HLP Hirzel & Partner Management consultants
Performance areas
What can we do for you?
Our consulting work is based on experience and competencies that we develop and combine in four fields. Your commitment and passion are focused on the sustainable development of your organization: competitiveness, profitability, a new performance. In doing so, we support you with our tailored competencies.
Strategy and business unit management
Aligning businesses strategically
For us, strategy means finding the path to competitive superiority. The biggest hurdle is implementation.
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Innovation and project management
Exploiting innovation potential
Innovation is considered a key to success. To achieve this, companies need an understanding of markets and customers, a feel for developments and creativity – and coherently designed processes.
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Empowering change with project management
Successfully mastering corporate change, implementing innovative ideas, realizing complex changes and innovations. Vital project management brings new dynamics.
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Leadership and cooperation
If you want change, you have to offer support
Leadership in change means encouraging and giving all involved the necessary security, orientation, self-confidence, and confidence.
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Organization and Process Management
Increasing performance with process management
Whether in continuous improvement or quality leaps: Vibrant companies are capable of adapting their processes to changing conditions.
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Shaping and developing organizations
The purpose of organizational development is to harmonize the efficiency and effectiveness goals, the humanity goals of the organization and the goals of the employees in a planned manner and to use them productively as a shaping force.
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Procurement Management
Long-term measurable contributions to corporate success such as savings and higher value creation: Procurement management does more than just cut costs in the short term.
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Mastering challenges together
The right way to superiority in competition – strategy?
Business is becoming more short-winded, it is becoming more difficult to be in the right place at the right time with the right product. It is a matter of having several possible courses of action in front of one’s eyes in order to be able to decide at the right moment. This also means learning faster and trying out new things, adapting them and making them a success – or discarding them in good time.
In this environment, continuous strategy work is not easy. At the same time, today more than ever, it is a key management task that must be focused on every day.
“Let’s be realistic, let’s try the impossible.”
Nonetheless, the results of a HLP survey show that the strategy process is only effective to a limited extent: The efficiency of the strategy process – i.e., what remains after initial aspiration and ultimate realization – is stated at 15 to 20 percent at best. Why is this so? The reality of the organization with its informal structures, capabilities and resistances is often not taken into account. Therefore, for HLP strategy work is always also organizational development.
Strategy work is organizational development
Of course, successful strategy work is always methodically supported: Market segmentation, competitive analysis, positioning models play an important role. From HLP’s point of view, however, organizational development skills and methods – such as coaching, team development, performance programs, large group events, etc. – are becoming more important. Where the existing strategic concept is no longer effective in the long term, strategy work must be more dynamic and lead to faster results. HLP has developed a proven offering for this purpose, which combines classic strategy work with elements of organizational development.
Current topics
Strategy coaching – Supporting management, executive teams and strategy teams in the implementation of strategy processes, promoting strategic thinking among executives – and integrating strategy into day-to-day business.
Positioning in business areas – The goal is to open up new business areas. This requires a coherent overall strategy – and a special focus in the individual business area.
Strategy review – Gaining a clear assessment of the strategy work in the company and developing priorities and next steps.
Shaping the future – Innovation management
Managing innovations properly is a key skill for corporate success. In Germany alone, it is estimated that around 30,000 new products are launched onto the market every year. But 70 percent of market launches fail or fall significantly short of their targets. Obviously, it is high management art to produce successful innovation again and again.
The challenges are, for example: the effective integration of customers and suppliers, the acceleration of the “time to market”, the integration and interlocking with the supply chain as well as the growing complexity (internationality, systems) of the products.
Strategy, processes, organization and “mind set”
First, it must be clarified in which direction and in which form (make-buy-cooperate) the innovation is to take place. Then it is a matter of optimizing the processes. Models such as the “Stage Gate” process developed by Cooper or master plan concepts from HLP such as the “New Product Launch” are guiding principles here. Those involved in the innovation process must know their responsibilities and roles, and finally, the existing culture must be further developed with professional change management.
We advise on innovation
HLP has been working with Germany’s most innovative companies for years and has developed a solid model for how companies advance in the core competence of innovation.
The “Integrated Innovation Management” model consists of four interlocking building blocks.
Strategy and resources: Alignment of innovation management, the definition of search fields for innovation, and optimal allocation of resources
Processes and IT: Design of the innovation process, software for controlling innovation management
Management and organization: application of business process management to the innovation process, clarification of roles and responsibilities in the innovation process
Culture and Change: Establishment of an innovation-friendly culture or its further development in the direction of the innovation goals.
Current topics
Open Innovation – Increasing creative potential. Open Innovation systematically uses the ideas of suppliers and users.
Optimize innovation process – Bring compelling innovations to market better and faster with clearly structured processes.
