Talks with: Guglielmo Sallustio, Partner, Friisberg & Partners Italy
The risks and opportunities during this phase of radical change have been the subject of much analysis, but making forecasts on the future structure of the business is not always easy and trying to draw conclusions about what has changed is potentially premature.
Nevertheless, a key concept is that organizations must question themselves. It is time for creation: big and especially small companies need to use their imagination to think about new models of work. Also, we must be conscious that many of the challenges we are dealing with may not be only transitory.
Technology remains the engine of this business transformation, and it is necessary for enterprise resilience.
The use of collaboration tools is a trend that enables new models of interaction within companies. IT and Intelligent Automation, AI and data analytics are for sure the most influential technologies for helping organisations increase operational efficiency and transform existing business processes while cloud technologies enable and power the other emerging technologies.
Organizations in all sectors should really put themselves in the customers’ shoes, in other words they should reinforce a customer centric approach as their first challenge. They should then develop solutions to improve customer experience, offering digital services primarily but without losing the human connection on their virtual channels and therefore their connection with the client.
This is the best time to rethink our leadership model too. Remote working necessitates being authentic and having the courage to experiment in order to create a real “digital world”, in which it is possible to develop the sense of belonging and share team values and goals. In this context, the harder challenge for organizations is probably succeeding at switching to a model in which everyone can be evaluated only by their achievement of goals that have to be clearly identified and shared.
Until a few months ago ideas came mainly from a direct exchange of ideas, but now we need a cultural revolution. To enable this soft skills, flexible reasoning and empathy are crucial to define a right balance in both customer relations and team coordination.
Finally, organizations need to invest in green transition: I believe that sustainability must be the focus of corporate strategies to create greater value in the long term, radically changing the relationship between companies and customers.
Talks with: Lorri Lowe, Partner, Friisberg & Partners UK
The change to remote working has for many companies meant a dynamic acceleration and a rapid embedding of digital ways of working. Without physical interaction and positive reinforcement of an office culture, it is too easy for people to feel isolated and undervalued – this is the challenge for many employers. There is a tendency for some people to work too hard, to burn out - perhaps to over compensate for not being visible on a daily basis and maybe some, who have been hiding behind others, are suddenly exposed.
Employers want different and instant ways of connecting with and rewarding their remote teams to keep productivity and engagement high and not lose the value of a shared work ethic. Increasingly digitised ways of working are undoubtedly the future and similarly access to ways of incentivising teams will be through readily accessible and easily usable digital platforms.
I believe leaders need to find ways to show they care in order to maintain productivity, focus and engagement of their team. Digital Benefit platforms are increasingly important and we have seen more employers turn to these to better take care of employees to ensure their wellbeing.
Leadership teams are focusing less on the long-term strategy of the company, perhaps less overtly on the financials, instead spending more time connecting with their people to ensure they know and understand what is expected of them. If someone feels isolated, knowing what steps can quickly be taken to re-focus them is vital.
This is undoubtedly the biggest challenge - not just in terms of maintaining employee engagement, but also their overall efficiency. I believe that at this time the leadership team must be more visible and accessible than ever.
It is important to celebrate and encourage a better work/life balance. In the past leaders were understandably focused on the best ways of transacting the company strategy, but now it is more about having the right mindset and the right tools to effectively manage their teams remotely. Being mindful of your people’s needs, not expecting everyone to always be available 24/7, ensuring the team has regular breaks, communicating a shared understanding of the KPIs and ensuring everyone feels supported – in summary, looking after your employees’ wellbeing has never been so important.
As leaders we must take care of ourselves too. It is all too easy to be so concerned about the team that it is easy to forget about yourself. Being a role model to promote wellbeing for the Board and leadership team is essential.
Transparency of feelings and open communication are also vital. At Sodexo, we meet formally and informally, virtually of course, to check in and discuss where we are, how we are feeling about home, about the office, and what might we need. This means any action can be taken promptly and everyone feels they have a voice and are heard. Informal communication is very important – e.g. quizzes, late afternoon drinks in smaller teams promote easier conversations, so if there is a problem we can immediately help.
Socially and economically the world has changed. Previously we worked collaboratively in our office and I knew working remotely would not replace the daily physical interactions. Of course, the general principles stay the same in terms of how employees bring potential to the business, how they can best contribute and how we can all engender trust. But I took the time to do lots of research on remote working and I reviewed our communication strategy straight away adjusting my daily focus from addressing the long term goals to being more agile and nimble – we had to evolve and quickly. We introduced a temporary program , we identified targets over 6 months rather than a year, and with shorter term objectives we can be more agile, reactive and proactive in response to change from the impacts of COVID19.
One million business consumers interact and use our products daily, so we genuinely understand consumer behaviours. It was vital that our platform was totally digital and incredibly user friendly. Consumers now demand short lead times – not 3 days anymore, but immediate. They also want more for their money and want to shop with trusted brands. Demands for our discount platform (engagement of consumers is positive where there are good discounts) is high – people are more focused on their earnings and household budgets.
