Cultural and Structural Transformation for Mid-Sized Companies and Corporate Groups
The Challenge
Recent years have shown how quickly external conditions can change. The pandemic and the war in Ukraine demonstrated how fragile global stability can be, while long-term megatrends such as globalisation, climate change, digitalisation, demographic shifts, geopolitical changes, and advances in artificial intelligence continue to shape our time. These developments create both opportunities and risks. One thing is clear: only adaptable companies will succeed in the long term.
Regardless of size or industry, companies today face the challenge of cultural and structural realignment - ideally without having to put growth ambitions on hold. At the same time, they must manage the demands of day-to-day operations.
My Objective
My modular transformation approach is designed to meet this exact challenge. It provides mid-sized companies and corporate groups with a realistic path to implement cultural and structural realignment - without putting growth ambitions on hold by default during this phase, and with a clear focus on stabilising day-to-day operations early on in the process.
Approach & Services
Part 1: The Foundation
THE FOUNDATION
Strategy based on Status Quo Analysis
The reasons for change in mid-sized companies are diverse - and their effects are becoming increasingly noticeable.
Many mid-sized companies have reached a point where it is clear that things cannot continue as they are. In addition to the challenging economic environment, factors such as growth, succession, or employer attractiveness are central drivers of this willingness to change - especially when they are accompanied by increasing quality issues in day-to-day operations.
Despite the current environment, growth remains one of the main reasons for this willingness to change - particularly for companies that have identified concrete market potential and want to capture it. This often includes hiring additional employees and establishing new locations or business units for new markets and business areas. Growth through the acquisition of additional companies can also be relevant, bringing with it the task of integrating them and building a functioning corporate group. What all growth options have in common is that as size and complexity increase, the demands on leadership, communication, and collaboration rise as well. Structures and responsibilities must be rethought and aligned with the intended development.
Succession is often the strongest trigger for a willingness to change. Owners face the task of securing the future of what they have built - whether in preparation for a sale or for a handover to successors from the family or the existing management team. As internal succession in mid-sized companies becomes increasingly difficult, the option of recruiting external executives to take on leadership responsibilities is gaining importance. In all cases, the goal is to position the company independently of the person who currently holds the primary leadership role - and to align culture and structure so that the organisation can continue to develop in a stable way even without this key figure.
At the same time, many companies are losing attractiveness as employers. Skilled workers are increasingly difficult to recruit, and experienced employees are leaving - either because they retire or because they see better opportunities elsewhere. In addition, the next generation expects new forms of leadership, purpose, and collaboration. All of this makes one thing clear: culture and structure must be advanced together so that the organisation remains a place where people want to contribute and grow over the long term.
All of this shows that the pressure for change is increasing.
Fundamentally, mid-sized companies possess excellent conditions for successful transformation: pragmatism, drive, and a strong sense of responsibility. This mindset has made them resilient for decades - carrying them through crises and enabling repeated growth. Yet it is precisely this pragmatic approach that reaches its limits when the task is to make deep cultural and structural changes.
Often, goals are defined, necessary adjustments discussed, and a new organisational chart drafted - and then people jump straight into execution. All of this happens with strong knowledge of the organisation and a clear intention to move forward. What is missing, however, is a clear understanding of the starting point.
Before decisions can be made about how a company should change, it must be clear where it really stands today. How do structures function in day-to-day operations - beyond what the organisational chart suggests? Where are the cultural friction points, unspoken conflicts, or ingrained routines that hinder progress? And which strengths can be leveraged to support the intended development?
Without this understanding, every plan remains theoretical. Anyone who aims to successfully shape a cultural and structural realignment must first gain an honest and realistic picture of the current state - against the backdrop of what the organisation aims to achieve in the coming years.
Only once it is clear how the organisation actually works today, and which patterns define it, can a viable plan emerge - one that works in practice
This is where I come in: developing a realistic understanding of the current state and involving employees early on - the foundation of a viable roadmap.
Change succeeds only when the people in the organisation support it. That is why my work begins with gaining a genuine understanding of day-to-day operations. As part of the status quo analysis, I immerse myself in the processes across all departments with an impartial view, working alongside the teams wherever possible. This creates an honest picture of how the organisation truly operates - not just on paper, but in everyday interactions.