Integrated innovation management – For nine out of ten companies worldwide, innovation is a top priority. But it often suffers from poor implementation. Consistent integration can increase the productivity of innovation management.
New Product Launch – Innovation should become a core competence – and succeed again and again. The integrated concept “New Product Launch Process” sets the highest standards for the entire process of product development and market launch.
Innovation Live – Learning from recipes for success, initiating collaborations, networking. The “innovation live” initiative.
The difficult spot landing – The innovation route from idea to market launch is apt to tie up many and expensive resources.
Innovation audit – Putting the innovation capability to the test – with the view from the outside and those involved in the company. In-depth analysis with fields and levers for improvement.
Innovation Lab: Bundling creativity – How can creativity actually be bundled in the organization and methodically unfold space for creativity?
Empowering change – Project management
Successfully mastering corporate change, implementing innovative ideas, realizing complex changes, and innovations. In addition to courage, creativity, and entrepreneurial thinking, successful project management requires a high degree of organizational, communicative, and technical skills. This applies to the leadership of a project as well as to the management of the project portfolio as a whole: How are the right projects selected and prioritized, the scarce resources best deployed, and the exchange of know-how managed?
Project management is not new, but still a current challenge. Depending on the study, the efficiency of projects is estimated at between 30 and 60 percent.
Developing project management competence
HLP taps on individual skills as well as on the expertise of teams and the organization as a whole: In cooperation with our clients, we develop the necessary processes, introduce the appropriate methods, qualify and coach the project managers and their teams, support the cross-project know-how transfer, follow up the success.
Current topics
Professionalize project clients – Internal clients are key persons for the success of a project. Reason enough to sharpen their roles and responsibilities.
Develop project management competence – How do we measure project management competence – and how do we develop it? HLP supports companies in the process of evaluation, alignment and the necessary development programs.
Optimize project management system – Project management competence is developed, provides thrust, promotes motivation, increases performance. Rapid application in pilot projects provides practical proof.
Manage complex project portfolio – Managing the project portfolio creates transparency about projects, aligns them with corporate goals, identifies risks and synergy potential, sets priorities, and ensures more effective use of resources.
Making key projects succeed – Despite skilled methodology and organization, the project is ailing. What about management support, resources, communication? Project reviews and project coaching help ensure success.
Implementing performance and efficiency programs – Programs include several projects that are supposed to deliver the expected benefits in total. This requires coordinated planning, coordinated implementation, comprehensive controlling, and the use of best practices.
Promote know-how transfer between projects – Project management creates new opportunities for information culture and know-how transfer. Lessons learned are used across projects, unnecessary effort is reduced.
Communicate project management: Project managers, teams, steering committees, executives – The lively exchange about requirements and possibilities helps to strengthen management competence in a practice-oriented way, to support motivation, to create movement.
Who wants change must offer support
Every change requires the courage to embrace something new. Leadership in change therefore means, above all, encouraging. If you want to succeed in this, you have to be able to give all those involved security, orientation, self-confidence and confidence. Only where this emotional, mental, social, economic and moral support is provided is there a willingness to change.
In times of accelerated technical, political and cultural change, this willingness on the part of people is a key factor in determining the success of a society or a company.
Current topics
Coaching of executives – A new position, personal crises, conflicts with employees or superiors, etc.: Coaching supports executives in their personal development in a resource-oriented manner.
Forming and developing teams – Increasing team performance – Clear goals, a common strategic direction, the distribution of tasks according to skills and competencies as well as rules of cooperation and communication: Successful teams have worked on themselves.
Leadership – Developing personal leadership skills – Successful leadership is based on the attitudes and actions of leaders: their inner strength, their communication skills, their clarity and their ability to make decisions and enforce them.
Managing conflicts constructively – Wherever people work together, there will be conflicts. Lasting successful cooperation is based not least on the ability to manage conflicts constructively.
Collegial consultation – Extending competence in dealing with difficult situations through exchange with colleagues.
Process management ensures the performance of the organization
The structure of the organization delineates responsibilities and defines reporting lines. The processes determine the performance, aligned with customer requirements and corporate goals. Process management ensures competent planning, organization and control of the value chains, in terms of systematics as well as in terms of ways of thinking, working and behaving. Only in this way can the company achieve sustainable competitive advantages and value enhancement.
Vibrant companies must be able to adapt their management and core processes to changing conditions. Continuous improvement or quality leaps do not succeed with standardized recipes, but with suitable organizational projects that lead to efficient and sustainable solutions.
The decisive factor is the responsibility for the processes, for their design as well as for their improvement. Process management is therefore a competence that belongs in the toolbox of every manager, just like project management or other management instruments.
