Outer ring: The 5 new core values Inner ring: Influencing values of behaviour

How has cunova developed over the past few months? Where do we currently stand? And how are we shaping our future?

These key questions were the focus of this year's cunova Leadership Conference, at which the company's managers recently gathered to jointly develop ways to leverage optimisation potential.

Under the motto "Fit for Future", Werner Stegmüller (CEO) and Dr Sascha Stempel (COO) invited the international management team to the second cunova Leadership Conference at the Beverland Resort. The aim of the two-day event was to analyse the current business situation and jointly develop future strategies for production, sales and marketing. One highlight of the conference was the presentation of cunova's five new core values.
 

Shared values as the key to success

For Managing Director Werner Stegmüller, one thing is clear: "In an increasingly challenging economic environment, we can only secure our leading market position if we are united in our commitment to binding corporate values." Since the carve-out from the KME Group at the beginning of 2022 and the resulting independence, it is now time to establish our own mission statement.

Dirk Kolhosser from the Muuuh! Group led through the workshop.

Stegmüller emphasised this with a quote from the renowned economist Peter Drucker: "Culture eats strategy for breakfast." He thus emphasised to around 40 managers from all cunova locations that the success of a company depends not only on the chosen strategy, but also on its consistent implementation. Corporate values play a central role here, as they create the basis for a common understanding, orientation and action.

However, Stegmüller knows from experience that mission statements often remain empty words that are at best depicted on colourful posters. The key to success lies in sustainably integrating these values into everyday working life. To ensure this, cunova brought the agency MUUUH! on board as an external partner. The aim was to develop a shared understanding of the five core values of customer focus, innovation, accountability, candour and collaboration and to develop concrete solutions for implementing these values in everyday working life.

From words to deeds

The implementation of the values will start shortly with a comprehensive communication campaign in which each topic will be specifically highlighted. Regular internal surveys are also planned to measure the extent to which employees are acting in accordance with the guidelines.

"If we notice that we are not making progress at certain points, we can intervene in a targeted manner," emphasises Stegmüller. With our new strategy and the new corporate values as a guide, cunova is laying the foundations not only to be fit for the future, but to actively shape it.

Within a few months, a visible change should be noticeable in our everyday life. The goal: our core values are actively lived - in every project, every conversation and every decision. They represent our promise to ourselves and our partners.
 

Our core values at a glance: the foundation for our success

The five values of cunova form the basis of our joint success. They characterise our actions and our dealings with each other and with our partners. Let's take a closer look at these core values:

Customer focus

Customer focus means putting the customer at the centre of everything the company does. It is not just the job of the sales department, but a company-wide attitude that is reflected in every area – from product development to service and internal communication. Customer focus requires understanding and proactively addressing the needs, expectations and challenges of customers to create sustainable relationships and long-term satisfaction.

The importance of our core values was developed in group work.

Innovation

To us, innovation means encouraging creative thinking and actively supporting bold ideas. We create an environment in which new approaches and solutions emerge that enable progress and help us and our customers move forward.

Accountability

We take responsibility for our actions, honour our commitments, and stand by the results of our actions.

Candour

To us, candour means communicating transparently and welcoming different perspectives. We engage in respectful dialogue, give honest feedback and have the courage to address unpleasant truths and admit mistakes. This openness builds trust.

Collaboration

For us, collaboration means working together as a team and drawing on the strengths of each individual. We encourage the exchange of ideas, mutual support and cooperation across departmental boundaries in order to combine our strengths and develop innovative solutions.

In the future, we will use our blog to provide exciting insights into how we implement our new mission statement. We will share best practice examples that show how our values are successfully integrated into our day-to-day work. At the same time, in keeping with our value of ‘candour’, we will also be honest and talk about challenges and situations in which we could have done better.