08.07.2019
Moving mountains with credibility and an open feedback culture
It is important to us to strengthen managers in transformation projects so that they themselves become their best ambassadors, their most credible role models and their strongest driving force. This client story shows how we succeeded in doing this in a particularly complex environment.
A business unit is transformed from an external service partner in its own company into an internal division, a sparring partner at eye level. The management is completely replaced, as are many other management positions. A functional strategy is developed and broken down into all areas. It becomes clear:
We can’t just focus on the WHY and the WHAT of our work, we also need to keep an eye on the HOW.
People need to understand their role in a new way. From contractor, they suddenly become an internal consultant; the customer is now a partner. In projects, this requires a different kind of collaboration. Negotiating interests becomes more important, success is no longer measured by the balance sheet of a limited company or billable hours, but directly by the satisfaction of the partner. This is a challenge for every individual and a major leadership task for department and team leaders, as well as management. The search for a suitable partner begins and Movendo is chosen because Movendo offers a process that fully engages with the situation and the people involved. After 1.5 years of collaboration and a lot of hard work, there is a measurable result: in the employee survey, which was carried out before the start of the project and again after 18 months, the participation rate has risen from 50% to 75% and employee satisfaction has increased by 20%.
How did we achieve this? First of all, with intensive, open and cooperative collaboration with the customer.
And then:
…with many learning and feedback loops
…with an open mind for experiments and fun with new ideas
…with very open and clear support from the management
…with consistent, coordinated communication
…and with the attitude that complexity cannot be reduced.
What contributes to the complexity of this project?
The area we were able to support is part of a large corporation and, as an internal service provider, is closely linked to the business units. It has to orient itself to their development and react to their needs – a bit more complexity. The central functions of the company also influence the area we support. There are company-wide initiatives, communication campaigns, restructuring processes and budget requirements – yet another layer of complexity. The world outside the Group continues to turn. Disruptive technologies, changing conditions and new legislation – yet more complexity. Last but not least, there are the many people, the personalities, their personal developments, changes and expectations. Let’s leave the list of complexity at that.
In our project, we always kept an eye on this complexity, evaluating the impact of internal and external changes on the change process in the department in many small loops. Over the course of 1.5 years, we developed a large number of measures and actions, a few of which are listed here as examples:
- Leadership development over four modules, with a strong focus on the topic of “Active leadership in change”, with transfer support in the form of impulse emails and individual transfer coaching sessions
- Short, open sessions for managers to delve deeper into individual aspects of the development program
- There were also open sessions for all employees, in which they could experience the new expectations and requirements and concretize them for themselves
- Various events to thank for the good work and also to address the fun factor, e.g. an award for successful projects, a New Year’s party, an Advent calendar
- Intensive support for the management team with regular and very open feedback from the organization, the development of a common understanding of leadership and role awareness within the new setup as well as concrete messages to the organization
