5.

4 Learnings

Focus is extremely important. Not only for us, but for every
organization. Missing focus means spreading limited time and other
resources thinly across many things and doing nothing well. Focus
is relevant on all levels, be it the overall organization, managers or
workers. In my opinion, focus is a universal ingredient to success
and focusing on employee happiness is our secret sauce.
To apply focus, you need to start with vision and strategy. If
there is no adequate one available, create your own for the context
you are responsible for. Then tune your processes and information
systems to it so they play well together. Try to draw (literally or
mentally) an image of your organization’s focus: Are there a
hundred boats going into different directions, are there clusters
moving jointly forward, or are all boats already sailing towards the
same goal? For us, the biggest changes were in refocusing our
portfolio, narrowing down the target market and moving away from
hours-worked to contribution margins. This only works with the
right people filling management and leadership positions.
These managers have to focus themselves as well. Their role is
more than just spending time at customers, it is about shaping the
organization. If management doesn’t show focus, the rest of the
organization won’t either. Some key areas for management focus
are meaningful metrics, associated information systems, business
area development, skill development and employee happiness.
Our take on happiness is a short quarterly survey, leading to close
interactions with employees, installing a feel-good manager and
allowing people to spend a certain budget at their own discretion on
their own ideas (SMILE).
We are still improving every day and certainly didn’t reach the
end of what’s possible, but we do indeed believe that this change in
our focus is essential for our current and future success.