The world is becoming increasingly volatile, insecure, complex and ambiguous - so at least the general perception. At our customer eventon 27.09.17 we investigated this thesis and - with exciting speakers from different perspectives - illuminated today's working world.
How does the industry leader dm proceed in order to continue to operate successfully in the market? How was it possible for the software provider netcentric to grow from 4 to 320 employees within 4 years? How does ec4u expert consulting always succeed in reinventing itself? And what solutions does the concept of a healthy organization offer in order to be prepared for the future?
The entire event was sovereignly moderated by Tina Dieterich and Prof. Frank Widmayer.
In his opening speech Ingo Kallenbach addressed the challenges facing organisations today, which are often associated with the acronym VUCA. The first questions to the participants regarding the title of the event "Survival in the VUCA world" made it clear that most of those present did not have the impression that their organisation was all about bare survival, but that they were currently undergoing a transformation process due to the changes in the world of work. The reasons for the necessity of such a change are manifold: the reorganization of a division, the appointment of a new CEO, the implementation of a better IT system, an acquisition or the necessary cultural change. Ingo Kallenbach explored the question of what lies behind the individual letters VUCA with examples and made it clear why they describe the current dynamics in the markets quite well.
He summarized the transformation between the industrial and VUCA contexts in a slide, see Figure 1, in which the necessary change became clear on the basis of various dimensions.
Figure 1: Transformation from industrial to VUCA context
With the concept of a healthy organization, Ingo Kallenbach subsequently developed a model that represents approaches to solving these current challenges and can prepare organizations for the future.
Here are his core theses:
- An organization is a living system. The health of this system is a means and an end
- - A healthy organization has a deeper meaning and is based on healthy people.
- - Every person strives to realize himself and has the corresponding potential. Developing this potential is a management task.
- - Leadership means support for self-management.
- - Context design and services are management functions that enable support for self-management.
- - Self-management is a means of developing potential.
- - The development of potential leads to extraordinary performance.
- - A healthy organization is more efficient and sustainable in the long term than its competitors.
Erich Harsch, CEO of dm, was also able to cast a spell over those present at this event. In his lively lecture, he outlined the beginnings of dm up to the present situation and explained the development path dm has gone through.
One of the key decisions with regard to this development was certainly the question of where is at dm with regard to the organisation UP and DOWN? Is up there where the boss sits or where the customers and markets are? Therefore, dm has turned the pyramid upside down. All below the top level, where the customers and markets are, are solely there to support them and serve the customer. In the course of this, not only a new attitude arose, but also the abolition of the term "superior". Instead one speaks with dm of responsible persons, because who would like to have already someone, who is presented to one. Erich Harsch introduced a fine example of this: When you have a supervisor who makes all the decisions, the question arises as to who the employee looks at when the customer has a problem: the customer or his supervisor?
Furthermore, he pointed out that there are no targets for dm any more than budgets or variable salary components. In his view, motivation can only come out from within and not be given from outside. The ultimate task of management is to create a framework in which employees can work with enthusiasm and pleasure. It is important to develop a culture and a framework that employees can shape on their own responsibility, according to the situation and individually. People who are closer must be able to decide independently and appropriately in the respective situation how best they can act. This requires self-confidence on the one hand, but also the confidence of colleagues around them to be able to do the same. In addition to the design space, freedom is also necessary to be able to act with self-confidence. Erich Harsch took this opportunity to discuss the concept of freedom, which does not mean that everyone can do whatever they want, but - and here he quoted the statement of a colleague - freedom means the right to take responsibility. dm therefore attaches importance in its management development to promoting the awareness among the entire workforce that the individual can act independently, situatively and appropriately in a situation.
As a former co-founder of the Swiss software company netcentric, Dr. Frank Klinkhammer first went into the development history of his own company. Founded on July 1, 2012, the company grew within four years to 320 employees with sales of CHF 34 million, making it one of the top 10 fastest-growing companies in Switzerland. How is such growth possible in such a short time? In his humorous way Klinkhammer showed the way from the kitchen table to a responsive organization.
Back to the experiences of Frank Klinkhammer: In the further course of his lecture he made clear which principles were decisive for the growth of netcentric with regard to a responsive organization:
- - A responsive organization is evolving, not revolutionary. An evolutionary development has the advantage that it is less fragile and develops continuously on its own.
- - It consists of self-organized In holocracy this is represented by circles.
- - The members of these circles are empowered to make decisions based on their role without having to ask anyone, as long as it serves the good of the entire organization. This creates speed.
- - The organisation's meaning and purpose provide the employees with the necessary orientation for action.
- - Employees use transparent information and are thus in a position to exploit unforeseeable opportunities and overcome challenges through experimentation.
In his final article, Jens Rehwinkel, CFO of ec4u expert consulting, summed up many of the aforementioned insights and perspectives by reporting on the development of his company, which he co-founded in 2000. Today ec4u is one of the leading providers in the area of "Customer Journey Management" with focus on the DACH region and projects in over 80 countries.
- - The introduction of a steering committee around the topics of a healthy organization
- - Close cooperation at eye level between the Executive Board, HR and REFLECT
- - The consistent integration of all managers as multipliers for the overall process
- - The successive development of knowledge and competencies within several years
- - A coherent training and communication concept as well as
- - Sustainable anchoring through integration into the most important personnel instruments
The results are impressive: Employee satisfaction gradually improved at a high level and employer attractiveness was also significantly increased. Various mentions as "best employer" or most family-friendly company in Germany show this. The existing (management) culture also significantly facilitated the acquisitions made in 2015 and 2016.
In order to continue to operate successfully on the market, ec4u decided at the end of 2016 to launch a pilot project that focuses more strongly on responsive approaches. The company therefore introduced holocracy in two corporate units in parallel pilots.
The experience can be described as exciting and volatile, but ultimately successful. It became clear that good results could only be achieved in the course of a longer and more intensive study of the methodology. This, in turn, is not surprising, as it takes a certain amount of time before people get used to the new procedure and the individual parts have jerked around.
One realization was therefore also that such changes do not happen on the side, but must be followed with corresponding staying power and concentration.
Jens Rehwinkel highlighted the following aspects in particular as positive improvements:
- Acting on one's own responsibility is supported and demanded within the framework of the role and could thus be improved.
- The separation between issues concerning the organisation itself ("work on the organisation") and operational issues ("work in the organisation") has been improved, leading to greater clarity and efficiency.
- All role descriptions are up-to-date and realistic. Everyone knows better what the other person is doing and what can be expected of him or her.
Conclusion:
The world is changing and therefore organisations are changing. There are different ways to accompany and successfully manage this change. The concepts presented, be it the healthy organisation, dm's approach or the principles of responsive organisation, provided examples of how transformation processes in companies can succeed, but also of what "growth pains" they can cause. The event offered a bunch of possibilities - sometimes we would have liked to have drilled a little deeper.
We would like to thank all those who contributed significantly to the success as participants, the speakers who made the event possible through their voluntary commitment, the two moderators Tina and Frank as well as our host and cooperation partner, the SRH University of Applied Sciences Heidelberg and the entire REFLECT team, who played a decisive role in the background.