The Finnish engineer with a focus on people
This month, February 2023 we get to know Vesa Korpela, Vice President, South Europe & ME & CIS, Sandvik.
Sandvik is s a high-tech and global engineering group founded in 1862 in Sandvik, Sweden. Vesa has been with the Dubai office for a few years out of his 10 year career with Sandvik. His main priorities are to grow the business sustainably in the region, health & wellbeing of his staff and family and to see his staff develop in their career.
Hej SBC Member!
Vesa Korpela (in the middle), Vice President, South Europe & ME & CIS, Sandvik
Who is Vesa Korpela?
I was born and raised in Finland, Turku. I completed my Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering and continued my educational studies in parallel to my work with Welding Engineering and Mining Engineering studies. I also have an MBA in International Business and have lately been studying Organizational Leadership at IMD in Switzerland.
I have been with Sandvik now for 10 years. I started my Sandvik career at the factory in Turku, Division Underground Loaders & Trucks. Now for the past three years I have been working in Sales, being based in Dubai, responsible for 50 countries around the South Europe, Middle East and CIS regions.
I´m living here in Dubai with my family, my wife Minna and my two children, Emilia (6) and Alex (2). Living in Dubai has been an eye-opening experience which we have enjoyed very much. My free time is mostly spent with the kids in nearby parks, swimming, bicycling and at the gym, although working days tend to be long due to having multiple time zones in the responsibility area.
Vesa and his family, Minna, Emilia and Alex
You seem to have had a strong interest in mining and technology during your university years. What was your dream job when you were younger? How does your office manage young talents who start their career with Sandvik?
Technical substance competence linked to the field of the business is important, at some point I realized that my passion and skills are more in people and leadership. Hence, I reconfigured my development plans more towards that field which lead me also to the world of languages. Currently alongside native Finnish and obviously English I can master Spanish, and I am working on my German to be fluent in a few years.
What comes to my dream job as a child, I think the strongest feelings were to be a firefighter and save many lives.
Personally, I have a great passion for people and talent development and as I’ve been supported by the company to develop myself, I am proactively pushing the organization to seek growth and development. I firmly believe everyone should have a development plan for their personal growth.
Sandvik, where you have been for the last 10 years was founded in 1862. What are some of the benefits and challenges you find working for a Swedish Company?
It feels like the past 10 years have passed so quickly!
At Sandvik, the greatest benefit is that we always put the Safety & Health (physical and mental), of our employees, customers, and partners as a Number One Priority. This emanates with such a strength all around that you cannot miss that if you collaborate with us. This priority has created a great working culture where people from different backgrounds can grow and find challenging opportunities to match their capabilities so that we will retain the talent in the company.
Bi-weekly Sandvik Middle East boot camp exercise
Also, for a Finn the Swedish company culture does not differ much from the Finnish culture so it has been an easy adaptation from the day one and either way we are a multicultural company of 39,000 employees around the world.
What are some of the proud initiatives you have driven during these years?
The past years have been challenging due to restrictions on travel, but despite of that I take great pride of the fact that the organization has been able to deliver good results and we have expanded our operations to new areas.
I am also feeling proud of the development of the people I see around the organization. Investments made in the training and development of our personnel clearly paying back when an employee is taking a new more demanding role which always brings great satisfaction.'
What is your dream in life?
The most important thing in my life is the health of myself, my family, employees and all who are close to me. I will always go the extra mile for good health as without it what do we have left. That being said, my dream is to maintain my health for many years to come, support my family and see my children to grow to adulthood.
Thank you Vesa for sharing your story! We wish you all the best.
Vesa Korpela, Vice President, South Europe & ME & CIS, Sandvik
Email: vesa.korpela@sandvik.com
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