Transformation
SITUATION
MISSION
A market-leading insurance company decides to transform in an agile way. The CEO is aware that this massive disruption will be a huge task for the company and is organizing appropriate support.
Some of the ExCo members, like the CEO, are convinced that the transformation makes sense, while others are not. The first step, therefore, is to establish sufficient agreement on the need for transformation and on how to proceed. After that, it is fundamental to accompany the ExCo in a completely customized approach over a period of 2 years.
IMPACT
The transformation succeeds, despite considerable efforts. The market is keeping a close eye on what is happening, as there are many doubters. The company succeeds in achieving the transformation goals without too much delay and is thus able to position itself sustainably for the future.
APPROACH
We work in a team consisting of 3 Executive Advisors. One of these advisors works with the entire ExCo, assisting in the preparation of and facilitating various multi-day ExCo offsites. At the same time, he is the personal advisor to the CEO. The other two advisors work with individual ExCo members on the transformation in their respective areas of responsibility; as a team, they coordinate regularly without compromising the confidentiality of their individual work. The ExCo members have flexible access to the advisors, and in addition to the 1:1 work, they are repeatedly called upon to facilitate team meetings.
Reorganization Global automotive supplier converts organization from country to division organization
SITUATION
MISSION
A leading, globally active company in the automotive supply industry is restructuring its organization: Instead of the previous country organization, globally active divisions are being introduced. Each of the divisions has several billion in sales and several thousand employees. All employees worldwide are assigned to these divisions and global service units. The divisions are given ‘division heads’ with global responsibility, while the country organizations become administrative service hubs.
The reorganization places new demands on the global management and governance of the company as a whole and of each individual division. The key leadership roles change from being responsible for several activities in one country to leading a division on a global scale with several dozen locations worldwide. In this context the division heads were selected and appointed. No division head has ever had this kind of global responsibility, global leadership teams, global locations so far.
IMPACT
The collaboration of division heads and Executive Advisors allowed to establish a customized, yet aligned leadership culture and leadership organization; to implement communication channels, to align global and regional teams, to establish reporting lines, to reinforce respective strategies and to transform them into initiatives and activities. Eventually, company-wide interfaces were created and governance issues resolved. The new organization was thus brought into full operational implementation in a very short time under strong global leadership.
APPROACH
Each division head was assigned an Executive Advisor who had global responsibility as CEO and demonstrated success in leading a global group/division. In addition, project coordination across the individual mandates was established to share ideas and identify structural hurdles that affected all divisions, and to escalate them to the ExCo. The mandates for the division heads lasted between 9 and 15 months, and the project organization was maintained for 12 months. Topics ranged from leadership team composition to divisional strategies to communication cascades, from preparing for all-hands meetings to preparing for the first offsites of the new global leadership teams to regulatory and governance issues, interfaces with the new central divisions, and prioritization processes for Capex investments.
Implementation agile organization at regional financial service provider
SITUATION
MISSION
Leading regional financial services provider plans to implement an agile organization in three stages over the next three years from a position of strength. The objective is to significantly increase client focus and speed across the entire organization. The planned range and speed are unprecedented in this industry in Europe.
The agile organization means a significant change in the structure and process organization including the nomenclature of the company (tribes, chapters, squads etc.), the areas of responsibility of managers and employees through cross-functional teams as well as CoEs and CLEs, accompanied by a far-reaching change in leadership culture and governance.
IMPACT
The hugely complex implementation was significantly facilitated by the interventions, the implementation steps were prepared more precisely, and behavioral uncertainties were reflected and eliminated. On the basis of a fully aligned ExCo with an accepted role model function, a high level of willingness to change and high motivation among managers and employees was achieved. The agilization is seen as a complete success and showcase, internally, but also in the business community.
APPROACH
This far-reaching change in leadership culture can only succeed with an aligned ExCo with an absolute role model function for agile mindset and agile leadership. Several executive advisors worked as ‘agile coaches’ with all the ExCo members, preparing, accompanying and constantly refining the structures, processes, ceremonies, etc. Furthermore, we acted as coaches during the preparation of central ceremonies (QBR, ABR, etc.), as observers during the ceremonies, and as feedback providers after each ceremony. To ensure alignment at the ExCo level and set important structural and personnel course in the implementation process, we facilitated boardroom offsites of 1.5-2 days twice a year over a period of more than three years. In addition to the usual tools for top team alignment such as Five Dysfunctions, agile-specific tools like Agile Maturity Checks were used to track the status of preparation and implementation. The understanding of the roles of ExCo members, tribe leads and IT-leads was also reflected upon with implications for leadership, presence at ceremonies, and the respective roles in discussing impediments and prioritizations.
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