In doing so, I identify which structural adjustments and cultural shifts are necessary for the organisation to achieve its future objectives. I see where trust is lacking, where responsibility is blocked, or where communication stalls; where structures or habits hinder progress - and which existing strengths can be further developed.
In this way, a comprehensive picture emerges that shows where the organisation stands today - and what needs to change for the planned developments to succeed. The result is a practical external insight that considers both organisational dynamics and people - and is translated into a clear roadmap together with the executive leadership.
This roadmap - combined with the early involvement of employees in its development - forms the foundation for a successful cultural and structural realignment.
Services in Detail:
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The objective is to accompany your teams impartially in their day-to-day work and gain a clear understanding of how culture and structure truly function in practice.
Through direct interaction with employees and managers, a realistic picture of the current state emerges - not based on organisational charts, but on lived collaboration.I identify where existing structures provide support and where they reach their limits - always in relation to what your company aims to achieve. At the same time, it becomes visible how communication, trust, and responsibility are exercised across the organisation, and which patterns promote or hinder change.
These insights make clear where organisational adjustments are needed and where cultural development must begin in order for planned changes to succeed in practice.
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Building on the Status Quo Analysis, I develop an initial proposal for what the future organisational framework could look like - precisely aligned with your company’s goals and challenges.
In close collaboration with the executive leadership, this develops into an open dialogue in which internal observations converge with my experience from numerous transformation projects. I mirror perceptions, provide honest feedback - including on blind spots - and help identify risks early and avoid predictable pitfalls.
The result is a clear, realistic, and actionable roadmap that is understood and supported from within - the foundation for a successful cultural and structural realignment.
Approach & Services
Part 2: The Transformation
THE TRANSFORMATION
Implementing Cultural and Structural Realignment
Transformation requires clear responsibilty.
Following the Status Quo Analysis and strategy development, the framework for the transformation is in place: we know what the future structure should look like, which management teams are planned, and how responsibilities will be distributed. The direction is clear.
Yet it is equally clear that a transformation never follows a rigid plan. It is dynamic and sensitive, and it requires navigating people, conflicts, priorities, and uncertainties with care and precision.
This raises a central question: Who will take responsibility for implementing the transformation?
Although the CEO could in principle consider leading the transformation personally, this would contradict what is often the central objective of the transformation: to distribute responsibility across more shoulders by strengthening the next levels of leadership and gradually relieving the CEO of operational leadership tasks in day-to-day business.
Particularly in complex transformation projects, the roadmap makes clear that the new structure foresees an operational leadership role alongside the CEO—either newly created or newly defined in terms of responsibilities, scope, and decision-making authority. This adds an important dimension to the profile of the person who leads the transformation: in such cases, the role evolves over the course of the transformation, shifting from project leadership into the operational leadership position designed in the roadmap—the role that ensures the newly established structure and culture are effectively lived, reinforced, and advanced in daily operations.
It is not uncommon for internal candidates to be, in principle, capable of taking on the future operational leadership role. However, introducing or redefining this role in the context of an organisation-wide transformation is considerably more demanding. It requires proven experience with transformation projects of this nature and the ability to redesign structures, responsibilities, and collaboration models – ideally without being entangled in existing organisational dynamics, enabling the person to act with neutrality and effectiveness.
This is exactly where I come in: I join your organisation on an interim basis as the responsible project lead for the transformation – in a role comparable to that of a Chief Transformation Officer.
As the transformation progresses, this project role gradually evolves into the operational leadership function that is being developed as part of the transformation. Once a suitable internal or external successor has been identified, I guide the onboarding and ensure a structured, transparent, and complete handover of the role - enabling the new structure to operate sustainably and independently in the long term.
