The Challenge
Karolina Cederhage came in as the new communications director when Skanska had just got a new CEO and was to restructure the organization at the head office. The new management wanted to see increased profitability in certain parts and create a clearer division of responsibilities and governance. The ambition was that the various functions at the head office would work more strategically and less operationally. Her assignment is to lead a group staff with responsibility for communication and marketing. It consists of a management team with four managers and a total of 16 employees. In addition, Skanska’s business areas have independent communication departments that are responsible for the work in regions and markets. For a communications department, all major changes mean two parallel challenges. On the one hand, the employees are affected by the change just like everyone else, and on the other hand, the department needs to be involved in leading the change work, for example supporting the Group’s managers.
– It was a demanding period and some concerns in the organization, says Karolina. In addition to working on the consequences of the change project, I also needed to build my own team. She realized that some kind of structure was needed for both employees and managers who could help them through the first intensive phase of change.