Change Management and Business Transformation

Change Management & Business Transformation

No transformation without change management, because this is the accompanying tool on the way to a successful transformation. Change management plans, explains and informs, motivates and allays fears, reflects, trains and coaches all those involved and continuously evaluates progress so that adjustments can be made in good time. This requires a clear roadmap for achieving goals and overcoming potential challenges. A healthy balance between the application of standards and best practices as well as the continuous monitoring of milestones and the budget contribute to the success of the project.

However, not every company is ready for challenging change projects and transformations. The more long-term and deeper the foundations for this are anchored, the smoother the change will be. And neither the preparation of an organisation for change nor the path through the transformation is an easy one that can be dealt with via instructions from the boss.

What about your organisation’s resilience and innovative strength?

Where is your potential for optimisation and risk minimisation?

The following questions will help you with your self-assessment. How many questions can you answer with ‘yes’?

  • Is the organisation ready and able to implement the change at every level of the hierarchy?
  • Is every person in the company clear about the vision and mission that drives the company, what the change is trying to achieve and do the employees support it?
  • Are there contact persons for employees and managers to provide support in dealing with their fear of failure in terms of content, communication and personally?
  • Are the processes robust, secure and lean?
  • Do you know how resilient your employees are (still) and how loyal they are to the company?

  • Is there room for manoeuvre and courage for innovation, mistakes, failures and feedback?
  • Are strategies developed behind closed doors or is experience and advice from the operational level also incorporated?
  • Is the swarm intelligence of the entire company used?

  • Do employees have the capacity and opportunities for continuous learning processes and easy access to content?
  • How willing are they to develop and see learning as personal added value?

  • Does the HR department have a strategic role?
  • Is the HR department mainly concerned with the administration of employees and processes?
  • Are there strategies and tools for recruiting, succession planning, talent management, employee retention, learning platforms, etc.?

  • How long do coordination and decision-making processes take?
  • Do they tend to paralyse or is the company willing to correct a wrong decision later rather than miss opportunities?
  • How trusting is the cooperation with the works councils and committees?

  • How good is your knowledge management in times of staff fluctuation and demographic change?
  • Does your company have a strategy, tools and processes to secure and develop knowledge that is critical to success?

  • Does your company have an intelligent risk management system that analyses possible crisis scenarios in the market and in the company and provides suitable solution strategies, or would it be caught unprepared like a bolt from the blue?
  • Have all risks really been identified and is the risk assessment still up to date?

  • Your managers, from top management to team leaders, must be at the forefront of every change and also be able to deal with their own uncertainties and short-term, unplannable scenarios. Fear of losing control and power nips solutions in the bud. Are they ready for the new challenges that require agility, creativity and innovation?
  • How do you develop junior managers? Are they thrown in at the deep end after a seminar or are they supported over a longer period of time and, for example, introduced to the task with mentoring?

Lay the foundation for a resilient organisation

Change requires courage, new skills and behavioural changes. Management has a duty to lead the way. Seek dialogue and reflection with sparring partners, including those from outside the company. I can support you in creating a well-founded target-performance analysis and developing tailored implementation strategies, change management concepts and communication plans that take into account all stakeholders.

Arrange a free initial consultation

How can professional change management provide support?

  • Organisational development, defining vision, mission, goals and measures
  • Support with M&A processes, restructuring, digitalisation and process management projects
  • Agile transformation – from gentle to consistent, in projects or programmes, in the line or in individual teams
  • Change management from the change story, change impact assessment, strategy and stakeholder management to the evaluation of measures, implementation of a sustainable, positive change culture and an internal change network
  • Analysis of corporate, management and error culture, definition and embodiment of successful leadership
  • Implementation and maintenance of goal-oriented communication processes, suitable media and channels for internal/external stakeholders
  • Executive counselling, talent management, succession planning, mentoring
  • Individual and team coaching, personal development
  • Training concepts (blended learning), training delivery, workshops, team building, facilitation, conflict management, mediation
  • Health management: Stress management, strengthening resilience and burnout prevention
  • Event management: Organisation and delivery of town halls, large conferences, offsite meetings, team building events, etc.

Change management is the umbrella term for all methods and measures within change processes. A change project refers to a change with a start and end point. This can be, for example, the introduction of new software or a new product that is incorporated into day-to-day business after the roll-out of training or sales measures. However, necessary restructuring, e.g. due to changes in location policy, budget cuts, redundancies or the effects of a pandemic, can also be self-contained projects, but can also be measures of a major transformation. The significance and serious impact on day-to-day business and employees should not be underestimated. Inadequately or unprofessionally planned and implemented change activities can cause lasting damage to a company. Those involved are often overwhelmed and inadequately informed. The result is a change process with resistance and even an increase in sick leave or even resignations.

Don’t cut corners and leave change management to a professional, as this task is complex and time-consuming and an external change manager is usually more trusted than a direct superior.

A transformation, on the other hand, is a continuous process and consists of many different, far-reaching and forward-looking changes. It is planned on the basis of a gap analysis between today and tomorrow, the company’s internal and external opportunities and risks and taking into account the market, the customer target groups as well as the company’s own potential and that of the competition. The process must constantly face up to new challenges and anticipate future developments in the long term in order to remain competitive. And this process will never end.

Our working world is increasingly and rapidly characterised by new technological changes that make lifelong learning a basic requirement. How and when which position in the company can be suitably filled is now a process that is critical to success. And are we sufficiently prepared and protected for the next health crisis or the next hacker attack on our IT or energy supply? Crisis and emergency plans are important, but they do not replace a company’s ability to act flexibly and its potential for change; they merely supplement them.

Consequently, the organisational design cannot remain unchanged for decades. Neither a purely top-down nor a democratic bottom-up approach will help to meet the needs of freedom-loving creatives and protect the organisation from protracted coordination loops that obsessively aim for a consensus that is not always the best solution. Different attitudes towards working from home and the obligation to be present in the office do not always facilitate collaboration either.

Standing still means going backwards. International markets and political and legal frameworks are changing, environmental regulations and energy costs are influencing costing more than ever before, and companies have to grow or shrink flexibly. Demographic change is also changing customer behaviour and their needs. Every company must constantly scrutinise itself in all areas and put itself to the test from within:

  • Does the organisation with its structures, processes and people still support the company’s goals? Or do we also need to adjust our goals and reinvent ourselves while minimising risks at the same time?
  • To what extent can the existing business be managed efficiently with this organisation without simultaneously losing innovative strength for new markets and products?

This area of tension requires constant transformation, which in turn requires energy, time and budget, but also offers the potential for something big.