Although every transformation has its own DNA, several components have consistently proven effective in my previous projects. They have become integral elements of my approach - regardless of industry, organisational size or culture. While the specific design of these components is always tailored to the organisation, the underlying systematics and management philosophy remain constant:
1. Embedding Implementation in Day-to-Day Operations Through Structured Formats
For the transformation to become effective from day one, it must have a fixed place in the daily routines of the CEO and the management teams. The collaboration follows a clear structure: the CEO and I work closely and regularly together, using two formats that anchor the entire process from the outset and provide orientation. They create accountability, offer a reliable framework for all participants, and enable immediate implementation:
— Regular meetings with each management team
These meetings bring together the CEO’s perspective, the operational view of the management teams, and my external perspective on structure and collaboration. We address current challenges, make decisions, clarify roles, and further develop each area step by step. I ensure that these meetings remain focused, proceed in a structured manner, and result in concrete actions.
— Supplementary time slots for in-depth working sessions
We address topics that require deeper preparation or a more sensitive discussion in supplementary time slots. This includes issues arising in the management team meetings that cannot be decided immediately in those meetings, as well as strategic topics initiated by the CEO that require preparation before being communicated to the organisation. From the outset, clearly reserved time slots are allocated for this purpose. For more complex matters, we schedule targeted workshops or strategy sessions and involve exactly the people whose expertise is required.
These two formats create a reliable working rhythm: the CEO remains fully informed and able to act at all times, while operational coordination, structural work, and implementation are increasingly carried by myself and the management teams.
2. Strengthening Management Responsibility Individually
For the transformation to function effectively in day-to-day operations, managers – that is, the individuals with formal leadership responsibility within the respective management teams – need someone they can turn to outside the regular management-team meetings; someone who is close to operational reality, provides orientation, works through challenging situations with them, and helps them fill and perform their roles with confidence and effectiveness. I take on this role in a pragmatic, accessible manner, with the required leadership experience for this responsibility.
Managers can come to me with all operational and leadership-related topics: decisions, uncertainties, conflicts, team-related challenges, or questions about their own role. We always work on concrete situations from their daily operations – clearly, directly, and in a solution-oriented way. This is not about abstract models or lecturing, but about jointly understanding the specific challenge at hand, seeing the situation as it actually is, interpreting it correctly, and translating it into sound decisions:
What is the right next step? What stance does this situation require? What strengthens the team in the long term? And where do we need to consult with the CEO before moving forward?
I provide impulses, challenge where necessary, open new perspectives, and support managers in making courageous and responsible decisions. Step by step, this strengthens management responsibility and builds a shared understanding of management across the organisation.
3. Bundling Initiatives and Bringing Them to Completion
As part of the transformation, numerous ideas, initiatives, and improvement approaches emerge. Many of these are already already discussed, assessed, and released for implementation during the regular management-team meetings between the CEO, the managers, and myself. Some of these points are concrete to-dos that go directly to the respective managers and can be implemented within their regular day-to-day work.
At the same time, some initiatives are of a scope and complexity that require treating them as projects – for example, cross-functional processes, the introduction of new software, or larger organisational developments. In these cases, a simple to-do is not sufficient; these topics require a clear structure, defined responsibilities, and a coordinated approach. All initiatives and projects are therefore bundled centrally by me and supported through a lean, agile approach.
As a fundamental principle, responsibility lies with those who will later work with the results.
Therefore, projects are consciously assigned to the managers in whose areas the implementation will take place. They steer the projects, while I maintain the overall framework: a clean start, short and regular check-ins, early removal of obstacles – and a project that reliably reaches its goal.
For projects that are particularly complex, cross-functional, or evidently conflict-prone, I take on the project leadership myself. This ensures that critical projects progress quickly and that individuals do not come under unnecessary pressure.
Through this agile project management, the CEO remains continuously involved, has a clear overview of all ongoing work at all times, and full transparency regarding current progress – all with minimal time commitment.
4. Jointly Redesigning and Anchoring Core Processes
Based on the Status Quo Analysis, the structural framework of the organisation was developed – defining the organisational areas, visualised in a single organisation chart, and creating a shared initial understanding of the leadership responsibilities each management team will hold in the future. However, the actual structuring of the organisation only takes place within the ongoing redesign of processes as part of the transformation – by redesigning each organisational area, realigning cross-functional processes, and gradually anchoring a shared process perspective throughout the entire organisation. In doing so, this structuring work also plays a significant role in developing an increasingly clear understanding of the tasks and responsibilities associated with every role in the organisation – from operational functions to the roles of each manager.
