Current topics, trends and insights

Imagine you are embarking on a challenging mountain tour and need a team that pursues common goals, is prepared and trusts each other. It is precisely this team spirit that reflects a successful corporate culture. Culture is the invisible bond that holds teams together and drives them to perform at their best by strengthening collaboration and performance within the organisation.

A clear HR strategy is the foundation for effective human resource management, supporting business goals through close alignment with leadership and employee needs.

In a world where only the most adaptable succeed, our framework shows how HR can become a driving force for sustainable transformation. The maturity of the HR function and the available resources play a decisive role in this.

Learn more about Arvato's Digital Champions Program, which has been empowering top executives and talents for digital transformation since 2019. This innovative program combines intensive classroom training with dynamic, virtual learning environments to prepare employees for digital challenges and promote innovation.

Optimisation of management margins: Analysis & Strategies. Spans of control play a decisive role in the efficiency of an organisation. A low span of control leads to a high hierarchical structure, while a high span of control enables flatter, more agile organisations.

Mental health in the workplace is a key issue of our time. This article looks at how targeted HR strategies and leadership practices can improve psychological safety in the team.

undconsorten has been recognised as one of the hidden champions of management consultancies for the third time in a row. Five questions & five answers with our partners Axel Hüttmann, Axel Sauder and Jens Müller-Oerlinghausen regarding the Hidden Champion award in the field of "Leadership & Organisation".

The COVID-19 outbreak in China, which occurred earlier, gave Volkswagen a head start in terms of knowledge: how do you restart production in an organised manner? The Group is now a real best-practice example with its 100-point plan.

Many companies currently struggle with increasing attrition, and we see it across a wide variety of geographies, branches, and job groups. For not a small share of organisations, this has the potential to disrupt the stability of their business model or even endanger it completely.

Our experience shows that coaching is usually still seen as an individual development measure available only to selected parts of the organisation (typically: top executives) and is not used strategically. We are convinced: there is more power in it when linking it to organisational transformation.

If you work without a clear focus and strategic direction, you will be overtaken by your competitors and lose out on the market. We show how strategy implementation can succeed.

APCOA has mastered the transformation from a traditional car park operator to an urban service provider. We accompanied them on this journey and talk to Frank van der Sant, Chief Commercial Officer, about the transformation.

Together with undconsorten, Stada has introduced a global HR suite. We spoke to Dr Thomas Mattes, Director People Analytics at Stada, about the launch.

What I believe a successful manager needs to bring to the table today is the idea of a growth mindset. This means that I have a "learn-it-all" rather than a "know-it-all" view

An interview with Berlin-based artist Matthias Bitzer about our collaboration after he installed numerous artworks and interventions in our offices in 2022.

Restructuring is complex and fraught with risks and uncertainties at all levels. The success of restructuring therefore depends not only on a good concept, but also on the effective management of these risks.

Teams are better than individuals for countless reasons and are therefore the cornerstone of every organisation. Nevertheless, we experience dysfunctional teams time and again, especially management teams. What is the reason for this and how can teams develop systematically?

When employees ask seemingly trivial questions, it shows a genuine interest in change. The confidence to ask these questions speaks in favour of a culture of openness, which should definitely be encouraged.

As a leading telco player, Vodafone is a pioneer for digital infrastructure. Together with undconsorten, Vodafone Germany has set up a digital accelerator for the business segment and introduced agile working approaches.

Through the joint development of a clear target image, the optimal balance of push and pull in implementation and the parallel addressing of systemic and behavioural levers, undconsorten achieved a significant increase in sales performance.

How can agile transformation succeed? Together with NewRe, we discussed this with managers and experts from various areas (innovation, HR, IT, operations, strategy and transformation) at an aperitif in Zurich shortly before the lockdowns caused by COVID-19.

After a few months of returning to a fragile "new normal", a lot has changed in Germany. The economy as a whole is experiencing a sustained boom in tech companies such as Amazon and HelloFresh - while traditional companies continue to struggle to survive.

Organizational continuously evolve, but in the process of taking the next step in the organizational design mistakes happen. Here we show three common pitfalls in organisational redesign.

In June 2018, AGP, an innovative manufacturer of glazing solutions for the automotive industry based in Lima (Peru), embarked on a challenging endeavour: its first transatlantic transaction, the building block of an ambitious global expansion strategy.

Teams are better than individuals for countless reasons and are therefore the cornerstone of every organisation. Nevertheless, we experience dysfunctional teams time and again, especially management teams. What is the reason for this and how can teams develop systematically?

An interview with Frank Fischer and Dr Anna Osterspey, People Development & Executives Management at thyssenkrupp, about thyssenkrupp's new Talent Development Platform TD Core.

