Software company Alfame’s office is located in the Jääkausi section of Werstas in ElectroCity. When the Turku office was being established, the choice was the city’s largest coworking space due to its convenience. How is Alfame’s staff considered and involved in the workplace? And what does hacking mean in the company’s corporate culture?
The Turku office is led by Sales Director Kimmo Kavander, who has years of background and experience in the operator and ICT industries. Kavander manages Alfame’s sales and marketing team, whose task is to strengthen the company’s market position in both the corporate sector and the public administration.
“I joined Alfame in August 2022, which was also when the idea to establish an office in Turku was born. It was easy to come to Werstas: I feel that here we are in the right place in the heart of Turku’s business life,” Kavander says.
Alfame’s core operations are software development and the associated automation and improvement of information flow in corporate business and its various processes. Alfame has a strong foothold in public administration business; a good example of these client relationships is Keha, the development and administration centre for ELY Centres and TE Offices. Large companies such as Ponsse and Canon are also Alfame clients.
Hacking as a common thread
Software companies have an open corporate culture where, at its best, completely new partnerships and collaborations emerge: competitor companies are boldly seen as enablers of new initiatives. Hacking and the company’s values lie behind Alfame: these are discussed a lot with customers who appreciate openness, and that is how trust in the client relationship is built.
“Alfame has recently undergone a brand renewal, and there is still plenty of work to do in implementing it. We started by boldly telling what the hacking behind all of Alfame’s actions means and how it shows in the company’s operations both internally and towards customers. Marketing must be able to genuinely help sales,” says Alfame’s Marketing and Communications Manager Niko Rinta.
“Hacking is self-development and learning new things, and this is invested in heavily at Alfame.”
“For us, hacking is a positive force driving the work culture forward. Hacking is self-development and learning new things, and this is invested in heavily at Alfame,” Kavander praises.
Learn new things and share them with others
Alfame’s staff is encouraged to get educated and share their learning with others. Employees take good advantage of this opportunity because they find it meaningful. Work is done together, and at the core of everything is moving forward and winning together. Don’t fear mistakes, because you learn from them too. Alfame invests carefully in onboarding and in how people are welcomed into the work community.
“We offer bonuses for self-development; for example, when you study or develop yourself, you learn new things and share them with colleagues. This way of working is quite exceptional, and we are proud of it. It also fosters a sense of community, and people gain important presentation experience. Our work culture also includes joint 'praise coffees' for staff: everyone gets to thank their colleagues for a job well done,” Kavander says.
Events and community
Werstas provides a ready-made work environment with services, which was also Alfame’s reason for choosing the office location. It is important for companies to be able to focus only on their own core business, while things like cleaning, network connections, coffee, and tea are included in the service package. In addition, the coworking work environment offers good frameworks for community, and events supporting it are organized in the area.
“When we opened the Werstas office, another actor in the same field in this area contacted us, and we went for lunch to catch up. You can always find company for a coffee break here, and who knows, perhaps in the future we will also gain new business partners from this area,” Kavander concludes.