“Many companies rely too much on attitude and mindset”

Dusseldorf Anyone who asks Sirka Laudon what he has to do to ensure that his transformation project in the company fails in any case will receive these instructions on how to fail: “Then he should radiate little motivation, carelessly outline the target situation, fall out with all stakeholders, the structure and the Leave processes as they are and only appeal to culture and behavior.”

The head of human resources at Axa Germany believes that many companies that want to initiate change rely too much on the attitude and mindset of their employees. Structural and process changes are more effective drivers from which a different culture then automatically “tumbles out,” she explains in the Handelsblatt podcast “Rethink Work”.

A worldwide survey of more than 500 managers by the management magazine “Harvard Business Review” in the middle of last year goes in a similar direction. In it, 84 percent of those surveyed stated that the right culture plays an important role in the transformation. At 82 percent, almost as many named the right processes, followed by the right technology (79 percent).

Basically, the 53-year-old psychologist, who before becoming a board member at the insurer Axa had already accompanied a number of transformation projects at Otto, Axel Springer and Deutsche Bahn, finds: “Willingness to change is something that is incredibly overrated in companies.” One has the impression that that people per se are just waiting to embrace the new. Most of them are very persistent.

How open one is to new experiences is strongly based on the personality of the individual – and “cannot simply be changed,” says Laudon. This finding is also provided by a well-known model from personality psychology. Each person is described using five characteristics (“Big Five”), one of which is openness.

In addition to genetic factors, age also has an influence on the expression of the Big Five factors. With 30 Studies show that the personality is already well developed and then becomes more and more stable. The background: From this age many people have found their place in life, which also strengthens their character.

“Biting inhibition of executives”

However, Laudon believes that the company does not only need people with a constant urge for change. On the contrary, “that would lead to quite a mess”. The cautious conservatives are also needed.

At the same time, the Axa head of human resources experiences a certain amount of “management reluctance” during change processes. Many are unsettled and do not want to appear too dominant. But: “Agile cultures are not oases of self-realization,” says Laudon. Despite all the democracy, self-organization and much-vaunted psychological security, it needs someone who clearly sets the direction. “The emotional land of milk and honey does not make everything better per se, and a culture of mistakes must not lead to neglect.”

More: You can hear the previous episode of Handelsblatt Rethink Work here.