Univé

When Univé merged with 3 other insurance companies, the initial thought was to create an entirely new culture. But how do you create a new culture out of four businesses?

In the old makability thinking of the 20th century, you just let your marketers come up with a nice new culture. That’s what we’re all used to doing. So that was also strongly considered by the management at the time.

But in the becomability thinking of the 21st century, that’s unthinkable. Within that thinking, which was first applied by Steve Jobs within Apple and today is being adopted by more and more companies, a business is not makeable but becomeable. In other words, there is always an intrinsic DNA with a corresponding purpose to be realized in the world.

When then board chairman Edwin Velzel, heard about Become co-founder Eric HJ Bartels’ great research program, he delved into it and discovered that a small but growing group of businesses are working from the becomability mindset, achieving gigantic successes. As a result, he realized the need to look for common DNA elements of the four merging businesses. Exactly what happens in a Become Program as the basis for the strategy, tactics and execution of the entire company.

Under the guidance of a renowned Become Facilitator, a grand Become Program was launched in which 2,000 employees eventually participated. The most comprehensive Become Program to date. And with spectacular results, as Strategy Officer Johan Buigholt says: “Profit and employee motivation went through the roof, product innovation accelerated and absenteeism went down. We have never seen changes like that!”