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Corporate Shock Therapy – Warum Unternehmen in der Krise die kalte Dusche brauchen und wie Sie so die Wende schaffen!Corporate Shock Therapy – Warum Unternehmen in der Krise die kalte Dusche brauchen und wie Sie so die Wende schaffen!Corporate Shock Therapy – Warum Unternehmen in der Krise die kalte Dusche brauchen und wie Sie so die Wende schaffen!Corporate Shock Therapy – Warum Unternehmen in der Krise die kalte Dusche brauchen und wie Sie so die Wende schaffen!Corporate Shock Therapy – Warum Unternehmen in der Krise die kalte Dusche brauchen und wie Sie so die Wende schaffen!Corporate Shock Therapy – Warum Unternehmen in der Krise die kalte Dusche brauchen und wie Sie so die Wende schaffen!Corporate Shock Therapy – Warum Unternehmen in der Krise die kalte Dusche brauchen und wie Sie so die Wende schaffen!Corporate Shock Therapy – Warum Unternehmen in der Krise die kalte Dusche brauchen und wie Sie so die Wende schaffen!Corporate Shock Therapy – Warum Unternehmen in der Krise die kalte Dusche brauchen und wie Sie so die Wende schaffen!Corporate Shock Therapy – Warum Unternehmen in der Krise die kalte Dusche brauchen und wie Sie so die Wende schaffen!Corporate Shock Therapy – Warum Unternehmen in der Krise die kalte Dusche brauchen und wie Sie so die Wende schaffen!Corporate Shock Therapy – Warum Unternehmen in der Krise die kalte Dusche brauchen und wie Sie so die Wende schaffen!Corporate Shock Therapy – Warum Unternehmen in der Krise die kalte Dusche brauchen und wie Sie so die Wende schaffen!Corporate Shock Therapy – Warum Unternehmen in der Krise die kalte Dusche brauchen und wie Sie so die Wende schaffen!Corporate Shock Therapy – Warum Unternehmen in der Krise die kalte Dusche brauchen und wie Sie so die Wende schaffen!Corporate Shock Therapy – Warum Unternehmen in der Krise die kalte Dusche brauchen und wie Sie so die Wende schaffen!Corporate Shock Therapy – Warum Unternehmen in der Krise die kalte Dusche brauchen und wie Sie so die Wende schaffen!Corporate Shock Therapy – Warum Unternehmen in der Krise die kalte Dusche brauchen und wie Sie so die Wende schaffen!Corporate Shock Therapy – Warum Unternehmen in der Krise die kalte Dusche brauchen und wie Sie so die Wende schaffen!Corporate Shock Therapy – Warum Unternehmen in der Krise die kalte Dusche brauchen und wie Sie so die Wende schaffen!Corporate Shock Therapy – Warum Unternehmen in der Krise die kalte Dusche brauchen und wie Sie so die Wende schaffen!Corporate Shock Therapy – Warum Unternehmen in der Krise die kalte Dusche brauchen und wie Sie so die Wende schaffen!Corporate Shock Therapy – Warum Unternehmen in der Krise die kalte Dusche brauchen und wie Sie so die Wende schaffen!Corporate Shock Therapy – Warum Unternehmen in der Krise die kalte Dusche brauchen und wie Sie so die Wende schaffen!Corporate Shock Therapy – Warum Unternehmen in der Krise die kalte Dusche brauchen und wie Sie so die Wende