Turning the crisis into an opportunity
Municipal companies are also feeling the effects of the corona pandemic, one key reason being that many of them are still in the early stages of digitalisation. In the past, cultural factors made this situation even more difficult. The pandemic has now acutely shown just how important these factors are. In this interview, Friederike Lauruschkus and Philipp Guttschuß give insights into the current developments.
How far did municipal companies get with digitalisation before the corona pandemic?
Philipp Guttschuß: In a survey we conducted among 50 executives to coincide with our study ‘matters no.3’, the average degree of digitalisation maturity at public transportation companies was estimated at 4.8 out of 10. Internal factors, such as the existing corporate culture or a lack of skills, are primarily cited as obstacles to a successful digital transformation. Customers, on the other hand, are considered to be the strongest driver.
The corona pandemic, which has required many employees to work from their homes rather than their offices has in many ways hit companies hard and unexpectedly. Many of them had neither the IT systems nor technical infrastructure needed to enable staff to work permanently from home – and they moreover lacked the correspond-ing processes. In other words, they simply didn’t have what was needed at the time.
Which developments have you observed in recent weeks and months with regard to the digital transformation?
Philipp Guttschuß: Companies of general public interest had to keep operations up and running at all costs. While other industries introduced short-time work for a large proportion of their employees, in other sectors electricity and water had to continue to flow, waste had to be disposed of and passengers had to be transported.
These completely changed working conditions have already led to changes in processes and infrastructure. Internal hurdles that had previously slowed down digital transformation for years were torn down at short notice. Video conferencing systems were purchased, approvals were given for private laptops and mobile phones, and management meetings were held remotely. Above all, however, there has been a change in attitude: people now believe that it is actually possible and legitimate to work in different ways.
It remains to be seen how many companies will be able to take advantage of the mo-mentum and digitise not only their (customer) communications and document management but also their sales channels, corporate management or administrative processes.
In your study, the predominant corporate culture is named as the main obstacle to digitalisation. Do you expect the digitalisation boom to impact corporate culture, too?
Friederike Lauruschkus: On a surface level, culture manifests itself in behaviour, and under the surface, in attitudes, norms and values. This is where we are seeing a change in discourse at municipal companies. While management culture in the precorona era was largely root-ed in presence and thus often control, it has now very quickly become clear how important it is for each individual to assume personal responsibility and that trusting in this responsibility makes things work better than before.
Leadership has an extremely important role to play in this change. It is about setting an example for a new attitude towards working together, sharing information and knowledge, and handing over responsibility and scope for decision-making. These cultural values are also a prerequisite for successful digitalisation, for innovation and for change.
How did your company address the crisis? What do you expect from your own corpo-rate culture in the coming months and years?
Friederike Lauruschkus: As a relatively young company working in the consulting industry, we were already quite well positioned in terms of digital processes and infrastructure before the crisis struck. That is why the contact restrictions meant not just physical restrictions but led to a psychological rather than a digital change. The otherwise lively personal exchanges in our offices or on business trips, which our employees describe as an important part of civity’s corporate culture, were suddenly no more.
But digital tools can also help here. Regular video conferences in large or small groups were initiated to exchange information about projects, internal and private matters. Communication had to be planned, yes, but it took place (and still does so) more consciously. However, this state of affairs is not sustainable in the long term, neither at our company nor elsewhere. For a certain period of time, a crisis can in fact strengthen corporate culture, because everyone is pursuing a common goal and there is a stronger focus. In the long term, however, it is obvious that personal interaction is also extremely important; it creates identity and a sense of belonging and that’s what people need in a good working environment.