OKR METHODSuccessful implementation of a corporate strategy
 “Multiversum has helped us implement our new business strategy, and the OKR methodology has been instrumental in its success.”
Dr. Martin Brölsch
(Managing Director Global Tech I)
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Situation und Challenge:
Global Tech I (GT I), operator of a 400 MW offshore wind farm with approximately 80 employees, approached Multiversum with the following challenge: “We were in the midst of a change process, with a new strategy at its core. Our challenge was to operationalize this strategy within our highly heterogeneous organization.”
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Solve: Optimize – Improving what exists
“We were looking for a way to transparently communicate our vision, align and strategically direct the company,” GT I entrusted Multiversum GmbH with these words to steer the future direction of the company, engage employees, and make success measurable. The scope of the project was to involve all areas of the company in the transformation process, with the goal of maintaining transparent communication, integrating the knowledge of the entire workforce, and pulling together as a team.
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Solution:
At GT I, Multiversum GmbH recommended the introduction of the “Objective and Key Results” (OKR) method. From a corporate perspective, this is a framework that offers the significant advantage of making difficult-to-quantify strategic objectives measurable, thus providing management with a tool for assessing success. Additionally, from an employee perspective, the method provides transparency regarding the goals to be achieved, which promotes the breakdown of information silos, allows for new thinking, and enhances the sense of teamwork.
A crucial first step in introducing the OKR framework was to tailor it specifically to the customer’s needs. Both management and employees received intensive training in the methodology through interactive training sessions. Thanks to a balanced combination of top-down goals (Midterm Goals) and bottom-up initiatives (Objectives and Key Results), an initial set of OKRs was created in a short amount of time. During the first OKR cycle, Multiversum served as process guardians, significantly contributing to the successful implementation. In the second cycle, the primary responsibility lay with GT I, but Multiversum supported the method’s implementation with targeted guidance at various points along the way.
“Our company has benefited from the clear definition of upcoming tasks. The precise formulation of new goals and the impetus to articulate them accurately and purposefully has not only helped us in achieving our new strategy but also in proactively implementing changes.”
ESG STRUCTUREDEVELOPMENT OF A SUSTAINABILITY STRATEGY
“We are delighted with Multiversum GmbH’s expertise on ESG issues. A team of experts actively supported us in shaping Salzgitter AG’s sustainability strategy and always went the extra mile. A collaboration at eye level that I am happy to recommend!”
Gunnar Groebler
(Chairman of the Management Board of the Salzgitter Corporation)
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Situation und Challenge:
As an energy and emissions-intensive company, Salzgitter AG is particularly in the spotlight of increasing regulatory requirements in the area of sustainability. A focus on the central challenges in the areas of environment, social affairs and governance (ESG), was therefore of crucial importance for the long-term success and future viability of the company, while at the same time taking into account the overall Group strategy.
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Solve: Transform – Enabling change:
As a group with a decentralized structure, Salzgitter AG needed to take a holistic approach to sustainability from an entrepreneurial perspective, taking into account existing processes, established competencies and the specific requirements of its multiple business areas. Our mission was to support the internal ESG team in the complex task of coordinating the stakeholders to be included, develop the relevant technical content and the necessary governance structures in order to implement them successfully at the group level.
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Solution:
As the basis for Salzgitter AG’s long-term strategy process, our consultants developed an ESG governance structure hand in hand with our client, which established continuous cooperation within the project consisting of a ESG working group as well as communication channels with risk management and the Executive Board level, among others. Here, Multiversum GmbH was able to make full use of its extensive experience in managing internal company processes.
A successful corporate strategy – especially in the area of sustainability – is always characterized by a clear prioritization of options and deriving ambitious objectives accordingly. Thus, the next step in the project was to carry out a so-called “materiality analysis”, which identified the most important sustainability issues for our client according to the principle of double materiality. To this end, stakeholder groups and function holders were identified and included in the determination of key topics of the strategy through expert interviews and on the basis of an online survey.
Building upon our analysis, the following project steps included a strategic positioning on the topic of sustainability coordinated directly with the responsible Executive Board of SZAG, the conception of strategic fields of action and focus areas as well as the description and supplementation of specific management approaches to key topics, objectives and management approaches. In close cooperation with Investor Relations and Corporate Communications, among others, our consultants finally steered the developed content into a report form structured according to the new ESRS sector standards and a completely revised sustainability section of the Salzgitter AG homepage.
