both professionally and personally.
Our hearts beat for the union of data, business and human touch – this is what gets us going.
We have a strong sense of community and belief in each other lifted, and we are paying extra attention to how we care for our team – with trust and enthusiasm.
On a daily basis, I am amazed, inspired, and pushed forward by my amazing colleagues. I cherish our impactful work, vast competence, and strong relationships. And I get a kick out of helping people develop and advance, but especially in seeing them do great things!
We are recruiting. Give life to your inner Transformer. Join Tietoevry Transform.