Many organisations operate in historically grown structures in which organisational units act in isolation, tasks are viewed only from one’s own perspective, and misunderstandings at interfaces characterise day-to-day operations. I systematically create transparency regarding how tasks, roles, and decisions are interconnected – and how each organisational area influences the work of others. For this purpose, I integrate this process perspective into all central formats: into the regular meetings with each management team, into my 1:1 work with the managers, and into dedicated process projects in which we jointly redesign central core processes.
In these dedicated process projects, I bring together representatives from all relevant organisational areas. We start by having each role describe its perspective on the process – revealing how different these perspectives often are. We then model the overall process, make dependencies visible, and develop a pragmatic and coherent realignment step by step. Between sessions, the teams test new procedures in day-to-day operations, return to discuss experiences, resolve obstacles, and iteratively refine the process.
A clear principle applies here: processes are not meant to restrict, but to improve interaction, efficiency, and quality – and they must be lived at all levels. Therefore, processes are not imposed, but developed jointly. This creates a level that is sustainably robust – neither perfectionistic nor theoretical, but realistic and practical in day-to-day operations.
By consistently adhering to these processes, the managers across all leadership levels, including the CEO, demonstrate that common rules apply to everyone and why this is crucial for smooth operations.
In this way, silos dissolve. Participants understand each other’s perspectives, talk with each other rather than about each other, and take responsibility for the bigger picture. At this point, an organisation visibly moves to the next level.
5. The Special Role of HR
A transformation can only have a lasting impact if HR is integrated from the very beginning as both a strategic and operational partner. HR is one of the most important levers for shaping core areas such as organisational structure, leadership, collaboration, and culture – and for maintaining the established level while ensuring its continuous further development.
From the outset, I work closely with the existing HR team to jointly develop a clear and shared understanding early on of the tasks and responsibilities HR will assume during the organisation-wide transformation and how this role will be carried out in day-to-day operations. The focus is on establishing an HR structure that fits the company – rather than relying on an off-the-shelf solution.
Within the transformation, HR plays a significant role in further developing each organisational area in HR-relevant matters – for example in workforce planning or in the design of tailor-made and operationally reliable staffing and scheduling models.
At the same time, HR assumes a consistent and dependable operational steering and service function – ranging from working with time accounts and vacation planning to systematically tracking relevant HR processes.
In addition, HR provides structured and hands-on support to managers in their day-to-day leadership responsibilities – for example in challenging employee conversations, annual reviews, people development planning or conflict management. In doing so, HR creates a safe and reliable framework that enables managers to carry out their leadership role with confidence and to further develop it over time.
Moreover, HR becomes a central element of future people development at all levels. The objective is to establish this capability within the organisation itself – for example through internal training modules on communication, conflict management and leadership – rather than relying on rotating external coaches. In this way, HR builds a lasting people development logic that is tailored to the organisation’s real needs and that has impact across all levels.
In this way, HR becomes a vital partner of the transformation: an integrated driver within the change process, a reliable support for managers, and a central multiplier for cultural development.
6. Ensuring a Stable Handover of the Operational Leadership Responsibility
A transformation is not a project that is “completed” at a clearly defined point in time, but a system that is built and then stabilised step by step until it operates independently. This point is reached when the new structure is functioning, roles are clearly lived, responsibilities are reliably taken on, and the operational leadership function is firmly anchored within the organisation.
Throughout the transformation, the role of the CEO evolves gradually: the CEO withdraws step by step from operational leadership as decision-making authority and responsibility are clearly transferred to the managers and the newly established operational leadership function. This results in a noticeable reduction in the CEO’s day-to-day operational workload.
The transition from the stabilisation phase to the point where the system operates independently does not follow a fixed scheme, but occurs precisely when the CEO senses that roles are understood, processes interlock, and the new culture shapes daily behaviour..
Once the system has reached this level of maturity, it is the ideal time to begin the concrete search for the long-term successor to my operational leadership role. Together, we define a clear task and capability profile as the foundation for assessing internal and external candidates and for selecting a person who will assume this function on a permanent basis. I then hand over my responsibilities in a structured, transparent and complete manner.
In the end, what remains is a system that functions independently of my person, continues to develop, and stands on a clear and stable foundation.
