Different management models as far as the eye can see: in many cases, forward-looking employee management in companies in Germany still has plenty of room for improvement. When it comes to work organization in particular, there are enormous deficits with regard to digitalization, VUCA and agile methods. In the first part of our interview series, Barbara Wietasch, Partner at TCI, explains the approaches that have been taken and the challenges that have caused corporate management to suffer - or even fail.

New work needs new leadership to shape change with the Shared LeaderShift© model - an interview with Barbara Wietasch

Hello Ms Wietasch, over the past few months you and your consultant colleague Eva Maria Danzer from Munich have been thinking about the state of companies and their work organization. This has resulted in the new Shared LeaderShift© organizational development model. What challenges are companies facing today that make you believe that a different organizational and leadership model needs to dispel existing myths? What challenges are companies facing in the future?

Everyone is talking about disruptive change, about digitalization, about New Work. However, many companies remain stuck in management structures and organizational models that date back to the last century. These include top-down approaches, hierarchical organizational charts, long decision-making processes, excessive demands at all levels and an increasing number of employees who are stuck in a state of internal resignation. It is unlikely that companies will be able to keep pace on the road to the future - to the VUCA world. And this is why leadership needs to be rethought, because innovation and change are becoming ever faster and more complex.

The answers to these challenges are now quite diverse - but what is already available?

Companies are indeed already doing a lot, for example management training, SCRUM certifications, design thinking for innovations and, for many, many years, lean management in production. In addition, new work formats have been spilling over into Europe for years, Kanban boards in production, and more and more in the project houses and the offices themselves. In the SCRUM and Design Thinking the customer is given a central place (customer centricity), along with Otto Scharmer's Theory U, positive psychology or Mc Gregor's XY theory, Working Out Loud as a method for getting started with self-organization, peer coaching and peer learning and, of course, the business partner model in HR. And despite all of this, we keep finding that somehow it doesn't connect across hierarchies and silos and employee engagement continues to plummet.

What is the much-celebrated holocracy all about? Shouldn't it provide a remedy?

Holocracy? The term comes from the Greek holos for whole, complete and -cracy for rule (all rule). This means that in this concept there is the greatest possible transparency with regard to decisions and processes in which all employees of a company should be involved.

In holacracy, everything serves the purpose of the organization. Work is organized without further management within cells in roles that are embedded in a circular structure. Responsibility is taken from the roles and not from the job description. In this respect, the Holocracy Constitution The cooperation is controlled by strict rules and joint decisions that provide a framework, a governance. Not every organization and not every employee is ready for this.

So would you say that these innovations and formats have ultimately only shown marginal differences in recent years or decades?

It is true that hierarchies have been reduced and decisions shifted to a broader base so that individual managers no longer have to decide everything on their own. Despite all efforts, however, the old hierarchy often creeps back in. This can be seen, for example, when the boss is suddenly asked for advice quickly. These concepts are all still too close to the classic top-down structure. A rethink is therefore more than necessary!

And what role does HR play in this??

We are also experiencing new organizational formats in the personnel and human resources sector. Around 20 years ago, Dave Ulrich's HR Business Partner model found its way into university courses and companies, particularly large corporations. The advantages and disadvantages of the model have been discussed ever since. But where and how is it actually practiced? Is it already outdated again? No, not by a long shot! However, instead of occupying a strategic role with the "business partner", we often still find HR in an administrative and supporting role. HR can and must position itself at eye level with the specialist departments, management and strategic partners in order to bring the interests of employees, employee centricity, to life and represent them.

How is today's leadership doing: Where are the key deficits? Where is change absolutely necessary?

Of course, there are plenty of more or less "new" leadership models. For some time now, the 30-year-old servant leadership model has been on everyone's lips again. It assumes that the leader wins his followers by putting his own interests behind those of the "led".

Even more current are the "human leadership" approaches, which consistently focus on the interests of people. Or "connected leadership" and "mindful leadership", which focus on mindfulness and self-management. Happiness or feel good leaders are completely new. Incidentally, these are often referred to as "managers" - although it is important to note that the root of this term lies in the description of the circus ring.

At the heart of these management models, however, is always the common eye level in cross-hierarchical dealings and the appreciation sought by employees. However, the desired results have been lacking for years. And so we can see that it is high time for a new understanding - and urgently so.

Thank you very much, Ms. Wietasch, for your fascinating comments on the topic of leadership models, how these are implemented in companies and the key points where employee leadership is still lacking. We look forward to continuing the conversation in part two of the interview: Motivating employees to perform at their best: Is this necessary and possible?

The interview with Barbara Wietasch was conducted by the TCI editorial team.

Editor's note: You are also welcome to read the parts published in the meantime Three and Four.

About your authors

Barbara Wietasch is a Master of Advanced Studies (MAS) in personnel and organizational development and has been passionate about supporting people, teams and organizations in change for more than 20 years, as a coach, trainer and consultant. Her roots are in sales & marketing. This is why she always focuses on people - i.e. internal and external customers - in all organizational changes. In her work, she fundamentally assumes that systems carry the solution within themselves and are knowledgeable. On the journey to "New Work", she sees herself as a bridge builder on various levels.

Eva-Maria Danzer has been a specialist for people and organizations in transition for more than 25 years. She is the managing director of "The Company Journey Guides", a company for corporate development in Munich with over 20 employees. They see themselves as development companions for organizations on their own journey. They work internationally, particularly in four focus areas: Mindset first, Leader-Shift, Hero Customer, Zeitgeist Learning & Organizational Development.

(Cover image: © BullRun | stock.adobe.com)