Change with structure. And culture.

Thinking and acting multinationally

Development, Buildings, Civil Engineering, Specialties – the four new divisions may do very different things, but they still have a lot in common: They all have clear roles and responsibilities and bundle expertise. They exploit synergies within the organisation and between geographic markets, and they optimise the value chain. They increase cooperation and promote a spirit of innovation. Even in a globalised world, construction remains a business rooted in specific regions and countries; but thanks to the new structure, Implenia reinforced integrated thinking and planning on an international basis; and does this in the most efficient way possible.

Christelle Beneteau, Chief Human Resources Officer, says that things have gone well so far: “The four divisions operate independently and strengthened their collaboration. Employees have well adopted to the new structure, identifying themselves strongly with their new divisional homes.” Furthermore, the combination of global excellence and regional competence opens up completely new entrepreneurial opportunities within the company.

The next step is to embed these values in concrete processes across all the divisions and global functions. Christelle Beneteau: “We’ll find out what the values actually mean for us in concrete terms during the implementation phase. How do we put ‘Collaboration’ into practice, for example? The new divisional structure has changed this completely. Collaboration used to mean just knocking on the next door along, but suddenly it also means cooperating with colleagues in Sweden or France, for example. This brings great opportunities; we on the IEC are convinced of that.”

The more global Implenia becomes, the greater the need for a strong, consistent Implenia culture that is expressed through the way we behave and the way we work, as well as through structures and processes – including within Human Resources and through their activities. The aim is to be a preferred employer in all countries so we can recruit, train and retain the best talents we need to meet future challenges. Implenia wants to give its employees the best possible career development opportunities. At a time when specialist expertise is in short supply, recruiting qualified employees is a huge challenge, which Implenia is meeting through numerous initiatives. These include an attractive corporate culture for the entire organisation, establishing an Implenia Academy with global leadership programmes, and introducing a group-wide digital employee system for managing core data, recruitment and time recording.

It is said that it takes a year just to initiate change. The first results then only become visible after 18 months. And it takes three to five years before the cultural change finally establishes itself in people’s minds and in the organisation. How do you keep motivating 10,000 employees to drive the new corporate culture forward? Claudia Bidwell: “The special thing about Implenia is that the people here really love what they do. That’s a great source of motivation for us all. And Implenia people are used to long-term projects. A tunnel or a real estate development project takes years to complete. Our people know what it means to build something new. And they know that the end result will be something they can be proud of.”