Never underestimate what you and your team can achieve. In 120 hours we moved from being office based to 100% remote working. We embraced the technical, adjusted the infrastructure, aligned our collective mindset, and ensured all our processes were in line. I might never have thought that possible - after years of discussions, in just two months we were 100% digital – this as a result of external pressures to adapt to unforeseen change. We achieved this together and now we know we can achieve anything. It is important to share ambition and to look for the potential in people - the real potential. Taking the time to reflect on what you have achieved is paramount and, of course, never underestimating anyone.
Being a positive leader means caring for your team, engaging with them openly, finding different ways of communicating and listening to what they need. This can mean you have to stretch yourself to demonstrate effective leadership skills - and that isn’t always easy. It is vital that those on the leadership team adapt quickly to new technologies and lead on this efficiently to best communicate with teams in the right way. Building and maintaining trust is essential. Finally, never underestimate the importance of a ‘thank you’ - and meaning it. Many people are understandably concerned about their observable performance; they are worried about their perceived contribution to the success of the business. Employee recognition has never been so vital and recognition platforms drive positive culture and best practice.
Friisberg & Partners International is proud to be a preferred supplier of executive search to Sodexo in the UK.
Friisberg Denmark recently hosted the "Gå-Hjem Møde" at its offices in Copenhagen, in cooperation with Dreams & Details Academy, on the new requirements for boards.
Together, we offered interesting insights, including a presentation from Jim Hagemann Snabe, which prompted much discussion amongst our guests.
Topics such as the need for boards to reinvent themselves and the constant need for new and up-to-date competences were discussed.
Susanne Becker Mikkelsen thanks everyone for attending, and for making it such an exciting, valuable and enjoyable evening!
Talks with: Peter Strandberg, Partner, Friisberg & Partners Sweden & President Friisberg & Partners International
When the Covid-19 Crisis began and ever since we have focused primarily on our employees’ health taking our cooperate responsibilities seriously.
Sandvik’s moto is always “Safety first” and we have tried now, as always, to live by that moto. We have tried to follow all restrictions and regulations as stated by the different Governments around the world to minimize the risk of viral transmission such as restrictions when traveling, quarantining people if they came from “at risk” areas, allowing people to work from home, conducting most meetings virtually and limiting the numbers of people in one place at meetings.
Business-wise we immediately recognised that this was an event that would affect us very much. With that in mind we devised various scenarios enabling us to plan accordingly and be ready for anything.
Of course everything we anticipated didn’t turn out exactly the way that we imagined, but it definitely made it easier for us to understand what we had to deal with and then make the necessary adjustments.
Irrespective of the crisis, it is good to be agile and act as soon as you possibly can - even if you do not have all facts to hand. You have to take control of the situation and even if you can’t control it, you have to try to be proactive. Try to create realistic scenarios and start to execute accordingly, but also have an open and flexible mind and be willing to change your decisions and guidelines when needed.
This is impossible to say of course, but in the short term, for our business, we must continue to de-leverage and by having effective cost control navigate through the next few months. Hopefully we have now reached the bottom, however when and how fast we will see a rise depends on many things. Perhaps if we are lucky we might see some recovery by the end of this year, but how big and how fast still remains to be seen and will rely on many unknowns such as if there might be a second wave, or if a vaccine is shown to be effective.
The things that were important before will remain just as and more important afterwards.
We have a short memory so I think a lot of things will at least, for a while, go back to more of how it was before - at least in the short term.
Taking a longer perspective, the situation has forced all organizations to rethink policies, for example travel to and from where people can effectively work. Working from different locations means of course that the logistics must be in place, but also the way organizations are structured, set up and managed might need to change.
In terms of the efficacy of the leaders and the way their performance is measured some managers will adapt, but some will not. Those aspects of business we took for granted all over the world before the pandemic, such as face to face meetings, might be replaced in the long-term with virtual tools.
Companies have amended the way they go to market using all sorts of new technology and have to be organized to facilitate that. People are now learning quickly because right now they have to - they are learning by ‘doing’ and not from ‘education’. This methodology will inevitably elicit a much better uptake and sustain these behaviours better than any training.
To our surprise we have discovered that looking again at the way we conduct our own business might just make our own impact and contributions even better. Hopefully this also means that we will have even more flexibility in our organisations, and that we will be better at measuring our performance.
Performance management will be even more important!
This new way of working and behaving will also put bigger demands on governance, and the capability of managers will be even more important. They have to be able to balance between good performance and not making people work too much. In a flexible organisation, where you can work from wherever, there is a risk that the good people never stop working and that brings its own problems such as health issues.
Yes, absolutely! I am always optimistic there will be a good future out there … I think!
It’s just a matter of getting there and as I said before, what was important before will also be important afterwards. There is no doubt that we will all be affected one way or another and might have to prioritise a little differently, both as professionals and as individuals.