schaffen!Corporate Shock Therapy – Warum Unternehmen in der Krise die kalte Dusche brauchen und wie Sie so die Wende schaffen!Corporate Shock Therapy – Warum Unternehmen in der Krise die kalte Dusche brauchen und wie Sie so die Wende schaffen!Corporate Shock Therapy – Warum Unternehmen in der Krise die kalte Dusche brauchen und wie Sie so die Wende schaffen!Corporate Shock Therapy – Warum Unternehmen in der Krise die kalte Dusche brauchen und wie Sie so die Wende schaffen!Corporate Shock Therapy – Warum Unternehmen in der Krise die kalte Dusche brauchen und wie Sie so die Wende schaffen!Corporate Shock Therapy – Warum Unternehmen in der Krise die kalte Dusche brauchen und wie Sie so die Wende schaffen!Corporate Shock Therapy – Warum Unternehmen in der Krise die kalte Dusche brauchen und wie Sie so die Wende schaffen!Corporate Shock Therapy – Warum Unternehmen in der Krise die kalte Dusche brauchen und wie Sie so die Wende schaffen!Corporate Shock Therapy – Warum Unternehmen in der Krise die kalte Dusche brauchen und wie Sie so die Wende schaffen!Corporate Shock Therapy – Warum Unternehmen in der Krise die kalte Dusche brauchen und wie Sie so die Wende schaffen!Corporate Shock Therapy – Warum Unternehmen in der Krise die kalte Dusche brauchen und wie Sie so die Wende schaffen!Corporate Shock Therapy – Warum Unternehmen in der Krise die kalte Dusche brauchen und wie Sie so die Wende schaffen!Corporate Shock Therapy – Warum Unternehmen in der Krise die kalte Dusche brauchen und wie Sie so die Wende schaffen!Corporate Shock Therapy – Warum Unternehmen in der Krise die kalte Dusche brauchen und wie Sie so die Wende schaffen!Corporate Shock Therapy – Warum Unternehmen in der Krise die kalte Dusche brauchen und wie Sie so die Wende schaffen!Corporate Shock Therapy – Warum Unternehmen in der Krise die kalte Dusche brauchen und wie Sie so die Wende schaffen!Corporate Shock Therapy – Warum Unternehmen in der Krise die kalte Dusche brauchen und wie Sie so die Wende schaffen!Corporate Shock Therapy – Warum Unternehmen in der Krise die kalte Dusche brauchen und wie Sie so die Wende schaffen!Corporate Shock Therapy – Warum Unternehmen in der Krise die kalte Dusche brauchen und wie Sie so die Wende schaffen!Corporate Shock Therapy – Warum Unternehmen in der Krise die kalte Dusche brauchen und wie Sie so die Wende schaffen!Corporate Shock Therapy – Warum Unternehmen in der Krise die kalte Dusche brauchen und wie Sie so die Wende schaffen!Corporate Shock Therapy – Warum Unternehmen in der Krise die kalte Dusche brauchen und wie Sie so die Wende schaffen!Corporate Shock Therapy – Warum Unternehmen in der Krise die kalte Dusche brauchen und wie Sie so die Wende schaffen!

01 LEAD, FOLLOW, OR GET OUT OF THE WAY! 02 NEVER GIVE UP! 03 IF IT DOESN'T HURT, YOU HAVEN'T TRIED HARD ENOUGH! 04 NEVER LIE - NEVER EVER! 05 FALL IN LOVE WITH SUCCESS! 06 WORK SMART! WORK HARD! 07 SOLVING A PROBLEM MEANS (ALMOST ALWAYS) LETTING GO OF THE PROBLEM!