HLP focuses on the competence of the individual, the teams and the organization as a whole: In cooperation with our clients, we develop the processes, introduce the appropriate methods, qualify and coach the process owners and their teams, follow up the success.
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Current topics
Realigning the organization – Developing the mission statement, orienting the business, aligning and optimizing processes, establishing process organization, developing and supporting employees and teams responsible for processes, transferring know-how, establishing continuous improvement.
Optimize business processes – Identify critical processes, determine metrics and success factors, explore potentials, plan change and coach implementers, create goals and competence for further improvement in the organization.
Implementing process management – communicating organization and methodology, ways of thinking and behaving in process management, aligning structures with process orientation, reconciling line and process organization, learning from pilot processes.
Improve performance – Check processes for efficiency, set priorities for performance improvement, identify causes for performance obstacles, recognize unused performance potential, set up implementation projects, support project teams, prove new performance.
Implement knowledge management – clarify goals for the organization, identify development needs in terms of structures and working methods, knowledge base and tools, try out and embed elements of knowledge work with employees, teams and the organization.
Shaping and developing companies
Efficiency and effectiveness goals of the organization are one side, the humanity goals and the goals of the employees are the other. The goal of organizational development (OE) is to harmonize these two sides under the control of management and to use them productively as creative energy.
Whether in the realignment of a company, process optimization, efficiency improvement, in a merger or an acquisition: OE is an approach to change management that increases the sustainability of changes through a high degree of participation. Successful OE projects increase self-responsibility and commitment within the company, especially among managers. And they are a learning process for shaping future changes on their own.
Designing the right steps
The knowledge of how change can work and what the right steps are to achieve a certain goal is largely available within the company. Using these resources and competencies gives change processes a different power than if the impetus and concepts come exclusively from outside.
A project-oriented approach to change projects integrates the key people in the company, their know-how and their networks in such a way that they can make optimal use of their resources in line with the goals. Conflicts, conflicts of interest and resistance become an issue that can be dealt with and used constructively.
What consulting can do
HLP supports such projects from the role of an external partner, with respect for the skills and knowledge of our customers. Often this happens over a longer period of time with varying intensity, depending on the customer’s needs. We accompany the development processes in the combination of content expertise and design of the right change steps. Interactive consulting forms the basis for this.
A differentiated methodological approach adapted to the client supports the change process: leadership workshops, individual interviews with executives, open space events, collegial case work, coaching, specialist consulting, expert hearings, targeted further training, etc.
Current topics
Reform processes in church organizations – Financial pressure, declining membership, discussions about the church of the future. The need for reform in church organizations is high.
Realigning family businesses – Successfully shaping the generation change, finding viable succession arrangements, becoming successful and surviving in tighter markets in the long term.
Optimizing processes – Working out with stakeholders from the company how processes will be designed in the future. This is not a re-engineering approach; outside expertise provides impetus for thinking differently about processes.
Creating value with HR work – Changing HR functions, defining new roles and developing sustainable HR concepts; improving the role play between HR people and managers; optimizing business processes in HR work.
Support change agents – Change agents have an important role to play in change, through their high level of expertise, commitment and networking within the company.
Successfully manage growth and upheaval – Manage transition, develop management, effectively navigate mergers and acquisitions.
Exploiting potential – procurement management
Efficient procurement marketing has to meet a double challenge. On the one hand, it is necessary to recognize and implement potentials for cost reduction. On the other hand, as purchasing, to make a contribution to shaping the company’s business processes.
Sustainable effects can be achieved with a strategic approach, especially by
- the bundling and standardization of procurement groups and their requirements, as well as “global sourcing”,
- the supplier partnering, the common organization of the creation of value,
- and the design of business processes through make-cooperate-or-buy analyses, value analyses and streamlining of processes.
Procurement goes global
The future of procurement lies in its global mobility. Purchasing will no longer be tied to location. Globalized networks between buyers, companies and suppliers will determine competitive advantages.
Current topics
Exploit purchasing potential – Record purchasing practices, analyze savings opportunities, take immediate action and secure results.
Supplier partnering – Strategic partnerships are worthwhile for both the procuring company and the suppliers. Together, they can shape value creation and achieve competitive advantages.
Business process design – Make-cooperate-or-buy analyses: examine the in- or outsourcing of services, locate opportunities for cooperation, in cooperation between sales, development, manufacturing and purchasing.
Implement project purchasing – Involving purchasing at an early stage ensures high value creation, for example in large projects with a significant proportion of purchased parts.
Qualify strategic buyers – Holistic training and further education of buyers, practice-oriented qualification in a workshop program with concrete results.
Standardized procurement marketing – Reduce the diversity of procurement goods and services, establish comparability, obtain benchmarks, Groupwide bundling and “global sourcing”.