​Are you looking for someone who finally knows how to truly align the organization to strategic goals and have people embrace the changes or transformation ahead?
Anouk not only knows how to engage all layers, from boardroom to front line staff, with her inspiring talks but also consults on the how to build fun, on topic, high quality change & transformation programs that actually mean something to everyone involved.
Change is a Campaign and a Cause
We all know the numbers. A whopping 70% of change and transformations initiatives don’t reach and maintain their stated goals. Why is that? Because, of course, you’ll need your head (strategic decisions) and hands (processes and projects) to get there. But it’s the heart (people) of the organization that make these initiatives come alive. And we usually fail to have a structured approach to engaging people on where we’re going and need to be.
Whether the change or transformation is about sales excellence, digitization, sustainability, customer intimacy, shrinking, growing, more efficient processes, or a new way of working, it is always the people, the employees, that need to know, understand, embrace and implement the new strategy. Change is a campaign and a cause. Spend your time on the hearts of the team and you will win their minds as well.
Start with why
The starting point for all change and transformation is to have a clear, compelling and inspiring story. Why should things be different? Why now? What is the purpose, the cause? And why should anybody care? Mind you, what is clear to the executive leadership is often still cloudy to the rank and file.
Slow down to speed up
By designing a purpose based campaign and investing time in facilitating dialogue, collecting feedback as well as new ideas, you mobilize talent, energy and capacity for 'change readiness.' This may be time-consuming in the beginning but gives you wings as you go. And the ability later on, to spread them as you go deeper into the veins of the organization.
Keep your eye on the ball
If things fall off the table, put them back on again or find new blocks to build with. No shaming or blaming. We learn as we go and we redirect as we navigate new developments.
Conclusion
Often there is vagueness and noise around changes and transformations. Things are not clear and well understood. Or they are, but we feel tired and resistant towards yet another change program coming our way. But if it makes sense, if we’ve been engaged and if it’s been made easier to succeed than to fail, resistance may not be totally out of the way, but not in the way of embracing the new. If we expect and plan for resistance, we can do it!
About Anouk
I always felt a deep desire to guide people and organizations to better and brighter For 20 years, I have helped companies as diverse as KLM, Boom Chicago and The Social Hub (formally the Student Hotel) navigate change, find purpose and execute a campaign with more inspiring narratives around who they are and want to be.
Born in Hilversum, I was cast in a TV series at the age of 12. It ignited a lifelong interest in the art of film, TV, theater and the stories being told in them. The journeys of heroes and villains, their successes and failures, make us appreciate the value of story, and helps us find purpose in life experiences.
The corporate world is also about storytelling, and after studying organizational coaching and change management, I found my true calling as a consultant. My rich career has taken me to help guide diverse large and medium sized companies through key periods in their growth.
At KLM, I was their Change and Transformation Manager, responsible for engaging their staff of 30,000 people to embrace a cultural change called Moving Your World to enhance more focus on the customer experience and customer centric behaviour throughout the organization.​​
For The Student Hotel, together with people from all over the organization, I helped redefine their purpose, as they were transforming from an organization, focussed on hospitality for students to a social, creative and international community offering a whole new concept of products, services and creative network. Thus becoming “more than just a hotel”, this also prepared for the new name of the company: The Social Hub.
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At Boom Chicago, a creative organization of 50, I helped restructure their executive team to improve and align the goals of their sales, front of house and artistic departments. Already this had led to more internal satisfaction, a rich creative output and most importantly more revenue and profit.
All three of these organizations were experiencing similar challenges. The old way of doing things was no longer working and while they knew what they wanted to do they were struggling to accomplish their goals. They needed to transcend (sometimes self-imposed) boundaries and strengthen (already existing) connections, to become more inspiring to their internal and external stakeholders.
Reasons to book Anouk
Keynote Speaker on..
Define & design of your change & transformation trajectories
Journey seeking
The idea is usually that people are resistant to- or even fear change.
But everyone watches films and tv series. Why is that? Why are we so attracted to journeys and experiences that will cause a strong emotional and/or psychological reaction in us? We take these audiovisual rollercoasters, aware that we will have moments of intense trepidation, fear, surprise, emotional ups and downs, highs and lows before we reach an often unexpected ending.
In this fascinating talk, Anouk de Valk shares her own research into humans and her conclusions, related to our tendency towards being journey-seekers.
Understanding the need for the journey - and our willingness to go on it -
has the power to transform how we approach workplaces, transformations in organizations, as well as a multitude of challenges in our personal lives. Rather than shelter others from the journey, bringing naturally journey-seeking people along for the experience, has the power to bring us to a shared purpose and greater engagement.
Creating space for change
The way we approach change in an organization matters. In fact, the way we design this can be the key factor in determining whether it sticks or fails - and whether our teams are on board with us or looking for new opportunities. An experienced transformation strategist herself, Anouk brings a deep understanding of the way to bring about change from within: by bringing people along for the journey. In this talk
she shares stories, use cases and data to help leaders and managers first understand the role of people and teams in transformation, and then a practical methodology to involving people deeply in the process of change - creating an organization of purposeful change agents.
Drawing on her experience in even the most complex organizations, Anouk can define a structured approach to your human-centered change and transformation trajectories, in a way that will bring agency and ownership to the process. Her methodology has been used in very diverse, international organizations such as KLM, Bosal, Cohesive Group, NL Mental Care Group, Boom Chicago and others to bring about people-led change. Let Anouk design a series of creative, inspiring and active workshops for your organization to drive the kind of transformation that gets the entire team (whether small or global, board or front line) working towards a common purpose.
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines
"As Change & Transformation Manager, Anouk was responsible for the adoption of KLM's purpose: "Moving Your World to become the most customer centric, efficient and innovative European Network Carrier". She had to ensure that our KLM purpose was in the hearts & minds of all 30,000 colleagues. In her own authentic and professional way she initiated a human-centered strategy and advised our KLM Board of Managing Directors on how to engage our people. Anouk dares to go off the beaten track, is innovative and persistent in a pleasant way. I have enjoyed working with her and I definitely recommend her. Anouk can add value to your/every company."
Miriam Kartman | Chief People Officer & Executive Vice President
Human Resources – Industrial Relations