Leading international pharmaceutical group with headquarters in two European countries

As part of a strategic programme for the future, core functions are to be bundled at a headquarters, personnel reduced and a cultural change initiated, which will be underpinned by the construction of a campus at the remaining headquarters, among other things.

The changes to be implemented will become concrete test stones on the way to a new culture. The rebuilding of the headquarters will be used as a powerful artifact for cultural change and as a signal for the beginning of the transition after the site closure.

• Team Alignment workshops with top management to ensure a cohesive approach throughout the entire process
• Enablement workshops for executives to accompany their teams through the dismantling phase
• Toolkits for conducting perspective interviews and the subsequent integration of the transfers into existing teams by the managers
• Awareness Workshops for executives to effectively accompany the transferes during the transition phase, their integration into the new team and their development
• Culture Orientation Workshops for Transferees to prepare for the corporate and national culture at the new location
• Change communication campaign, for example with guided tours through new office buildings to involve managers and employees in the redesign of the headquarters at an early stage and to promote discourse on the associated cultural change

• The staff reductions were implemented within the planned time frame
• Important key performers among managers and employees were able to be tied to the company
• The commitment of the employees fluctuated only slightly in the process and the new campus at the headquarters was seen as a signal of departure
• The company is now on a sustainable growth path and has expanded its leading market position

Leading German specialist bank with international business

In the course of a digitization and growth strategy, efficiency and agility are to be promoted through flatter hierarchies and systematic cultural change in order to be able to respond better to customer needs and develop innovative product solutions more quickly.

A cultural change towards more agility must be agile itself in order to be credible! It must strengthen the ability of the client to organize itself and promote self-responsibility.

• Series of board workshops for a common understanding of agility for the organization, possibilities and limits as well as important preconditions to be created
• Assignment of the Agile Design Board by the board of directors, in which executives took on responsibility and a model role for the deeper and more practical shaping of the future culture
• Introduction Agile Journey Team of 30 executives and employees, working as a large group across hierarchies on the development of cultural change and being systematically qualified as cultural experts
• Formation of five to eight-strong agile task forces consisting of executives and employees, who work out suitable measures for key topics at short intervals, e. g. redefining processes and interfaces under aspects of cooperation
• Discourse with executives on the implications of cultural change for their role and behavior

• A cultural goal was worked out in a few weeks with the participation of top management and employees
• Concrete bottlenecks from day-to-day business were solved using the target image
• Concrete artifacts and symbols for cultural change, such as the establishment of a design lab and the establishment of an agile coach pool, were implemented by managers and employees in a very short time with agile working methods and important experiences gained for the activation of the entire organization

Large international bank based in Germany

As part of a strategic realignment, two segments, each with a strong culture, will be merged in order to achieve a more comprehensive customer service and greater efficiency. This entails far-reaching changes in structures, roles and processes for managers and employees.

Common goals can connect and motivate people. In addition to the existing strategy, an emotional and meaningful trigger is also needed: an attractive vision and a common self-image for the new segment.

• Conducting a cultural due diligence by means of interviews and focus groups with executives and employees in order to understand the differences and similarities of both cultures
• Top management workshops for the development of cornerstones of a vision and a new self-image for the new segment and underpinning with practice-relevant behavioral expectations
• High Performing Team Workshop with the newly formed top management
• Regular reflection of the view of the system from the outside in the context of a sparring of top management
• Supervision of internal change management responsible person

• Alignment and role model function of the top management have been strengthened
• Broad communication and anchoring of the vision
• Balancing of the different projects and measures from a change management perspective