issue 1 - Roland Berger

DOSSIER #01 Trust
Hilti Chairman Michael Hilti (left),
Renault CEO Louis Schweitzer: “It’s extremely
important to demonstrate trust and
confidence in the abilities of employees.”
organization should be executed as if it were a
change management process, with responsibilities
assigned and plenty of freedom given to employees.
Schwenker believes that the following six
action areas are central to this:
p
excellent leadership,
joint formulation of strategy,
transparent corporate governance,
decentralized organizational structure,
trust-enhancing personnel work, and
fair performance evaluations.
SKEPTICS, WHO CONSIDER the hard work
involved in dealing with soft factors a complete
waste of time and money, might rethink their position
after taking a look at the small Alpine state of
Liechtenstein. The biggest company in the principality,
the international construction supplier Hilti AG,
has been working on its corporate culture for the
last 20 years. “The fact that we have always paid
attention to people and corporate culture has nothing
to do with philanthropy, but instead is one of
the big secrets of our success,” says Michael Hilti,
company chairman and the son of the company’s
founder Martin Hilti.
TODAY HILTI HAS A REPUTATION across the major
construction sites of the world as a leader in innovation
in demolition technologies and constructionrelated
fastening systems. This can be attributed to
the unusual creativity and above-average motivation
of the company’s 14,500 employees. It is also a
result, adds Michael Hilti, of the full commitment of
his top management. Even the four board members
invest ten working days every year in culture training,
as the three-day sessions are called at Hilti, in
which each division worldwide discusses values
and determines how it is intending to accomplish
both its own and the corporate objectives. Michael
Hilti warns against the view that investing in a trustbased
culture is a one-time endeavor. “Corporate
culture is not a project with a set time frame like
reengineering, but rather an integral component of
everyday business.” Regular surveys of employees
and customers enable the group to measure its corporate
culture-related progress. The most profitable
units are indeed those in which employees work
with the highest degree of commitment. The reason:
Customers are more satisfied there.
THE RULE SEEMS almost too simple, but it
works, says Michael Hilti. Value-oriented management
raises employee satisfaction and work morale,
which in turn increases customer satisfaction and
loyalty. “That’s how we set a cycle in motion that
generates sustained, profitable growth.”
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think: act