Organisation development

Company culture: folklore or competitive advantage? Specialists are few and far between, while products and services become increasingly replaceable.

Company culture arises from the history of an organisation. Experiences become habits and convictions, and questioning them becomes difficult. (”It’s just the way we do things here.”) If the company culture fails to keep up with the success of the company or the wider situation on the market, customers leave, it becomes more difficult to acquire new customers, and top employees jump ship to join the competition. Once the reputation of the company as a fair, modern employer starts to crumble, it becomes increasingly challenging to recruit talented and highly qualified staff.

Even for long-term market leaders get under pressure and frequently experience a disruptive external transformation that inevitably determines the future path of the company.

Why should you manage change?

Lethargy and inertia are frequent afflictions in corporate environments. Just think of the rigid stances expressed during mergers or restructuring. This makes the rarity of systematic change management all the more surprising – after all, economic success crucially depends on the depth and quality of integration.

Frequent occasions for active change management:

  • Acquisitions and mergers (and post-merger integrations)
  • Opening of new markets or countries
  • Internal reorganisations
  • Transition from a linear to a matrix structure
  • Strategic reorientation
  • Declining application rates from top candidates

How to spot a dysfunctional company culture?

  • Inefficient meeting culture – too many endless meetings
  • Political meeting culture – “the sender is more important than the content”
  • Indecisive leadership – “we better set up a working group first”
  • Excessive rivalry between departments – silo-oriented management
  • No entrepreneurial thought – “I’m not being paid for that”
  • Executive staff define themselves primarily on the basis of operational activities
  • Problems are hushed up – “compliance is for newbies”

Sample core questions for a successful cultural transformation:

  • Does anything really need to change? Why and what exactly?
  • What should be kept or reinforced, what needs to stop?
  • What values are being promoted? Which are actually being implemented?
  • Is there a clear guiding principle? Are there well-defined targets?
  • Who needs to be included from the start? Who is affected?
  • How do we handle fears and resistance? Which might actually be helpful?
  • How can you tell that the cultural transformation is successful?
  • What impact does this have on the success of the company?
  • How can the achieved success be secured for the long term?

Processes of change – how can we help you?

We analyse past transformational projects and the experiences gained from them. Afterwards, we design the envisioned change process in cooperation with you (main steps, extent, duration, schedule, resources, interests, effects on everyday business, etc.)

For this purpose, we use the ‘eight-pillar’ model of change management. Your individual circumstances and goals, however, are always the main defining aspects of the precise course of action.

 

Any questions? I look forward to hearing from you.

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