VUCA SCARES THE ECONOMY
The transformation from a hierarchically traditional company into an agile organization
Situation:
The owners are a little perplexed. The numbers are still matching up, but the rigid structures are becoming increasingly unsustainable. Tenders are lost because the team does not react flexibly enough and no one accepts responsibility. If the employees don't receive direction, they won´t know what to do.
The team is also becoming increasingly frustrated. No one gives clear directions, the employees feel disorientated, are extremely unmotivated and blame "the management" for this condition. However, the respective leadership executive feels unfocused as well, and is increasingly put under pressure because he or she can no longer meet the requirements. The matrix structure is of no help here, because access to resources is shared and other colleagues "inter-govern" the team.
This theme continued to prevail in the results of the last employee survey, despite the fact that the company was once a great place to work. In the past, employees were motivated and proud to work for the company. This was evident from the very top down to the production staff.
A lot has happened in the past: Strategy development programs, mission statement development, the introduction of Lean in production, management development programs and process optimization in all variants. But none of this had a positive impact on the employees. A lot of change in structures and processes, but little implementation in everyday working life.
A change through succession planning has just taken place at the management level. The young heirs have taken over, think in a modern manner and are frustrated because they thought everyone would be relieved to leave the old hierarchical culture behind them. They have decided to help implement this change.
The owners are a little perplexed. The numbers are still matching up, but the rigid structures are becoming increasingly unsustainable. Tenders are lost because the team does not react flexibly enough and no one accepts responsibility. If the employees don't receive direction, they won´t know what to do.
The team is also becoming increasingly frustrated. No one gives clear directions, the employees feel disorientated, are extremely unmotivated and blame "the management" for this condition. However, the respective leadership executive feels unfocused as well, and is increasingly put under pressure because he or she can no longer meet the requirements. The matrix structure is of no help here, because access to resources is shared and other colleagues "inter-govern" the team.
This theme continued to prevail in the results of the last employee survey, despite the fact that the company was once a great place to work. In the past, employees were motivated and proud to work for the company. This was evident from the very top down to the production staff.
A lot has happened in the past: Strategy development programs, mission statement development, the introduction of Lean in production, management development programs and process optimization in all variants. But none of this had a positive impact on the employees. A lot of change in structures and processes, but little implementation in everyday working life.
A change through succession planning has just taken place at the management level. The young heirs have taken over, think in a modern manner and are frustrated because they thought everyone would be relieved to leave the old hierarchical culture behind them. They have decided to help implement this change.