New managers in cold water

What to do when new management levels suddenly emerge? The HR manager called us and asked for support. The company with numerous sales offices in the DACH region had carried out a reorganization. In the past, local site managers had largely unlimited freedom of action. They were locally responsible for sales, results and all services. This great autonomy of the individual locations had led to a considerable loss of efficiency, which is why it was decided to centralize management more strongly in the future.

Instead of local, highly autonomous management, the central, cross-location cross-sectional roles (operations, services, etc.) were now strengthened. In order to be able to implement this in practice at the locations, numerous new team leader positions were filled at the branches.

As a result, many employees at the locations were appointed team leaders and reported to the functional managers at head office - no longer to the former location manager. As a rule, the former location managers remained in sales manager roles on site - albeit now with significantly less power than before.

For the newly appointed, mostly inexperienced team leaders, this presented a variety of challenges. On the one hand, they had to act in a significantly different role (for the most part, they had changed from colleagues to line managers). On the other hand, the former site managers - who once had full responsibility - were still present and remained important stakeholders.

The mood and trust in this new management structure were very ambivalent. The former site managers in particular, who perceived themselves as losers in this process, hardly changed their behavior in some cases, which made their role considerably more difficult for the new managers. The new team leaders, on the other hand, had considerable uncertainties about finding their new role and fulfilling it well.

Our approach

Together with the client, we developed a comprehensive approach to quickly and practically introduce and strengthen the new managers in their role:

1. Targeted leadership development: we designed an intensive, compact development program to help the new managers understand their role, practice good leadership behavior in a very practical way and perform well within a short period of time. Particular emphasis was placed on understanding the social dynamics at the respective locations. The program also included individual coaching in order to do justice to the specifics of each location. After all, a one-size-fits-all approach did not seem appropriate.
2. Workshops with the former site managers: The needs and concerns of the former site managers had to be taken seriously. We therefore held workshops to better understand their changed role in the new system and gave them the opportunity to help shape the new structure.
3. Involvement of central managers: The now highly influential central functional managers were sensitized to the change in workshops and involved in the change process. This also promoted cooperation and helped to develop a common understanding of the new structures and processes.
4. Communication strategy: We developed a communication strategy that included regular updates and transparent information about the progress and changes. This strengthened trust in the new structure and increased acceptance.

Result

As a result of this comprehensive and targeted approach, the new team leaders were able to work well - at different speeds depending on the location. The organization succeeded in creating a new balance and noticeably improving the working atmosphere and trust in the new management structure.

The new managers gradually settled into their roles and collaboration became more efficient and harmonious. The centralization of functions resulted in a significantly higher degree of professionalization, which, among other things, enabled accelerated standardization and subsequent digitalization and created a steady learning curve. Step by step, we reduced our involvement in consultation with the client and transferred responsibility to internal hands. Our work was done.