CRISIS. HARDSHIP. RESCUE. WHEN LIQUIDITY EVAPORATES AND MARKETS COLLAPSE, THERE IS NO TIME FOR HARMONY WORKSHOPS. CORPORATE SHOCK THERAPY MEANS: A RADICAL REALITY CHECK, TOUGH DECISIONS, CONSISTENT IMPLEMENTATION – BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE. CORPORATE SHOCK THERAPY A report by Ulvi I. Aydin Corporate Shock Therapy - Why Companies Need a Wake-Up Call in a Crisis and How They Can Turn Things Around When companies slide into a crisis, you often hear the same familiar terms: "Transformation process", "change readiness", "culture travel", or "take everyone along with you". Oh, that sounds nice! Harmonious. Humanistic. It seems like leadership, but it is not! It's calming. Sedation. And in the worst case: Sabotage. BECAUSE WHEN COMPANIES run into difficulties, when liquidity evaporates, customers jump ship, and competitiveness disintegrates, it is not the time for group dynamics seminars and empathy-infused workshop formats. Then it's time for a wake-up call. For Corporate Shock Therapy. THIS STATEMENT SOUNDS MARTIAL. And it should because it describes exactly what a failing company needs in a critical situation: a radical reality check, combined with immediate, tough, and clear intervention. During a crisis, it is not about inspiration. It's about rescue! It is about pulling an organization out of its lethargy – and not with cotton balls, but with the cold, hard truth! CLEAR WORDS AT ROLLS-ROYCE An excellent example of this was provided by Tufan Erginbilgiç when he took over the CEO position at Rolls-Royce in early 2023. Instead of delivering the usual litany of "new era", "joint journey", or "transformative vision", he stood in front of employees, the press, and investors – and said publicly that the company was a "Burning Platform". The company was in trouble! AND THAT WAS NOT A RHETORICAL slip of the tongue, not a communication error. This was a calculated blow to the gut of everyone who had led the company into a dangerous mediocrity for years. Erginbilgiç knew that this metaphor aptly described the dire state of Rolls-Royce and that it had to serve as a wake-up call. A shock that heightens awareness. "SAVING A STRUGGLING COMPANY IS NOT A POPULARITY CONTEST – IT IS A RACE AGAINST THE CLOCK." "COMPANIES ARE NOT ADULT EDUCATION CENTERS, THEY ARE VALUE CREATION SYSTEMS." It makes repression impossible. And it forces the management team to do what has long been neglected: Taking drastic measures. HEAVY HAND AT RENAULT The second case that exemplifies the necessity of Corporate Shock Therapy is the French carmaker Renault under Luca de Meo. When de Meo took over the failing traditional corporate group, he found a structure that had been inflated for years: with a bureaucratic overhead, inefficient production capacities, a frayed portfolio, and an organization that had become bogged down in every direction. HIS RESPONSE TO THIS was not a large-scale "transformation campaign" in which feel-good visions were shared on colorful slides. No, de Meo did what had to be done: He closed plants! He cut management levels! He parted ways with beloved projects that did not add any value! And he radically refocused the company on what it could still do: compact, brand-strong cars – efficiently developed and intelligently positioned. CRISIS DOESN'T NEED A CULTURAL PROGRAM Both cases show the same pattern: When companies are on the brink of collapse, no cultural program can help. No "journey to the inner center". And neither can managers who are afraid of making themselves unpopular. The situation requires surgical precision, determination, toughness, and the courage to make unpopular decisions. Because this is saving a company: Not cosmetics, not an initiative, not a change story – but a surgical procedure. An open-heart surgery on the organization. With the explicit goal of ensuring survival. And not everything can be preserved. Because the truth is: Not everyone can come along for the ride. Not everyone should come along. Only the right ones remain. The Praetorians of the Organization! THIS IS NOT A COLD MANAGEMENT THEORY, but pure necessity. In every organization, there are people with vested interests and internal saboteurs. People who cling to inefficient processes because they offer them a sense of security. People who have settled into dysfunctional structures, like into a comfortable armchair. "IT DOESN'T MATTER IF EVERYONE COMES ALONG FOR THE RIDE – WHAT MATTERS IS THAT THE COMPANY IS STILL STANDING." Those who have managed the company but never moved it forward. In the crisis, these roles can no longer be dragged along. There is no more room for "it feels important". Only for: Concretely effective! AWAY WITH THE EUPHEMISMS! This is where many companies stand in their own way. Too many board members are afraid of being too honest. They choose a language that remains harmless and embellishes reality: "Cost reduction" becomes "efficiency increase", "Firing" becomes "structural measurement package", "Restructuring" becomes "transformation". HOWEVER, THIS RHETORICAL SELF-OBFUSCATION does not serve the company! It serves solely to protect the self-interest of those responsible. They fear reactions, resistance, and damage to their image and