“If fortune favors the brave, SAP stands as a testament to how courage and innovation can shape formidable organizations and drive corporate success. As a global leader in business process management software, the German multinational constantly forges ahead, setting the bar for others in the industry.
Gina-Marie Collignon, SAP’s Vice-President and Head of Marketing for EMEA South, believes that the company’s commitment to workplace diversity and effective change management is pivotal in propelling the software giant to new heights and maintaining a competitive edge.
In a world where change is not merely an event but a constant state, mastering effective change management is crucial for organizational success. For seasoned leaders like Collignon, building everything on trust and openness is the cornerstone of successful transformation. “The most important factor for transformation and change management is that you build everything on trust and openness,” emphasizes the VP.
Collignon highlights the essential qualities of an effective change leader, including empathy, communication skills, courage, and active listening. As a servant leader, she places her team, business stakeholders, and customers at the forefront. SAP’s own trust measuring tools confirm that this approach, among others, yields positive results, enhancing empowerment, engagement, mutual trust, and retention scores within the organization.
Collignon stresses the importance of establishing a foundation of trust among team members, fostering resilience, and adapting to change for a healthy work environment and business growth. Effective communication of the “why” behind the change is also crucial. “If you understand the purpose of the change, it helps you understand the outcome and how to best influence it,” she explains.
While trust and understanding are paramount, successful change management relies on various factors, from solid strategy to innovative techniques such as surveys, questionnaires, interviews, and design thinking workshops. Collignon emphasizes the importance of creativity and out-of-the-box thinking, encouraging a fearless approach to failure and learning from it.
In addition to inspiring its teams to blaze trails, SAP is committed to cultivating a culture of inclusion and diversity. Operating in 75 countries across EMEA with 86 nationalities, SAP prioritizes cultural diversity and gender parity. “In SAP, we have a commitment to have a high number of [women] leaders in the boardroom, as well as in the workforce,” affirms Collignon.
With a foundation of trust, creativity, and diversity, Gina-Marie Collignon and the SAP team exemplify the transformative power of change management in building global businesses and delivering enduring results.”
