To support the execution of Metso’s new strategy, Head of Smelting Jyrki Makkonen set a demanding goal: doubling sales profitably. To ensure success, the unit partnered with Trailmaker to secure alignment and to implement the Strategic Leadership System™.
Metso Group recently announced its updated “We Go Beyond” strategy. With diverse business models, multiple business lines and a variety of regional units, executing the new strategy meant rethinking its operations.
As Head of Metso’s Smelting Business Line, Jyrki Makkonen set an ambitious target: doubling their sales. In his view, business goals should be a little intimidating, and if leadership isn’t losing sleep over them, they aren’t aiming high enough.
“When I presented the target to my team, there was total silence.”
The goal served a purpose, as everyone had to realize that business as usual wouldn’t get them there.
“Then you start thinking outside the box. Everybody needs to do their part and it’s not going to be a walk in the park. But it’s achievable”, he says.
Makkonen goes on to say, that for Smelting this meant prioritizing certain areas and strengthening the collaboration across the business line, aftermarket services and regional sales teams.
“We made four areas our priority: The big scale smelting of copper, the recycling business, direct reduced iron and the aftermarket. And without shared commitment and collaboration, we would have not been able achieve what we have achieved.”
The strategic change is still ongoing, but results are already showing.
Successful Strategic Change That Defied the Odds
Successful strategy execution isn’t a given, says Makkonen. In fact, he thinks it is the opposite.
“My experience during more than 30 years in the business, is that strategic changes often fail. The end result is a few presentations and that’s about it.”
This time was different, however, as Makkonen and his team utilized Trailmaker’s Strategic Leadership System™ to execute, measure and lead the change in their organization.
“This is the first time that all the main initiatives have really got traction. Natural buy-in from day one. Moving forward all the time.”
The key difference was understanding that leading strategic change required a new set of tools and skills, Makkonen says.
“Most of us have been trained to lead the daily business. Often you are trying to lead strategic change with the same tools and methods, even though those are two totally different things.”
Securing everyone’s commitment was critical, and sustaining it meant having a shared goal and the right metrics to prove real progress.
“In daily business, you have detailed reports, numbers from the past. When leading a strategic change, you need to look forward instead. But you still need to have some kind of indicators, and you need to clean the windshield often enough to see if there are changes.”
According to Makkonen, it is uncertainty in strategy execution that is the hard part, but having the right metrics alleviates that.
“That’s where people typically don’t feel comfortable. The picture is blurry, but that should be good enough.”
Trailmaker Strategic Leadership System™ Empowered the Team
Metso’s Smelting business unit has executed successful strategic change with help from Trailmaker’s Strategic Leadership System™. The system enables the leadership team to navigate strategic change, recognize bottlenecks that limit their execution power, and gives them the metrics and the milestones to measure progress.
What makes the SLS different from traditional management consultancy services, is that it secures commitment, enables aligned movement and – most importantly – transfers the knowledge to the customer. Instead of having a consultant leading the change, Trailmaker empowers their internal champion.
“It was better to have an internal champion. The team feels that we are not led by a consultant. That it is we who are doing the job.”
Makkonen credits Trailmaker’s SLS for helping them get on the right path.
“We now have quite a lot of execution power, and it’s getting stronger and stronger. I have not seen such good progress ever in my 30-year career. I have learned a lot, it’s a different game.”