Talks with: Guglielmo Sallustio, Partner, Friisberg & Partners Italy
Nobody can say today that they were ready for this pandemic. Fortunately in Minsait, an Indra Group Company, we faced this health emergency with unity, calm and commitment, trying to maintain professionalism and constant effort.
Today we can definitely say that due to our actions, the impact has been limited.
We are a global technology and consulting company and we firmly believe in flexibility at work, focusing on trust, autonomy and the responsibility of our professionals. From the very beginning, we tried to work with our colleagues demonstrating that their safety was our first priority.
We focused on:
Personally I decided to extend my relationship with my international colleagues in South America, USA and Europe, and it was great to share with them every single experience we were each facing. With my team, I changed from our traditional to “speed-date” meetings to have each team member share the good and bad moments of their week during lockdown.
This emergency can be an opportunity to accelerate the evolution towards new and more collaborative working models. I believe that we have the opportunity to build what we called in Minsait “new bridges”, a metaphor that I particularly love.
Our “Bridges to the Interior” has resulted in innovative tools and methodologies which are even more collaborative and our “Bridges to the Exterior” improves our relationship with our customers, sharing their needs and growth prospects.
Now more than ever, I feel close to my colleagues, customers, partners and providers.
Nobody can say exactly. In the meantime we have a civic and professional obligation to protect our colleagues, to never leave them alone. Change is hard and, in a crisis like Covid-19, it gets very complex. Leaders are faced with keeping their workforce engaged and productive, while keeping the business running and building for the future.
In the meantime, we have to invest in a transparent, purposeful messaging, trying to ensure communications which are clear, consistent and easily accessible to all.
We must limit the social, organizational, and economic impact of this emergency. We have amazing technological tools, and we have the opportunity to leverage them with internal and external experts who are able to support us all in this phase of rebirth, always putting people at the centre of our consideration.
For example, today more than ever, it’s necessary to focus on training as continuous improvement. It is a time for discussion and confrontation, otherwise we risk organisational chaos which could be difficult to control and could lead to a feeling of dissatisfaction - with important impacts on performance and corporate image.
Yes, absolutely! I’m always optimistic that what's to come is better.
My sector is the Industry and Consumer Goods Market, so it’s probably one of the most affected industries of this crisis. I know that each and one of us have to think about the “needs” of our people, as employees, fathers and mothers of families.
This is the time to accelerate our transformation in order to come out of the crisis even stronger, to become better people working in better companies.
Talks with: Guglielmo Sallustio, Partner, Friisberg & Partners Italy
Nobody can say today that they were ready for this pandemic. Fortunately in Minsait, an Indra Group Company, we faced this health emergency with unity, calm and commitment, trying to maintain professionalism and constant effort.
Today we can definitely say that due to our actions, the impact has been limited.
We are a global technology and consulting company and we firmly believe in flexibility at work, focusing on trust, autonomy and the responsibility of our professionals. From the very beginning, we tried to work with our colleagues demonstrating that their safety was our first priority.
We focused on:
Personally I decided to extend my relationship with my international colleagues in South America, USA and Europe, and it was great to share with them every single experience we were each facing. With my team, I changed from our traditional to “speed-date” meetings to have each team member share the good and bad moments of their week during lockdown.
This emergency can be an opportunity to accelerate the evolution towards new and more collaborative working models. I believe that we have the opportunity to build what we called in Minsait “new bridges”, a metaphor that I particularly love.
Our “Bridges to the Interior” has resulted in innovative tools and methodologies which are even more collaborative and our “Bridges to the Exterior” improves our relationship with our customers, sharing their needs and growth prospects.
Now more than ever, I feel close to my colleagues, customers, partners and providers.
Nobody can say exactly. In the meantime we have a civic and professional obligation to protect our colleagues, to never leave them alone. Change is hard and, in a crisis like Covid-19, it gets very complex. Leaders are faced with keeping their workforce engaged and productive, while keeping the business running and building for the future.
In the meantime, we have to invest in a transparent, purposeful messaging, trying to ensure communications which are clear, consistent and easily accessible to all.
We must limit the social, organizational, and economic impact of this emergency. We have amazing technological tools, and we have the opportunity to leverage them with internal and external experts who are able to support us all in this phase of rebirth, always putting people at the centre of our consideration.
For example, today more than ever, it’s necessary to focus on training as continuous improvement. It is a time for discussion and confrontation, otherwise we risk organisational chaos which could be difficult to control and could lead to a feeling of dissatisfaction - with important impacts on performance and corporate image.
Yes, absolutely! I’m always optimistic that what's to come is better.
My sector is the Industry and Consumer Goods Market, so it’s probably one of the most affected industries of this crisis. I know that each and one of us have to think about the “needs” of our people, as employees, fathers and mothers of families.
This is the time to accelerate our transformation in order to come out of the crisis even stronger, to become better people working in better companies.
