ALTEN in Linköping Steadily Growing
Big things are coming out of ALTEN in Linköping – what’s the secret behind their growth spurt? We touched down in our third biggest office to hear more about how they’re working to create both impact and an inspiring workplace.
The third biggest ALTEN office in Sweden
It’s buzzing in Linköping, and we’re not referring to the summer wasp invasion that’s lingering into the start of the fall. It’s buzzing because the activity at the ALTEN in Linköping office might be higher than ever before.
— We have the great privilege of welcoming 36 new colleagues after the vacations, so right now we’re in the middle of introducing and getting everybody set for new challenges. Everyone is looking forward to an exciting autumn and third quarter – especially since the later part of the summer unfortunately rained away, says Sebastian Cavalli-Björkman, CBM and Site Manager at ALTEN in Linköping.
”We believe that working together with our ALTEN-colleagues is the best way forward”
Linköping is the third biggest ALTEN office in Sweden, behind only Stockholm and Gothenburg. In late 2022, they had to move into bigger facilities to accommodate to their seemingly ever-growing force. Sebastian has seen the progression from up close, since joining as a Business Manager back in 2015. Today, he can title himself a CBM and was recently named Site Manager for the entire Linköping office – an accolade he shares with his colleagues.
— I’m humbled by the challenge of course. When I started at ALTEN in 2015 Linköping had roughly 60 employees. Now, we just reached 150 employees on site with the goal of building an even greater office that offer more assignments, with new customers and in new locations.
— We wouldn’t have seen this continuous growth of people and opportunities without our great team of managers and colleagues. Every day offers something new and exciting to dig into – be it meeting new customers, continuing to be a part of our existing projects, or just having a lunch with our team members. It’s what makes it all worth it.
The secret ingredient: Poor dad jokes
What do you think is the reason for your achievements?
— I’d like to quote one of our managers with something he says during the intro – “We do business and work in a way that makes us sleep well at night”. That means working by our core values, thinking holistically and being fair to all colleagues and customers. Being honest with yourself and the team you work with is always winning in the end.
— We also have a great mix of personalities in our local management team – some of us like to run fast and some of us are helping to take a step back and ask “are we doing this the optimal or best way possible?”. It might also be the many laughs, poor dad jokes and our welcoming atmosphere where a lot of solutions are, as we like to put it, “just one question away”.
”An important trait for any leader or manager is to not take oneself too seriously.”
What are some interesting opportunities and assignments that you’re currently offering?
— Oh, we’ve got plenty. We got teams developing products travelling in Mach 2, colleagues designing vessels who go 200 meters beneath sea level and people manufacturing products helping homeowners with their energy systems, just to name a few.
— Other examples are developing system solutions for adaptive vehicle charging, self-driving embedded software solutions for automotive, or getting out in the fields and testing hydraulics at the local farms. I’m proud to say that our offering is pretty wide.
Sebastian’s keys to good leadership
As you might’ve noticed by now, the core belief in the collective force of working together permeates the culture in Linköping. It’s the foundation on which Sebastian bases his leadership, and he inspires those around him to follow suit.
— We believe in a transparent and flat level of communication here, meaning that our doors are always open, be it for other managers or external partners. As a team we strongly believe in the term under-promise – over-deliver. Doing the right thing and helping each other is a mantra for us. I also believe that an important trait for any leader or manager is to not take oneself too seriously.
”Every day offers something new and exciting to dig into – be it meeting new customers, continuing to be a part of our existing projects or just having a lunch with our team members.
It’s what makes it all worth it.”
Vad är ditt och Linköpings fokus framåt?
— As I said earlier, we’re in the middle of onboarding our new colleagues and managers. The customers are also waking back up after a bit of a vacation slumber, so it’s back to having a high activity to see what kind of projects are on the horizon. We continue to see a high demand of our competencies and we’re actively trying to create more work package opportunities, both here in Linköping and together with the other offices in Sweden. We believe that working together with your ALTEN-colleagues is the best way forward.
And it seems like we better get used to what we’re seeing out of Linköping – they’re not planning on stopping their grow anytime soon.
— We moved to our new office with the vision of more in-house projects, better areas for our colleagues and to start something fresh for 2023. After the vacation period, we realize that we’re already outgrowing the new office – and we’re not even one year into working here! So a lot of stuff is happening and we’re looking for even more colleagues to join our teams, we’re not stopping once we’ve reached 150 curious colleagues! To quote the old hit song from Bachman-Turner Overdrive – “you ain’t seen nothing yet”.
Want to join Sebastian and Linköping’s growing teams?