Change as a driver for growth

R+V Versicherung

Insurance corporation R+V Versicherung AG is successful. The company has been growing faster than the market for years now, and numbers among Germany’s top employers. But the market is changing faster and faster. Competitive pressure and customer demands are constantly rising. For this reason, R+V initiated the change strategy “Growth Through Transformation" (GTT) that aims to optimally prepare the insurer to face these challenges. komm.passion is supporting the market leader in the areas of change management and internal change communication throughout the entire campaign.

Phase 1: “What’s GTT?” – Making the strategy known

As the first employees entered the insurer’s headquarters building in Wiesbaden back in 2018, they were amazed. Hanging unmistakably over the entrance was the logo for the new GTT strategy, heralding the beginning of the five-year change program. It was clear to everyone: Something’s really happening here. 

In order to communicate the new strategy to company staff, komm.passion began “Growth through Transformation” by developing its easily recognizable strategy logo complete with design manual. The new look not only runs through the entire communication (e.g., strategy brochures, roll-ups, posters, branded items, a dedicated GTT intranet area), but also ensures that the new strategy remains present in employees’ minds.

The success of implementing a strategy, however, always depends on the participation of the entire staff – in the case off “Growth through Transformation” (GTT), of more than 15,000 R+V employees. It isn’t enough that employees are aware of the strategy – they also have to understand it and put it to practice in their daily work. However, actually getting the entire staff even to read through the strategy is no easy task. After all, most corporate strategies are sweeping and complex and difficult to read. This is why komm.passion took the corporate strategy text filled with consulting jargon and turned it into a visually attractive brochure written in a way that was easy for all employees to understand. The company passed the brochure from top management down and discussed it together. Also provided were intranet splash screens with questions that could only be answered after reading the brochure. Employees could inform themselves about current GTT topics and discuss them on an internal GTT intranet site. 

The outcome: 72% of the employees think that the strategy was properly communicated within the company. Even at the start of the implementation phase, “Growth through Transformation” was by no means “Just Another Change Program,” but the number-one topic across the entire organization.

Phase 2: “If it ain’t broke...” – Creating awareness of the necessity of change

There was a crucial problem for the company’s change communication: R+V was already performing very well. Motivating employees who see very little reason for change from the perspective of their current, comfortable situation is very difficult. But the step remains a necessary one, because only those who realize the risks of not changing are ready to help shape and drive transformation. The outcome: The GTT intranet articles saw more comments than ever before. And: 80% of the staff agreed: “The new strategy ‘Growth through Transformation’ is easy for me to understand.” 

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​​​​​​​Phase 3: “So what does this have to do with me?” – Involving people in the process

Most R+V employees were able to understand and internalize the strategy. Many, however, did not feel directly affected by the strategy and had no idea how to implement it in their daily work. As a result came the decision that the next campaign would make the topic of being customer-centric real and tangible for everyone. It should also continue to provoke in a positive way so as not to lose any of its punch. 

In order to show how everyone – regardless of whether a trainee or the CEO – is needed to make the strategy a success, komm.passion developed the campaign “My Contribution to Change”. The core of the campaign are videos that feature R+V employees reporting about the first concrete examples of positive change in their work environments. The kicker: In order to make the videos exciting, employees were given roles that fit them or their projects, while allowing them to give authentic feedback about their contributions: The junior team member who developed an app for instant buyer protection for just purchased items became James Bond with a “license to protect”. The head of branding who, together with his team, created the new brand values explained these during a basketball game with the title “Slam Dunk for Brand Values”. And the culture rep who moonlights as a singer spoke about a “culture that rocks”.

At the end of the phase, 70% of R+V employees knew what contribution they could make to implementing GTT. The campaign succeeded in anchoring the vision in employees’ minds. It showed how everyone’s efforts contribute to the achievement of strategic goals and celebrated successes to motivate people to take the next steps. 

Phase 4: “So what now?” – Continuing to drive change

Two years have passed since the GTT launch, two years are still left for R+V. The perfect time for an interim review to make sure the strategy remains up-to-date and to reinforce it for the long term. Time to celebrate past successes, clear up questions and commit the R+V team to the “second half” – and get them excited about GTT all over again. 

To achieve this, komm.passion created a talk show format: The GTT Halftime Show: The video format is the perfect stage for every R+V manager or staff member to review past successes and challenges in their area and to give a preview of upcoming projects.

For this current stage, komm.passion is handling project management, program creation and production plus post production.

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