lose sight of the essentials: The need for clear, courageous leadership. Those who soften the situation prolong the standstill. And stagnation in the crisis is nothing more than accelerated decline. YOU DISTRIBUTE SEDATIVES in the form of dialogue events and external coaches. All with the goal of making changes as painless as possible. But that's BS! These calming measures do not create change; they manage the problem. The structures that led the company into the crisis remain untouched. THE WRONG PEOPLE STAY ON BOARD, inefficient processes are glossed over, and those responsible sell inactivity as mindfulness. But underneath the surface, the crisis continues to progress – quietly, destructively, and mercilessly! And the company? Drifts further away, accompanied by pleasant statements and fatal complacency. PLEASE NO GRACE PERIODS! I say: If you want to save a company, you must confront. You must point out what is going wrong. And act immediately. There is no more time for grace periods. No 100-day tour of friendliness. Because every week in which the wrong structures remain in place, every week in which dysfunctional leaders are protected, every week in which the organization considers sensitivities instead of facts, is a lost week. And one week in crisis can break your back. CORPORATE SHOCK THERAPY MEANS: All cards on the table! Full transparency. Maximum speed. It means not seeking applause but achieving lasting impact. And it also means: Selection. After all, not everyone fits into a company that has to reinvent itself. Not everyone can survive in a high-pressure rescue mission. And that's okay. Companies are not adult education centers. They are value-added systems. In the crisis, their task is not to provide a social security blanket, but to become profitable and viable again. I AM NOT BROUGHT IN TO COMFORT COMPANIES! For two decades, I have served as an interim manager and restructuring expert in companies that have been struggling. I don't come in to comfort them. I am called in to save them. And that often means making a clear cut. Ending the wrong. Prioritizing the right things. Fast. Hard. Without reassurance. Without applause. Because saving a struggling business is not a popularity contest, it is a race against the clock. It's not about managing feelings. It is about securing liquidity, restoring the ability to act, and enforcing strategic clarity where excuses previously ruled. ANYONE WHO HIRES ME KNOWS: I don't bring a toolbox full of esotericism. I come with an attitude. An attitude that doesn't beat around the bush, demands decisions, and delivers results. And sometimes, that means going against the majority. Disrupting the comfort zones. Taking people out of functions that have long since disappeared into symbolic insignificance. It hurts, yes. But that is the price of a real turnaround. Because in the end, it doesn't matter if everyone comes along for the ride. What matters is whether the company is still standing and can fight another day. That's what I'm here for. Everything else is for show. CONCLUSION: CLEAR WORDS, TOUGH MEASURES! Saving a struggling company is not a feel-good project. Nor a platform for team development, a stage for methodical gimmicks, or new buzzwords. It is a fight for survival. A strict farewell to what no longer works. It's rational, not considerate. It is precise, not participatory. And it's uncomfortable for everyone involved. But that's the price. Those who do not want to pay it will later pay twice over: With job losses, the loss of brand share, reputational damage, and, in the worst case, insolvency. THAT IS WHY I CALL FOR A RETURN to clarity in the management culture of German companies. A radical departure from the smooth managerial talk and the dangerous illusion that a crisis can be solved through consensus, sensitivity, and semantic touch. Leadership in a crisis means being allowed to be unpopular. It means: Making decisions that hurt. It means: Not to avoid reality, but to make it the basis of every measure. THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT Tufan Erginbilgiç did at Rolls-Royce and Luca de Meo did at Renault. They did not moderate but led. They did not appease but acted. They did not ask whether everyone would come along for the ride, but decided who was allowed to stay on board at all. Many German managers should take them as an example because the future is not created by those who hope that things will go well. But by those who have the courage to make a company profitable again! ______ ULVI I. AYDIN is the Founder & CEO of AYCON management Consulting and the Founder & CEO of the ambitious business network AMERITUM, an award-winning interim manager, advisory board member, supervisory board member, corporate and entrepreneur developer, and book author. As an internationally active interim CEO and CSO, advisory board member, and supervisory board member, he supports medium-sized companies and corporations in brand and market development, repositioning, restructuring, and sales excellence. He writes about his experience in various business media (including WirtschaftsWoche, Harvard Business Manager, Manager Magazin) and non-fiction books. More info: www.aycon.biz

