Organizational change management

Turning organizational gridlock into buy-in, motion and impact

You want to bring about organizational change. Perhaps you’ve tasked senior management and a dedicated team, put in place subject matter experts and applied frameworks or other best practices.

But these conventional approaches only make things worse. With each attempt, the desired outcome seems to move further out of reach. Productivity goes down. Key stakeholders disconnect. The trend is downward.

In cases like these, success requires a wider angle. Together we align the organization, stakeholders and goals. This creates a fundament. And with that comes long lasting impact. New opportunities become within reach.

At the core, I focus on organizational design, stakeholder engagement and change impact.

Léon de Bakker is the driving force behind making purpose work.

I bring to the table strategy, digital, business, organizational and way of work angles. Thanks to this wide lens, I reach beyond visible challenges and task myself to surface -and address- underlying organizational needs. Also I quickly get to the core of the issue, align all relevant teams on next steps and fast-forward change.

Some of my work

I work for both the public sector - on national, provincial, municipality, ZBO levels - and for profit organizations. Mainly the financial and consulting industry. Below some examples of my  work.

  • In the Netherlands a new governmental body was created by putting together bits and pieces of other existing organizations. The process didn’t go well. Productivity and quality went down. People more and more started to feel isolated. Teams were falling apart.

    I advised and coached senior management on strategy, goal setting and business alignment.

    Also, I introduced value streams which empowered 7 teams/ 175 team members and team management to drive transformational change and scale up impact. Mainly building on Design Thinking, Agile and Lean principles. 

    To future-proof organizational change capabilities, I guided the IT/innovation team in their journey to a more proactive and open mindset, an organizational consulting role and a more prominent position.

  • Teams working in a Dutch governmental agency were forced to embrace an agile way of working. Which was a poor fit given their work and context. On top of that, there was a weak alignment with clients and suppliers. Overall, the level of trust was low.

    I repaired and strengthened the relationship between stakeholders. Both on team and management level.

    Also, I introduced a fitting way of work, removed several impediments, drove solutions for multiple escalations and helped future-proof the IT infrastructure.

    Productivity, reliability, cohesion and motivation of the teams improved greatly. The number of escalations dropped significantly.

  • The executive board of a Dutch municipality was struggling in their reporting on vital projects. Because of underlying organizational issues, the reports to the city council were late, incomplete and inaccurate. This led to a widening gap between the board and council. With elections on the horizon, this was an unwelcome issue for the members of the executive board.

    I digitalized the reports, streamlined underlying processes and simplified tasks and responsibilities.

    As a result, the required time to update the report went down from 4 weeks to 2 days and quality went up dramatically. Consequently, distrust made way for an open line of communication between board and council. The digitalization and streamlined processes won a national award for best innovation in the public domain.

  • A Dutch consultancy firm was failing to secure big tenders. They needed a new commercial strategy to gain competitive advantage. Despite several attempts they didn’t manage. Time was running out.

    Together with senior management I refreshed the organization’s strategy. This we used as a fundament for stakeholder management, effective collaboration and quality management.

    The outcome was a clear focus on future actions, a strengthening of quality and an increase in successful tenders. This combination led to lower costs and higher revenue.

Indicators for success

Curated change seldom hits the mark. Hurdles get in the way such as past-looking mindsets, misaligned stakeholders, lack of focus, strong silos and counter-productive strategies and policies. Failed curated change has a long lasting negative impact on your organization.

I apply three indicators to initially assess readiness for successful organizational change: urgency, senior management’s buy-in, organizational fit.

When applying these indicators, it’s key to go beyond symptoms. To understand underlying dynamics, causes en effects. So, when I enable leaders and teams to address gridlock, I approach our work with a systemic mindset, a practical framework and supporting toolbox.

Get in touch

To me it’s a thrill to turn gridlock into flow and accelerate meaningful growth.