Today, we would like to take you into a client story in which the CEO positioning took place immediately before a major transformation process, to the success of which it was to make a relevant contribution. It was about nothing less than setting the company and its employees on a challenging new course.
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- Challenges
The new CEO had uncomfortable but necessary changes and far-reaching change projects for the organization in his luggage – and his reputation as a reorganizer preceded him. No wonder, then, that the welcome was much more subdued than would normally have been the case.
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- Goal
What was needed was a communication strategy that would explain the ambitious economic targets for the coming months and break them down by division, but also make the people behind the targets more tangible for the employees.
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- First steps
We started with a fundamental analysis: we looked at the history of the past few months and asked a lot of questions – both to the new CEO and the outgoing CEO. Then we interviewed members of the peer group, i.e. the top management level of the organization. How did they perceive the old and new CEOs? What expectations did they have and what do they need in order to fulfill their role in the company during the change process? Of course, the CEO himself was also asked what should change and how exactly he wanted to work within the company.
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- Implementation
As part of an IC strategy, CEO positioning was initiated with accompanying sparring. It was important not only to initiate the process, but also to accompany it, provide active and constructive feedback and thus continuously develop the profile. We had the opportunity to take part in existing communication formats such as town halls and team meetings and then discuss messages and formats. That was also one of the reasons for the success.
In addition, bottom-up and top-down formats were developed, both in written form, supplemented by a video format.
In all measures, it has proven helpful to be involved in the conception process as an external consultant in order to be able to implement learnings directly from issue to issue. Even if the heads of communications usually have a very good standing with their CEOs, they are also their superiors. To what extent can honesty be demanded here?
Result
The CEO was actively and continuously supported in his positioning over a period of two years – in times of growth as well as in times of major change. He is still on board today and has successfully brought the Group strategy to life. His way of communicating and leading has been extremely well received to this day. A unique footprint has been created.