Data-Driven Leadership: How Successteam Became a Key Piece in Gomspace’s Turnaround

In short

When the satellite company Gomspace had to turn around a tough period with high turnover and low motivation in the autumn of 2023, they went "people-first" and rolled out Successteam to all approximately 200 employees. A year later, turnover had fallen from 38% to 10%, the response rate was consistently over 85%, and the leaders are working purposefully based on fresh data – not gut feelings.

As the satellite company Gomspace had to turn around a tough period with high turnover and low motivation in the autumn of 2023, they adopted a "people-first" approach and rolled out Successteam to all approximately 200 employees. A year later, turnover had dropped from 38% to 10%, response rates were consistently above 85%, and the leaders are working purposefully based on fresh data – not gut feelings.

As the satellite company Gomspace faced a tough period with high turnover and low motivation in the autumn of 2023, they adopted a 'people-first' approach and rolled out Successteam to all approximately 200 employees. A year later, turnover had decreased from 38% to 10%, the response rate remained consistently above 85%, and the leaders are working purposefully based on fresh data – not gut feelings.

Who is Gomspace?

Gomspace designs and produces nanosatellites for customers around the world. After several years of restructuring, the board appointed Carsten Drachmann as the new CEO in 2023 with a clear mandate: turn the ship around and regain employee engagement.

The challenge

High employee turnover (38%)

Wellbeing insights based on a traditional annual survey (APV), offering only a momentary snapshot – with little real impact
Limited understanding of the onboarding experience for new employees
Leadership team lacked alignment, a shared language, and concrete data to strengthen the culture
A leadership focus that had historically been more operational than people-oriented

High employee turnover (38 %)

Well-being insights were a traditional annual workplace assessment, which only provides a snapshot – and rarely has real impact
Limited insight into the onboarding experience for new colleagues.
The leadership team lacked alignment, a common language, and concrete data to strengthen the culture.
A management focus that previously has been more operations than people

High employee turnover (38 %)

Employee satisfaction insights were a traditional annual APV, which only provides a snapshot – and rarely has a real impact
Limited insight into the onboarding experience for new colleagues.
The leadership group lacked alignment, a common language, and concrete data to strengthen the culture.
A leadership focus that has previously been more about operations than people

The solution – a tool for the management team

Team Puls – weekly feedback
Gomspace has onboarded all employees into a fixed feedback routine – either weekly or every two weeks – where they respond to 5–12 varied statements in each round. Despite the high frequency, they have maintained an impressive response rate of over 85%. This has made it possible to identify patterns, trends, and challenges almost in real-time.

Today, Gomspace employees have collaboratively responded to more than 100,000 individual statements – a data volume that has created deep insights into both well-being, management, and collaboration across the entire organization.

Automated onboarding check-ins
To enhance retention among new employees, Gomspace activated automated check-ins targeted at the first 6 months of employment. This has created a safer and more relevant onboarding experience – and reduced the risk of early departures.

Digital APV
Together with Chief Information & Transformation Officer Søren Therkildsen, we co-designed a new, digital APV. It is simple to complete, takes just a few minutes – and most importantly: It creates action. Instead of ending up as a report in a drawer, Gomspace is now setting concrete actions on the challenges and following up.

Team Puls – weekly feedback
Gomspace onboarded all employees into a fixed feedback routine – either weekly or every 14 days – where they respond to 5–12 varied statements in each round. Despite the high frequency, they have maintained an impressive response rate of over 85%. This has made it possible to identify patterns, trends, and challenges almost in real-time.

Today, Gomspace employees have collectively answered more than 100,000 individual statements – a data set that has provided deep insights into both well-being, management, and collaboration across the entire organization.

Automated onboarding check-ins
To strengthen retention among new employees, Gomspace activated automated check-ins targeted at the first 6 months of employment. This has created a more secure and relevant onboarding experience – and reduced the risk of early resignations.

Digital APV
Together with Chief Information & Transformation Officer Søren Therkildsen, we co-designed a new, digital APV. It is easy to fill out, takes just a few minutes – and most importantly: It creates action. Instead of ending up as a report in a drawer, Gomspace now implements concrete actions on the challenges and follows up.

Today, Gomspace employees have collectively answered more than 100,000 individual statements – a dataset that has provided deep insights into well-being, management, and collaboration across the entire organization.

Digital APV
Together with Chief Information & Transformation Officer Søren Therkildsen, we co-designed a new digital APV. It is easy to fill out, takes few minutes – and most importantly: It creates action. Instead of ending up as a report in a drawer, Gomspace now assigns concrete actions to the challenges and follows up.

“We no longer just identify problems – we take action and follow up, making the APV an active tool for continuous improvement instead of a passive report.

The module makes the APV quick and simple – without feeling like an administrative burden.

This has created real change in day-to-day work and strengthened the work environment – thanks to a strong collaboration with Successteam, which ensures usability and practical integration.”

Søren Lind Therkildsen

Chief Information & Transformation Officer, GOMSpace

Leadership Evaluation & Workshops
We helped Gomspace formulate five leadership principles through a workshop and continuously measure how the leaders adhere to them according to the employees. Every quarter, the results are used in leadership workshops, where the focus is on development and anchoring.

1-on-1 Evaluation
Using data from the Successteam, Gomspace compared the leaders' and employees' views on 1-on-1 conversations. This highlighted specific differences that the leaders have subsequently worked on to create more valuable and employee-focused conversations.

Leadership Evaluation & Workshops
We helped Gomspace formulate five management principles through a workshop, and we continuously measure how the leaders adhere to them according to the employees. Each quarter, the results are used in leadership workshops, focusing on development and anchoring.

1-to-1 Evaluation
Using data from the Successteam, Gomspace compared the views of leaders and employees on 1-to-1 conversations. This revealed specific differences that the leaders have subsequently worked to create more valuable and employee-focused conversations.

Leadership Evaluation & Workshops
We helped Gomspace formulate five management principles through a workshop and continually measure how leaders comply with them according to the employees. Every quarter, the results are used in leadership workshops, focusing on development and embedding.

1-on-1 Evaluation
Using data from the Success Team, Gomspace compared the perspectives of the leaders and employees on 1-on-1 conversations. This highlighted concrete differences that the leaders have subsequently worked on to create more valuable and employee-focused discussions.

“Bo, Nadia, and Successteam have been instrumental in our leadership development over the past few years. Every workshop has been tailored to the specific challenges we identified through Successteam.

The data-driven approach has been a game-changer: there’s no need to debate what employees are experiencing – the data speaks for itself. It’s been a key driver in shifting our leadership culture and enabling Gomspace’s turnaround since 2023.”

Carsten Drachmann

CEO, GOMSpace

Gomspace's clear transformation began with the leaders – and can now be felt throughout the entire organization. They now consistently work data-driven and in close contact with reality, as the employees describe it.

Feedback is translated into action, follow-up, and priorities that create value – not only for the business but also in the employees' everyday lives.

As Carsten says: "People first works every time" – and at Gomspace, it has become more than a principle. It has become practice.

Gomspace's clear transformation began with the leaders – and can now be felt throughout the organization. They now work consistently data-driven and in close contact with reality, as the employees describe it themselves.

Feedback is converted into action, follow-up, and priorities that create value – not only for the business, but in the employees' everyday lives.

As Carsten says: "People first works every time" – and at Gomspace it has become more than a principle. It has become practice.

Feedback is translated into action, follow-up, and priorities that create value – not just for the business, but in the employees' everyday life.

As Carsten says: "People first works every time" – and at Gomspace, it has become more than a principle. It has become practice.