We would never have been able to record our music in such a quality without this special working-environment.

Götz W. Werner, Founder

The most important customers are our employees.

Heribert Gathof, Geschäftsführer

We love lateral-thinking. Only the we can step our of our current patterns.

Isabella Heidinger, Head of HR

HR departments should refrain from ‘cooking’ up a concept behind closed doors and then presenting it to the employees.

Viktoria Schwab

In any case, you receive a counter question first. I am learning a lot here about myself.

Alena Klinz

We get quite a lot of confidence from our CEO.

Lars Oltmanns

Appreciation isn`t anything that is only provided by the boss to the team, but it happens in all directions.

Manuela Franz

It is wonderful to see how the self-confidence visibly grows within our apprentices.

Axel Tripkewitz, CEO

Our employees decide by themselves the amount of the bonus-payments.

Isabella Heidinger, Head of HR

Leading is a challenging task that you simply cannot do casually.

Uwe Urbschat

Our leaders are allowed to take a lot of time to reflect the own leadership-behaviour.

Jeanette Dedow

In the old days, the strategy was developed by the headquarter. Now, all of us are asked to co-create.

Gunther Olesch, CEO

Since we put the employees in the middle of our strategy, our revenue increased by 60 percent.

Wolfgang Nickles

There is a new way of interaction between human beings – especially between bosses and their team.

Martin Grosser

In the middle of the crisis, the transparency and the close contact of the management team helped us to feel secure.

Inge Bramer

We wanted to say “thank you” to our management team … because it is very special, what is happening here.

SUCESSFUL ORGANISATONS

Here we will portray companies that have already succeeded with the cultural change.

On one hand, such a cultural change is made by economic indicators and on the other by a special management and relationship culture which is visible and tangible. This is the culture in which employees can develop their own potentials particularly well.

We have looked at each of these companies closely. We have talked to several employees and managers and listened carefully to identify different points of view so that we could obtain the best possible objective insights.

The selection of the portrayed companies did not require any quid pro quo. All costs were carried by the culture change code initiative.

Upstalsboom

“I have a vision of happy people,” company director Bodo Janssen explains. This expresses the ideal image for his hotel chain, Upstalsboom, which he runs now as a second-generation owner. What he means is that happiness is what he wants above all for his employees. “When I am a grandfather, I want to tell my grandchildren how I succeeded with this vision in our family.”

Eckes-Granini Germany

At the end of the annual Eckes-Granini Germany kick-off event, when the boss came to his final words, two employees suddenly ran to the stage and snatched the microphone from him. “I think we should take the opportunity to express our gratefulness to our management because what they are doing here is not normal,” they shouted into the microphone. The rest of the staff joined in with loud applause.

The German Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra Bremen

Whenever the German Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra Bremen comes together for rehearsal, it is not uncommon for some curious students to come along and watch the musicians. Not from the audience seats, but close up—students are sitting quietly in the orchestra on the rehearsal stage, enchanted by the concentration of the artists.

Phoenix Contact

“It took us 84 years to reach an annual turnover of 1 billion Euros. Now we have increased our turnover to 1.5 billion—in only four years,” says managing director for personnel, computer science and law, Prof. Dr. Gunther Olesch, who enthusiastically welcomed us with a firm handshake …

Fujitsu Semiconductor Europe

Germany and the crisis year 2009. The turnover was breaking down everywhere. The downward trend did not stop at the semiconductor industry, either. Fujitsu Semiconductor Europe (FSEU) management was trying to control the crisis. However, despite all the measures taken by the directorate, after a few months the dismissal of employees appeared inevitable …

dm-drogerie markt

The first thing that the 1,500 apprentices starting their training this year at dm-drogeire markt have to get used to is the fact that they are no longer referred to as trainees. The Karlsruhe drugstore chain has decided on a new and very unique training concept. There are no students, only Learners.

Hammerschmid Maschinenbau

“We are a factory for personality development,” says company founder Hans Hammerschmid, joyfully laughing about his engineering company in Upper Austria, Bad Leonfelden. It is not really surprising that you, upon your first visit with the up-and-go organizer, find a book by Ricardo Semler on his desk. Semler is known for the radical democratization of the company Semco …

Weleda

“The year 2012 was like sailing on the high seas in biting wind and under considerable turbulence,” says Uwe Urbschat. The traditional company Weleda witnessed an unusually rapid and vital change in 2012. After decades characterized by stable revenues, beginning in 2008 Weleda repeatedly experienced losses …