Get Rid of the Wrong People – Fast! Why a Three-Month Grace Period Can Cost You Three Years Today, I want to discuss a truth that many entrepreneurs, managers, and HR professionals are aware of but often don't take to heart: Having the wrong people on your team costs money, time, energy, motivation, and, in the worst-case scenario, the future of your company. And no, I'm not talking about someone having a bad day or dealing with an exceptional situation. I'm talking about the people who fundamentally don't fit in: In terms of performance, culture, or character. It is exactly during economic downturns that problems worsen. The markets are uneasy, interest rates are high, budgets are being cut, projects face delays, and investments are on hold. Customers take longer to decide. Meanwhile, competition for orders becomes fiercer than ever before. At the same time, companies are under immense pressure to stay profitable and control costs. In such times, every mistake, poor decision, and especially every bad personnel choice, becomes twice as costly! The tragedy is that it is exactly during these times that many companies fail to lead with clarity. Why? Because uncertainty causes paralysis. Because they are afraid of making wrong decisions, they prefer to do nothing at all. Because they hope that problems will solve themselves "on their own". Because they think now is not the right time to replace someone. The truth is: There is no better time to remove the wrong people from the team than right now! Every day you keep the wrong ones is a day you can't work effectively with the right ones. And no one will get this lost time back for you. Or to paraphrase Adorno: "There is nothing right in the wrong." Cost of Goods and Personnel In most companies, I keep seeing the same patterns: The two largest cost blocks are the cost of goods sold and personnel expenses. Depending on the industry, the cost of goods typically makes up 40 to 50 percent of the sale, and staff costs account for another 20 to 25 percent. Added together, this is up to 70 percent of the total costs. The material that a company needs for its products or services is, of course, indispensable. Without raw materials, there is no production; without goods, there is no revenue. However, there is a significant difference when it comes to personnel: materials are ordered, delivered, processed, and then the process is complete. Staff remains. And that can be either your greatest advantage or your biggest slowdown. The Principle of Hope is Sabotage of One's Own Company! And this is exactly where one of the biggest and most underestimated problems lies: Too many companies have become accustomed to mediocrity. They simply allow weak or unsuitable employees to continue to work as if the issue would somehow resolve itself. This is the leadership version of the "Principle of Hope". And hope is not a strategy, especially not in leadership. It is sabotage of one's own company! Anyone who seriously believes that a weak runner will miraculously become a sprinter at some point should ask themselves: Have you ever experienced in a sports club that the last person on the track suddenly became the first without training, without effort, and without change? Hardly. And yet this is precisely how many managers act: They hope that performance will increase on its own just because time passes. It's like turning the weakest link into a coxswain in Olympic eight-man rowing. No coach in the world would allow such a thing! It would be the assured end of the competition. However, in everyday business life, this is exactly what happens every day: The slowest person sets the pace unnoticed, the strong have to adapt involuntarily, and overall performance decreases. The team is still moving, but no longer at full speed ahead; in the best case, it is just moving in a circle, so that it doesn't sink. And this is the exact moment where it is decided how quickly a company reacts or whether it reacts at all. The hardest, and simultaneously most effective determining factor, is the probation period. Ulvi's Law: Shorter Probation Periods Many people in Germany confuse probation periods and protection against dismissal – and in practice, this leads to expensive mistakes. The law states that legal protection against dismissal only takes effect after six months of service with the company. This means that within the first six months, you can usually part with an employee much more easily. But what do most companies do? They also set the probation period at six months, "because that's just how you do it," or because that's what it says in the standard contracts. It may seem logical at first glance, but it's a massive leadership mistake! Because what happens? A new employee knows: "I now have six months to prove myself." That sounds reasonable, but psychologically, something else happens: He postpones his own performance standards. The first few weeks are more of a warm-up than a real sprint. My tip, therefore, may seem counterintuitive, but it is remarkably effective: Shorten the probation period to three months! Why? Because it sends a crystal-clear message. It forces both sides to deliver quickly. The employee must immediately demonstrate their capabilities, and