Case Magsort
The best specialists live for example at the root of the Alps
Magsort is an exceptional company in its field. The product itself may sound insignificant and does not rattle anyone’s day to day life: the technology and machine in question separates minerals and metals from steel slag. However, if successful, Magsort’s direct impact on our society and environment is huge.
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Let’s dive in a bit deeper: the cement industry is responsible for about eight percent and the steel industry for about seven percent of all global carbon dioxide emissions. These are huge amounts of emissions contributing to climate change that are globally aimed to be lowered to maintain a viable planet for future generations. Magsort’s mission is to optimise the slag use in the steel industry and offer a solution where slag can be reused to make cement after various separation processes. If Magsort’s technology is employed globally, it has the possibility to lower the global carbon dioxide emissions by one percent.
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One percent. Let’s put this into context: Finland is responsible for 0,2 percent of the world’s CO2 emissions. In other words, Magsort’s technology can reduce the global CO2 emissions by five time’s the emissions of Finland combined by optimising the chain and raw materials loss. The official opinion of Sytytä is that this is enough for one company, the rest can handle the 99 percent.
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What does all of this mean when looking for new talent, COO Sami Liponkoski?
“Operating in a global business you need to be prepared to recruit globally. We are a tech startup and our goal is to be a big player in the steel slag and bottom ash processing chain. In a few years our goal is to process tens of millions of tons of these materials.”
To operate in the field in a credible way, both product development as well as business field professionals are needed. The principle of recruiting for Magsort is to find the best people despite Magsort’s location in Helsinki, Finland. As an example, cement expertise was found at the root of the Alps in Switzerland, the Head of incarnation bottom ash in the Netherlands and so on. However, this requires an organised and effective partner to appeal to and attract the right people.
What do you primarily hope for in a partner?
“At the heart of it is having no preconceptions and having an efficient process. We can’t have the feeling that we are not speaking to the right people either through traditional job posting channels or by directly contacting possible applicants. On the other hand the execution has to be fast: when the right person is found, we want things to be moving, and luckily that has happened.
As a small business it is unquestionably important that we have the best professionals in the house and on the other hand we need to make sure that we have a culture and work methods flexible enough for talent.”
The partnership with Magsort has worked out better than well. When filling one role, in the middle of a meeting the CEO had already booked flights to Central Europe for the next interview. Magsort combines thorough analysis and a bold recruitment without prejudice. In the meantime, the HR partners at Sytytä get to study steel slag and mineral related concepts: chemistry lessons did not go to waste after all.
