VP of Human Resources
Veronica Polisi has been instrumental in supporting CM Labs’ transition from a small tech company to the global leader it is today. In fact, in 2024, partly as a result of Veronica’s dedication to excellence, CM Labs achieved certification as a Great Place to Work in Canada!
“We pride ourselves—and I speak for everybody on the executive team when I say this—on being a people-first business. We wouldn't have the success we have today without the team we have in place. ”
I always had a strong interest in people and how they work, think, and feel motivated. In university, I studied psychology for a few years—focusing on what makes people do what they do, what drives them, and how different personality types respond to different motivating factors. Because of those interests, I very organically fell into industrial relations, with a focus on HR.
I started my HR career at a tech startup and fell in love with the culture, dynamics, and fast-paced, innovative nature of the tech space. That passion has kept me in this space for the past 15 years.
When I was approached by CM Labs about leading its HR function, I met with several members of the executive team and was truly impressed by their commitment and passion, as well as their drive to improve and collaborate. I had a clear idea of where CM Labs was going and knew exactly how HR could contribute to that journey. Joining was one of the best decisions of my career. I’ve been able to build up the department, build up HR initiatives, and tailor them to our employee base.
Since joining CM Labs, my team and I have thoroughly benchmarked our employer offerings against the industry and our market, and put a strong emphasis on our employees’ overall wellness. We have implemented a Culture Committee to make sure the company culture is owned by all, and have had various management workshops centered around psychological safety and leadership skills.
We have also refined our recruiting process to prioritize the candidate experience, which translates to a best-in-class employee experience—our ultimate goal. We’ve worked on an office redesign that focuses on fostering collaboration and hybrid work. And we expanded our presence by opening a U.S. office!
We’ve centered our efforts around being a people-first business, so when we were recently certified by a third party as a Great Place to Work in Canada, it was definitely a very proud moment!
I think what sets us apart is the broad range of backgrounds within our team and the sheer level of expertise we have on all levels—from PhD-level engineers to professionals who have 20 years of field experience operating machinery. We have a team that takes an immense amount of pride in providing a top-quality product. The passion they have for creating safe work environments and effective, realistic simulations for our customers is something that blows me away on a regular basis.
One thing that really stands out to me is the culture of collaboration and transparent communication we have at CM Labs. Anyone—at any level of the organization, and in any team—can reach out to speak to anyone else without a second thought. Whether they want to bring up a concern or an idea, brainstorm, or talk through an issue, everyone’s door is open and everyone has a voice.
We’ve seen so many companies backtrack on hybrid and remote work—which causes a lot of instability and turnover—that we knew we wanted to always stay hybrid. We like to have in-person collaboration from time to time, and it’s helpful when people can sit down and resolve problems face to face. But at the same time, work-life balance is one of our strongest values, and so it’s important to us to offer flexibility and autonomy wherever possible.
Knowing that the work I do has a direct impact on both our employees and the company’s success is incredibly fulfilling. People spend the majority of their lives at work. Knowing that my department can have such an impact on whether people enjoy that time or not is huge for me.
I often hear employees say, whether in engagement surveys or even at our holiday parties, “Being hired here was one of the best things that happened to my career.” That’s why we do it. We want people to feel that way. We want to make people feel good about doing their best work every day.
The commitment and passion that I see from each department and the willingness to challenge ourselves, think of things differently, and try a new approach is something that I really enjoy about working at CM Labs. When I started here, I really felt like CM Labs saw HR as a key element to the success of the company, which was very motivating for me.
I love that I get to work on things that I really want to work on and that have a big impact on our team and company. I also get to see direct results of my work, whether it’s through our ever-growing engagement and employee satisfaction scores, or our low turnover rates that definitely show we’re on the right track to keeping our talented teams happy.
One thing I learned that I have taken to heart is this: Do the right thing. Not the easiest thing, not the most convenient, not the most commonly done, and not the trendiest thing, but really the right thing. It requires you to be honest with yourself and others, to be authentic and genuine. It forces some tough conversations but ultimately, it is a founding principle that hasn’t ever steered me wrong. For me, it means really thinking through what is the best course of action for the company, for our team, for our employees, and for our goals.
And usually, if you put a couple of heads together, you can find a balance.
I think we have really ambitious growth plans—not only in North America, but internationally as well. That requires us to grow our presence. I still have so many ideas on how to make CM Labs the BEST place to work, and though I can’t tell you everything I have up my sleeve, I know we have the best team in the industry.