Inspire 925 focuses on employee engagement. How does this fit together with transforming operating models?
If you want to digitize your operating model, then what you’re really talking about is a change in how people work together. And the only way you’re really going to see this change happen is by inspiring people to make that change. There are two things that can motivate such a change: Either pain and suffering or inspiration and excitement. And, hopefully, change is not happening out of pain and suffering. Most likely, it’s because a leader has a vision. And so, how do you inspire that change? By inspiring your people to work together in ways that they haven’t worked together before.

Do you feel that companies focus too much on efficiency and too little on employee happiness?
In that relationship, one does not exclude the other – quite the contrary. Many studies have shown that high-engagement organizations have people that are overall 20 percent more productive. Employees in such organizations also have 48 percent fewer safety incidents, they’re less often sick. And: these companies are 22 percent more profitable.

Sunnie Groeneveld
... is the founder and CEO of Inspire 925, a consultancy focusing on employee engagement and digital transformation. Groeneveld was a member of the “Forbes 30 Under 30” list 2018.

So, if you really want to become more efficient as an organization, the leverage that you would have by creating an environment where everybody is engaged and excited about the work they do every day – it’s an incredible amount of efficiency you could gain if you’d succeed at that.

Sunnie Groeneveld was featured in our September issue "Women" 2018: www.forbes.at/artikel/gestaltungsdrang

Sunnie Groeneveld was guest at the EY "Women in Industries"-Event on November 15 in Zurich: www.forbes.at/artikel/transforming-operating-models