Initial situation
The group mentioned here includes a not-so-profitable division with companies active in various segments of ICT. The various firmsare based in different locations and hardly have any point of contact. Some of them were acquired by other corporations and each company has its own history. The result is a highly diversified product and company portfolio with vastly different processes, corporate and management cultures, current markets and target groups. Potential synergies that in principle exist are hardly tapped. There is no joint management team identity, no shared vision and the executives have little sense of their own impact in terms of their influence on management success.
Objective
The Management Board sought to obtain a comprehensive idea of the strengths and weaknesses of the group's management team active in the field of ICT and on this basis to take decisions on selection matters and executive development efforts. The audit was also intended to deliver additional insights into meaningful organizational changes that would systematically boost the division's profitability.
Vorgehensweise
- Defining the competencies critical to the division's success
- Conducting a management audit with over 50 executives from the ICT companies
- Establishing the executives' individual strengths and weaknesses
- Identifying the collective features and relevant environmental factors influencing each individual company and the ICT division as a whole
- Reporting the insights to the board and to the executives
- Issuing clear recommendations for further action and development
- Designing a systematic change process as regards both executives' skills sets and the companies' organizational structures
Results
The Management Board as well as the HR manager responsible now have a more differentiated overview of the division's status quo and clarity as regards the HR and organizational development measures required. A moderated feedback loop has given the executives involved information on how they personally need to develop. The results show that the management team urgently needs to gain a sense of its ability to influence things and to develop a sense of collective identity. A concept has been agreed with the Board to initialize and implement an intense change process, something being supported by specific teambuilding and coaching measures. Workshops to elaborate long-term targets show what additional steps will need to be implemented in the various companies.