ISS Deutschland

Luisa Oberhaeuser

Luisa Oberhäuser is an accomplished leader in the field of Learning & Development, currently serving as the Director of Learning & Development at ISS Deutschland. With over a decade of experience in leadership roles focused on international leadership development, Luisa has established herself as a transformative figure in the industry. Her career includes more than five years at an international top-tier consulting firm, where she honed her skills in organisational and people development with a particular emphasis on digitisation, change, and new work. Luisa is renowned for her exceptional stakeholder management abilities, engaging effectively at all organisational levels.

“The fog is here to stay”, I learned in a change management lecture. Since then, I have realised how true this is: change has not only become constant but is accelerating continuously. It has become crucial for companies and leaders to navigate through change and develop both individual as well as organisational capabilities.

Learning strategies need to be developed based on the company’s strategy and must be continuously adjusted to align with a changing strategy and future skills and mindset.

Once the needed capabilities are derived from a strategic perspective, the next step is to evaluate  how organisational capabilities are currently being developed and then to define a “from-to” journey, e.g. from having a performance focus in an individual business area to maximising performance on a group level by leveraging synergies and technology.

“Talking about agility: There are a lot of things we can adapt from agile methods, even if agile is not our core method of working. Integrating some tools like design thinking, Kanban boards or retrospectives and lessons learned.”

Next, we must assess the capabilities of the leadership cohort and begin shifting the mindset. This involves developing a common strategic vision and exploring the “why” behind the new strategy.

A key to getting leaders to develop and promote change is to create “aha” moments. These moments or learnings are the icing on the cake of any learning intervention. thereto achieve this, we need a good facilitator to push leaders out of their comfort zone – best by experiencing something new. For example, to deepen digitisation skills it is best to build digital elements into learning interventions and bring in pioneers who share the art of digital possibility and their cases, followed by transfer exercises or discussions. Action plans should then be created for feasible implementation exercises to transfer new tools and ideas to our business.  I favour the idea of doing small pilots, of trying out new ideas and tools – being agile and open to learning.

Talking about agility: There are many things we can adapt from agile methods, even if agile is not our core way of working. Integrating tools like design thinking, Kanban boards, retrospectives, and lessons learned can be very beneficial

While we talk a lot about new methods and experiences, I often find that leaders’ mindsets are still routed in old structures and experiences. Operative leaders, in particular, are often too busy to lead change. They lack the time to explore new ways of working or actively implement new ideas and techniques. If we want to transform and innovate, we need to do less of other things. Supporting leaders in analysing how they and their teams invest their time is key.

In summary,  on the road to new capabilities in the digital age,  strategy needs to be communicated and aligned with development programs that touch the leaders’ minds and allow them experience what the new way of working will look like.