Laura Mattila, VP, Sales

Laura Mattila is in charge of the sales of veneer products in Australia, Asia and the Americas under Metsä’s own Kerto® LVL brand. Laura considers the export of Finnish products and know-how on the one hand, and the relaying of customer messages to Finland on the other, the best parts of her job.

“Working as part of an international team is enriching – people from different backgrounds all look at things from their own perspective. Challenging conventional modes of thought and operation gives us a competitive advantage and helps us stand out in the market. International cooperation also provides new business opportunities. For example, we recently launched a new product on the Australian market.”

From a traineeship to an international career at Metsä

Laura, who holds a master’s degree in engineering, looks back on a decade-long career at Metsä Group. She originally came to the company through a traineeship, and has since carried out a wide range of duties in product development, mill production control, product management and sales development, for example.

With her determined mindset, Laura seeks varied duties and emphasises the role of one’s own activity for career progress. In 2018, she assumed her post as VP, sales, the goal being to increase the sales of Kerto LVL products. Her duties call for an analytical approach.

“You must be able to analyse the markets and understand customer needs, as well as identify areas of development and growth potential internationally,” Laura explains.

Metsä’s training opportunities, a strong support network and the opportunities to influence matters within the company have helped me progress in my career.

“My duties include the daily management of the sales team and the setting of sales targets, as well as monitoring and sales development. As a supervisor, I ensure that we work together for our goals, and that my team members possess the required competence. I coordinate internal cooperation with other functions such as production. Metsä’s training opportunities such as the sales management programme, a strong support network and the opportunities to influence matters within the company have helped me progress in my career,” Laura adds.

Responsible profitability on the global market

Internationality and solid language skills are some of Laura’s strengths. They come in handy, because her team includes professionals from Asia, Australia and the Americas. Laura describes herself as a fair but demanding supervisor. It is important for her that the team members receive enough responsibility and feel good at work.

“In addition to one-on-one distance meetings, we arrange weekly video meetings for the whole team. We keep our cameras on, because meeting face-to-face, virtually if not otherwise, brings us closer. I want to keep up-to-date on how my team members are doing. I support them and encourage them to raise every kind of topic – even difficult ones. I want to help people advance and gain new insights,” Laura says.

In Laura’s view, Metsä Group’s business and products strongly reflect global megatrends – increased wellbeing, urbanisation, sustainability and digitalisation.

“Digitalisation and sustainability thinking support our growth strategy. We can make energy-efficient use of our trees, while urbanisation offers new opportunities for sales. Digitalisation has also enhanced our work methods in sales. Sustainability is manifested in concrete operations. We only cooperate with sustainable players, ensure that our products are ethical by using environmental certificates and work actively to achieve a 100% sustainable corporate culture,” says Laura.