Situation
In 2018, Van de Groep & Olsthoorn in the Netherlands and AC Alpha in Germany worked together to find an interim manager in southern Germany near Munich. The company is one of the largest food production groups in the Netherlands and has factories in Belgium, France, Germany and several other European countries. This client had acquired a small but renowned German family business in 2016. The main goal was to integrate this company into the large organization and make it a production site instead of a complete company with its own sales department, etc.
In 2017, Van de Groep & Olsthoorn appointed a new operations manager to the company, who had the right background and energy to transform the company in this way. But as in many cases, employees resisted the changes, which were exacerbated by several family members still working at the company. Founded 50 years ago, the company is located in a small village where everyone knows everyone else.
Action
When discussing the options with the client, it was decided that the best way forward in this case was to employ an overqualified, experienced interim manager. This interim manager would be given the mandate and full power to change the company, preferably while retaining employees, but radically changing attitudes. As we all know, this is one of the most difficult tasks an interim manager can have. It was also decided that the interim manager had to be a person from the region and also experienced heavy change projects in food production.
To this end, Van de Groep & Olsthoorn turned to Bodo Blanke from AC Alpha. Mr. Blanke managed to find the right candidate within a few days, who was fortunately available and could start at very short notice. This allowed him to work in parallel with the operations manager for a few weeks, which created a smooth transition and minimal disruption to the HR team in the company.
Result
The interim manager is currently employed by this company and both the client and he himself are very satisfied with the progress made. We assume that he will be employed for approx. 6 months, after which we will decide again with the customer what profile the new permanent operations manager will have.