In times of Covid-19, sales is faced with particular challenges. In many industries, this is particularly evident in parallel supply and demand shocks, the elimination of entire channels or the complete switch to virtual working in the sales team.

Teamwork characterises our daily work. We explain our view of what is important in the work of high-performing teams.

Corporate learning is seen as a way of shaping and implementing the learning organisation in order to meet the constant pressure to adapt.

Blended learning stands for the combination of digital learning with traditional face-to-face formats. Blended learning has recently become more and more of a buzzword. Due to the coronavirus pandemic and virtual working, training delivered via virtual meeting tools is becoming the standard.

How talent management can be successful in the long term and the challenges it has to overcome.

Companies with effective management perform better. These companies are also more successful on the market. Quite simply because leadership reaches, motivates and empowers all employees, aligns their actions with the organisation's goals or creates creative spaces for new, better goals.

Case Study: How undconsorten supported the law firm NEUWERK in the professionalisation of its personnel development.

undconsorten supported KPMG Germany for two years in developing and introducing an innovative and comprehensive HR concept under the motto "Strengthening leadership. Promoting strengths" to develop and introduce an innovative and comprehensive personnel concept. The result is a new management structure in which young managers take on more disciplinary responsibility.

undconsorten supports several large area organisations in improving their leadership performance. As experts in leadership and organisation, we know that this is key to improving organisational performance.

Teamwork characterises our daily work. We explain from our perspective what is important in the work of high-performing teams.

Basically, the different types of performance management can be categorised into four systems, which are based on completely different images of people, corporate cultures and contexts.

Leadership development is the targeted promotion of skills, behaviours and attitudes of managers and a sub-area of personnel development. But what exactly does this mean and how can leadership development succeed in your organisation?

In this article, we share our perspective on agile leadership and take a look at the three crucial components of mindset, processes and roles. We also clear up common misconceptions and give tips on how you and your team can work successfully in an agile way.

We spoke to Birgit Bohle, Board Member for Human Resources and Legal Affairs, Telekom, and Dietmar Eidens, Chief Human Resources Officer, Merck KGaA, about the CHRO role in the New Normal.

Making organisations more human. - The companies that succeed in the long term are those that best utilise the potential of their employees. This requires a clear HR strategy. Close to the business and with employees in mind. Only a powerful HR organisation can achieve this goal: From recruiting and people development to performance management.

Basically, the different types of performance management can be categorised into four archetypal systems that are based on completely different images of people, corporate cultures and contexts.

HR is increasingly becoming a central player in transformation processes. It is no longer just about efficiency and professional HR work, but about making a strategic contribution to the transformation of the organisation.

Numerous personnel and HR strategy projects as well as discussions with CHROs and HR strategists have provided us with eight insights into the successful development and implementation of personnel strategies.

Every company has unutilised performance reserves. Managers often have a rough idea of where these reserves lie. However, before you start trying to access unutilised resources, it helps to identify them precisely and point out specific levers for possible improvements.

In 2018, we were asked to support the turnaround of a large, globally active medium-sized company. Together with an internal project team, we developed and validated measures with a medium-term savings potential in the three-digit million range with the management and mapped them transparently in a tool for ongoing controlling.

Companies are constantly scrutinising their organisation: Does it meet the requirements resulting from changing conditions? Can it react quickly and individually to customer needs? This is often followed by smaller or larger reorganisations.

How can large companies also work in an agile way? Scaled agile frameworks are a first starting point for scaling agile working methods.

If you work without a clear focus and strategic direction, you will be overtaken by your competitors and lose out on the market. We show how strategy implementation can succeed.

Matrix organisations help to respond flexibly to the challenges of the VUCA world. The individual design of the matrix organisation requires in-depth familiarisation with the advantages, disadvantages and key success factors. This article also uses practical examples to explain how to successfully introduce a matrix organisation and improve the performance of existing matrix organisations.

In an environment with a very heterogeneous IT landscape, strong legal regulation and traditional working methods, we introduced agile methods in the product development of a leading insurance company.

What is meant by a mission statement? Which elements are typical? And how is a mission statement successfully developed and introduced?

Every organisation is unique and every organisational development poses different challenges. We provide tips.

The Scrum Guide has been adapted. Where is Scrum heading?

The simplest form of establishing a division of labour is an organisational structure in which clearly described tasks are assigned to specific parts of the organisation. But what exactly does this mean and how can you optimise your company's organisational structure?

Last year, itelligence - one of the leading IT consultancies focussing on SAP and the midmarket - renewed its mission statement and has since been using the claim "We Transform. Trust into Value".

Hays Steilberg, Executive Vice President Management Development, talks to undconsorten about the dovetailing of talent management and strategy at Bertelsmann.