Becoming a Model of a Purpose-Driven Organization
Guidance in the Employee Survey Follow-Up Process
Starting Point:
The results of the company-wide employee survey showed above-average positive scores, putting Alnatura in the “high performing organization” category. As with high-performance athletes, though, you only stay world class if you keep improving yourself during successful phases. “We want to know what leverage we have to help us improve further – and what we can do to make it happen,” said the Head of HR in the preliminary discussions of the workshop we were facilitating.
Procedure:
The eleven-member executive board decided to pursue a solution-oriented process: The area managers and owner Götz Rehn worked together to draft an image of the future describing the effects of the employee survey. That positive image made it easy to collectively develop the path to achieve it. That path was to be shaped together with the employees and managers, so a focus group was formed. This was a small, representative snapshot of Alnatura which brought the diversity of perspectives within the company into one room. That diversity proved invaluable: The ‘thinking circle’ quickly produced the desired high quality of collective thinking, deep listening and attentive speaking. This method uncovered the core issues underlying the key topics in the employee survey. During the World Café exercise, it quickly became clear to everyone what root causes were responsible for the survey results. At that point, it became easy to develop measures together to address these core issues and lay the foundation for real transformation. Finally, the focus group determined how to proceed in the follow-up process.
Results:
In terms of content: Six company-wide key topics, measures which addressed the core issues and a plan for how to proceed. Beyond the content: The format involved taking part in an open discussion, meaning every individual took responsibility for the “collective whole”, thereby living out Alnatura’s principle of self-management. Project Managers Thekla Behrens and Reinhild Schreiber provided a summary after the first focus group workshop: “For us, the workshop was very valuable and so far we have received nothing but positive feedback from the participants.” “It was great to experience such new and open ways to collaborate.”
Our Tasks:
Present the employee survey results and provide support in analyzing and interpreting them. Provide guidance in developing the follow-up concept and facilitate change.