Employees have clear ideas about working life and are guided by their values. They want to identify with what they do. A company must also consider how it does business and what influence it wants to have on society through its actions. At Alpha IC, our actions are based on values - not only in the advice we provide to our customers, but also in the way we manage our employees.
Our mission statement was developed by our colleagues in 2018. We have introduced a monthly values dialog so that we can continuously reflect on our values. In this dialog, we discuss our own understanding of the respective value and how it is lived out in our dealings with colleagues and business partners. Another aspect of our management is our new partner model. Here, the manager acts as a coach and leads their interdisciplinary team on a social and value-oriented level instead of a professional one. To ensure a personal exchange, the teams consist of three to five employees.
Für eine Führungskraft ist es wichtig, den MitarbeiterInnen die Werte aktiv vorzuleben und Haltung einzunehmen, damit diese es einem gleich tun können und den Rückhalt spüren. Wenn man erfolgreich sein möchte, muss man nicht nur mit Bereitschaft und Offenheit vorangehen, sondern sich als Führungskraft auch mit seinen eigenen Werten auseinandersetzen und bereit sein, sich Unterstützung zu holen, falls dies notwendig ist. Offene Kommunikation ist hier besonders entscheidend. Ein kleines Beispiel dazu: Vor einigen Jahren waren vier Mitarbeiter in ein sehr schwieriges Projekt eingebunden und standen unter enormen Druck. Unser Geschäftsführer Richard Weller wollte mithilfe eines Sonderbonus seine Dankbarkeit für ihre Leistungen ausdrücken, bat sie aber dies gegenüber den KollegInnen für sich zu behalten. Zu seiner Überraschung wurde der Bonus abgelehnt mit der Begründung, dass dies den unternehmenseigenen Werten „Ehrlichkeit“, „Offenheit“ und „Transparenz“ widerspricht. Obwohl Richard etwas Gutes im Sinne hatte, handelte er unbewusst gegen die festgelegten Werte. Dass die Mitarbeiter den Mut und die Offenheit hatten dies anzusprechen, rechnet er ihnen hoch an. Das Beispiel verdeutlicht, dass Offenheit und Kommunikation in beide Richtungen funktionieren muss.
It is important for a manager to actively exemplify their values to their employees and adopt an attitude so that they can do the same and feel supported. If you want to be successful, you not only have to lead with willingness and openness, but as a manager you also have to deal with your own values and be prepared to seek support if necessary. Open communication is particularly crucial here. Here is a small example: A few years ago, four employees were involved in a very difficult project and were under enormous pressure. Our managing director Richard Weller wanted to express his gratitude for their performance with a special bonus, but asked them to keep this to themselves in front of their colleagues. To his surprise, the bonus was rejected on the grounds that it contradicted the company's values of "honesty", "openness" and "transparency". Although Richard had something good in mind, he unknowingly acted against the established values. He credits the employees for having the courage and openness to address this. This example shows that openness and communication must work in both directions.
If companies want to be successful in the future, they need to learn and practice values-based and sustainable leadership. According to Richard, 80 percent of managers are currently unable to do this. And half of them will never learn to do so, as they have been anchored in traditional management methods for too long and are subject to the constraints of stakeholders. Change requires a lot of courage and strength and, above all, communication. This is what we thrive on in our organizational model. We achieve this by dividing our management into two levels. Sebastian Hölzlein focuses on external business, Richard Weller on internal communication and the people who work at Alpha IC. With our partner model, we also deliberately provide space and time for communication within the teams, which we have underpinned with our communication concept..
Our way of managing the company also makes us more successful economically. In the last three years, we have more than doubled in size and turnover and achieved a good result in 2020 without government aid, despite coronavirus. At the same time, we have had a very positive impact on our environment and society. What's more, we have no problem finding good employees. We also have less staff turnover, which in turn brings economic benefits. Word has gotten around about what it's like to work for us. It's a nice cycle. We will definitely continue on this path.
You can listen to the full interview here. Just listen to it!
Many thanks again to Katja Korehnke and her team at Korehnke Kommunikation for this pleasant interview. We look forward to working with you in the future!
