We believe in the power of people and the power of management development
Hammel & Hochreiter, the management service provider, quickly adapts to changes and provides on-demand manager resources, experience and knowledge in any company culture and industry, using a lean approach and interim managers. H&H is excellent at preparing fast and thorough diagnoses, providing support to companies in crisis management, business development and turnaround tasks, performance improvement projects and succession management for family businesses.
Panic and ad hoc, precipitous actions have characterized the daily operative activities of many domestic companies in recent years. A good diagnosis would be enough, and then with some patience, energy and investment, a professional team can remedy any obstacles encountered, as experienced by the Hammel & Hochreiter team.
Seemingly, only one manager was missing from a Hammel & Hochreiter customer after a company moved its production to a neighbouring country. They wanted to fill the gap right away, but by the time they contacted the management service provider, they already had serious quality and quantity problems with booming logistics, huge increases in freight rates, VAT issues, and dissatisfied customers
Péter Fejős, H&H Partner, interim plant manager, lean expert
“At the first meeting, we already suggested that this seemed like a crisis. However, they did not believe that the company was in crisis since ad hoc and precipitous actions had become a natural part of their daily operation. All they wanted was a quality manager, which was their only alternative for a solution. However, quality has to be caused, not controlled,” says Péter Fejős, H&H Partner, interim plant manager, lean expert.
Most companies trust that hiring a manager will solve everything immediately. However, they try to ignore the crisis and only want to implement changes in the last moment. Hammel & Hochreiter helps to overcome difficulties with targeted, effective interventions such as organizational changes, process development and management training.
Ad hoc, precipitous actions should not be common practice
No matter if we talk about multinational, international or Hungarian owned companies, corporate culture is always made up of processes, systems and people. The three-legged chair is only stable with its three legs. Usually, the people are the ones holding the company together – in some cases the systems. As fluctuation has increased exponentially over the last four to five years, this leg, which has long been so stable, has become extremely weak.
Györgyi Kristóf, H&H Managing Partner, interim management and career management expert
“Six or ten years ago, companies were constantly downsizing. Then, suddenly, four or five years ago, a huge capacity shortage occurred. The right number and quality of people were not available, because hardly anything was spent on training and development for over the years. In fact, for a long time, the experienced, educated 40-50 plus age group was completely abandoned. All of this created a situation similar to when a patient jumps off the operating table and starts the marathon without his hands or feet. The result: Many companies have a huge turnover, lack of employees and executives, processes and structures are not perfect. It is often the case that companies ask us for a financial or controlling manager, and then it turns out that there are no outstanding issues in the financial and reporting field. It seems so because this is the area where numbers show the deviation in processes. As a result, the analysis reveals that several areas need to be developed at the same time, which will require a complete interim team”, – explains Györgyi Kristóf, H&H Managing Partner, interim management and career management expert.
Although it is basic, many companies are reluctant to spend on planning and training. They want a fully trained person and expect immediate results regardless of the industry. Although problems with quality or lack of people are known in many places, ad hoc and continuous panic actions are the usual ways of operation, rather than prevention and conscious intervention. A typical mistake is that many clients are not focusing on the projects or tasks itself, but positions. There is still a kind of false hope that one new manager or a trusted old colleague will be able to solve everything, and magic happens. The strong growth in recent years would require even greater structural and process level changes.
The key to success is a good diagnosis
Instead of taking precipitous actions Hammel & Hochreiter helps companies with targeted, effective solutions. As a first step, we are in many cases required to provide interim management services. People consider us as the problem-solving superheroes who can treat acute situations. Only a few people know that our services are not only available for certain positions for three to six months but, depending on the issue, our experience and expertise may also be used for a few hours or days. It is common practice that the initial interim tasks are followed by further consulting, training, development, search-selection, group or individual coaching services, to ensure success. In other cases, the challenges posed by the generation change can be solved by interim managers, which is not a short process for Hungarian-owned small and medium-sized enterprises.
Rajmund Virágh, H&H Managing Partner, succession planning expert
“Company founders stick to the traditions to handover the company to a family member, usually to their children. However, in most cases, becoming the head of a company is their first job. Before they take over the executive position, it is strongly recommended for the offspring to explore the world, gain experience and then return home for their legacy, like the fairy-tale little prince.”, says Rajmund Virágh H&H Managing Partner, succession planning expert.
Discovering the true nature of problems is a critical point in any service. Companies always try to deny a big crisis. Or they do not even see the crisis, because it is natural for them that the process does not produce results. They try to implement “smart solutions”, which can be very quick but hardly repeatable. “Managers are often unaware of being in a crisis. They have become used to it in recent years. They need us for a specific task, and then it turns out that water is pouring in through ten holes, which should be stopped with a single plug. In this case, only a team can achieve results, a single interim manager is not enough. At every analysis, we are always interested in the company’s needs and ensure that the diagnosis is prepared by the best possible experts”, points out Györgyi Kristóf.
A good diagnosis is key, but appropriate managers are also required for the solution. To comply with this criteria, Hammel & Hochreiter has a permanent professional team working in partnership with other companies in many specialised areas, providing the best experts of each field – whether it is management resource shortfalls, career management or sales preparation. H&H also takes part in the training of interim managers so that they acquire extensive expertise based on the current realities of the market.
Source: Forbes.hu
