REAL LIFE EXAMPLES
Teambuilding and cross cultural understanding: High tech manufacturer seeks leadership development and better cross cultural understanding
MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING
The sheer amount of changes, acquisitions and improvements made that professionals and managers lost their grip of the manufacturing process. It resulted in a lot of misunderstandings and complaints from customers. In order to create more common ground on priorities and the background of some of the complaints, we organised a chain of intervention to regain grip and inspiration in the process.
The first intervention was a high impact intervention with the International Management team. Openness and willingness improved gradually while working together on physical tasks. After this the interventions were cascaded down to the work floor of the different countries; all 24 hours interventions were introduced by members of the MT, and in the end the full Management team got involved in presentations of the findings on leadership, priorities, cross cultural misunderstandings and team spirit.
One month later the Management team came back with their suggestions on improvements and the interaction was stimulated and guided again. Problem areas were defined and targeted with specific interventions to deal with misunderstandings and misinterpretations of responsibilities that caused mistakes to occur.
RESULT
Giving so much attention to human factors and the care the Management team showed in the process lead to a much smoother operation; not all the technical mistakes were solved, but the cross cultural misunderstandings were much easier to resolve by giving more direct feedback with out judgement, which was the core part of the interventions.
Cultural change: Telecom provider comes to the mainland.
CULTURAL CHANGE
The telecom operator wanted to invade the European market through the Netherlands. In a very brief period they intended a huge growth in commercial and technical staff. They wanted from the start to create an identity of commercial sharpness and social solidarity.
For each group of 20 new acquired employees there was an introduction program of four days. A combination of outdoor exercises, evaluations and intense interviews created the understanding that even with a highly competitive attitude teamwork is still possible and beneficial.
RESULT
This company became a very successful player in the European market. The success was not only commercial: now, 15 years later most of the participants (150) still have yearly reunions although they are spread all over the world and other companies.
Cultural change: rental car company wants to professionalize to stay ahead of competition.
CULTURAL CHANGE
Within the company there was animosity between headquarters and different local venues. This started to have effect on results and corporate image. At the same time management recognised the potential of young managers to enhance the professionalism of new employees.
We organised a series of high impact sessions of mixed groups Professionals and managers from the whole company learned to intensely work together and understand each other’s problems and needs. We trained an internal coach towards professional trainer, to make sure this was not a one time only event. The internal trainer held one to one coaching sessions wit hall the participants, and one year later we were able to select a group of 12 fresh high potentials to start a Management Development programme.
RESULT
Now we see a professional organisation with to a great extend highly motivated professionals that have a bigger positive influence on the whole than before. The energy is back and results are, even after the crisis above normal. More importantly: the company has now a renowned reputation within the field of investing in people that attracts a higher potential in hiring staff.