Janina Mütze is co-founder and CEO of Civey, the Berlin tech company for digital market and opinion research.
(Photo: Civey, Marc Hohner)
In newspaper interviews, talk shows or panel discussions, Germany’s top managers constantly talk about the pressure to change and new beginnings. Nevertheless, every third employee considers their own company to be insufficiently prepared for the advancing digitization. The market and opinion research institute Civey came to these conclusions. Apparently, they don’t trust their executive floors to successfully implement the transformation that many like to talk about.
No wonder: Despite the many debates and the loud calls for it, only a few managers are still breaking new ground. Civey surveyed 2000 decision-makers from private companies for the Handelsblatt newspaper: Just 20 percent spend money to develop new business models.
And also only one in five company leaders state that they invest in accelerating the transformation in order to gain advantages over the competition. How can it be that there is so much talk about innovation and digital transformation, but the implementation seems to be left behind in four out of five cases?
Personally, I’ll soon be just as tired of the demands for an update for Germany as the ongoing crises that companies have to change because of. According to a representative Civey survey, confidence in the country has fallen by 40 percent since May 2020, and just under every fourth German citizen is optimistic about the future. During the same period, the number of people who feel powerless has doubled to 32 percent.
From this low mood after three years of stacking crisis one can literally read the desire for a powerful update for the country. The data shows that citizens are feeling changes.
Common goal is missing
What they haven’t experienced yet: a common vision that the country is striving for and where it is working. This creates a feeling of insecurity. The feeling of the population is understandable. But that is precisely why pioneers are needed, or rather: pioneers! Entrepreneurs should not just wait for this vision.
Entrepreneurs should develop visions of the future together with employees and make their own organization future-proof with new ideas.
(Photo: dpa)
Instead, company leaders should be aware of their own sphere of activity and ask themselves: What can I do myself? Anyone who leads a team or an entire company has leverage if there is a lack of motivation and orientation for tomorrow.
Entrepreneurs should therefore work together with employees to develop visions of the future and make their own organization future-proof with new ideas. Perspectives on a small scale can boost confidence on a large scale.
Entrepreneurs and employees can examine the opportunities and risks of digital change for the industry, the company and their own tasks. And be open about which future issues still need to be clarified, how and by when. Civey data shows employees want better communication at work. Here we go!
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