you, as a manager, must judge them just as quickly to determine whether they are a good fit. This takes the "Let's wait and see" approach completely out of the game. And now we get to the crucial point: With an experienced employee (and I'm talking about individuals with five, six, or seven years of professional experience), you don't need six months to determine if they are performing. After a week, you'll have to see if they bring power to the game. After a week, they should have reached 80 to 90% of their performance level. The remaining 10 to 20 percent is fine-tuning, which they can work on over the next few weeks. However, you immediately recognize the basic dynamic: Whether someone shows initiative, takes responsibility, networks internally, and actively seeks solutions. If he is still waiting for someone to write him a to-do list after a week, if he remains passive, if he delegates every responsibility upwards, he will not suddenly turn into a top performer in the fourth month. That doesn't happen. I call this Ulvi's Law: After four weeks at the latest, you know whether the new person is a self-starter or whether they are hiding behind excuses, meaningless coordination phrases, and "We should..." sentences. And if you're still unsure after these four weeks whether you want that person next to you in the trenches, then it's a no. This applies to both emergencies and everyday life. Imagine the litmus test: You have a crucial customer appointment, but you can't go yourself. Would you send this employee alone with complete confidence that he will rock the appointment and strengthen your position? If your answer is no or "I don't know", then that's already a no. No long hesitation, no further grace period. Get rid of him or her! Immediately! Clear Metrics instead of Gut Feeling The problem with grace periods is that they create habituation on both sides. The employee thinks the pace is normal. The management thinks he will develop. But development without pressure is like fitness without training: You tell yourself that you'll "keep at it", but your belly doesn't get smaller. The wrong people don't just stand still; they drag the rest of the team down with them. The good ones see this, get frustrated, and leave at some point. And the company loses not only the weak ones, but also the top performers. Hallelujah! So, what to do? It's simple: Set clear expectations! I like to work with a simple 10-point system, tailored to the role of each employee. Sales, for example, is about personality, representation of the company, verbal and written communication, following up with customers, product knowledge, and reliability. Accounting is about getting the money in. Period. Whoever pays discount invoices first saves money. Those who consistently address defaulting customers improve liquidity. This is measurable. And the surprising thing is that if you go through this review openly with people, many will thank you for it. Finally, they know where they stand. It is finally clear where they are strong and where they have to step up. Translation of the graphic: Employee Evaluation – 10-Point System (Example) Reliability Product Knowledge Follow-Up with Customers Written Communication Verbal Communication Representation of the Company Personality Evaluation (1-10) And here, we are not only talking about salary and benefits, when we talk about costs. You also pay in lost opportunities: Customers that are not won, projects that are not completed, processes that drag on. If you give a sales representative a car, a laptop, and training on top of it, the costs quickly add up. The real disaster, however, is the opportunity cost, i.e., the missed opportunities that no one will be able to give back to you. Conclusion: Get Rid of the Wrong People! Therefore, my crystal-clear plea: Remove the wrong people as quickly as possible. No months of stalling tactics, no "He just needs a little more time", no waiting for the miracle that never happens. Every week that you leave a weak performer in the team is like a leak in the boat: In the beginning, it only leaks a bit, but at some point, the water is up to your neck. And then it's too late. The rule is simple: After a week, a professional must perform at 80 percent. Those who are not yet visibly in the game will not be in it in the third month either. After four weeks, the decision has to be made: Does he stay or does he go? Anything less than that is nothing more than wasting time and money! Beware of Backfire! And don't underestimate the chain reaction: Anyone who doesn't deliver drags the team down with him. The good guys have to make up for what the bad guy didn't get done. The mood changes, the level of service drops, and the customers notice it. The truly exceptional ones eventually leave. And you end up sitting with exactly those who should have left you long ago. The costs are not only salary and benefits. You also pay with lost projects, missed customers, and missed opportunities. The sum of these opportunity costs is often ten times the actual salary. And the longer you wait, the greater the damage will be. Three months of a false grace period can cost you three years. Not only financially, but also strategically.