"Courage is start of everything," says Fränzi Kühne, Board Member of Edding

Hamburg News: As CDO, you have been driving the digital transformation of the family-owned company Edding for almost three years now. What is your interim assessment?

Fränzi Kühne: The Edding Group initiated a major transformation in 2020 and very courageously tipped everything downhill at the same time. When Boontham and I became Chief Digital Officer in 2022, we started driving the internal transformation. In other words, we established structures that formed the  basis for digitalisation in the first place. Together with the executive board, we developed the profit-for strategy, which was launched in late 2023. We want to become a regenerative company and align our actions with the well-being of people and the planet and earn a profit at the same time. We are guided by four sustainability goals. We also realised that if we want to make a difference, we need to communicate differently, both externally and internally. That also applies to human relations as business is always about people and above all taking people with us on the journey of change.

Hamburg News: Can you outline your four sustainability goals?

Fränzi Kühne: The first pillar is what we call internal sustainability. That is about satisfied employees who enjoy their work and feel good about themselves. The social aspect is also pivotal and we value, for instance, corporate volunteering. Economic sustainability ensures that the Edding Group is economically sound and growing healthily. That allows us to implement our profit-for-profit strategy. The fourth pillar is environmntal sustainability and improving our carbon footprint. This involves, e.g., swithching our top product, the Edding 3000, to recycled aluminium. Effectiveness is also important. We want to give our employees an opportunity to volunteer during their working hours. In this way, we want to rethink and establish corporate management and show that we can still be successful. That includes the whole issue of commitment outside the company as well.

Hamburg News: What role does courage play in transformation?

Fränzi Kühne:  A huge role. It takes courage to break up existing structures. Courage is the initial catalyst. In the legal world, it's about crossing the "here we go" threshold. You need courage because in many situations you will experience uncomfortable moments because you are the one pouring cold water into a hot bath. You will frequently be the unpopular person in the room. But if you know what you're doing and why you're doing it, it's easier to endure. Ev Everything hinges on courage.

Hamburg News: And what about courage to make mistakes?

Fränzi Kühne: That's also important. We need a healthy culture of failure to support all this. You have to be aware that if you try to do something innovative, you may fail. If you are the first person to try something and go down the unbeaten path, then mistakes will happen - and they can happen. They are part of the process, and yet heads roll in many companies. That should not be the case.

Hamburg News: "We've always done it this way' is a popular narrative in many German companies. But does that still work?

Fränzi Kühne: "We've always done it this way" or "We've already tried that, but it didn't work." Such remarks meant that the "here we go" threshold can no longer be crossed. I think remarks like that shlould be banned in corporate contexts. Even if something has been tried and perhaps failed, there's still the question of why? Is this an isolated incident or is there a pattern? What can be done differently next time?

We also need to really listen, especially at management level. For a long time, it was not important. It was simply about toeing the line.  But that's not the way to find new solutions. Companies often lack different perspectives. If you have people called Thomas, Christian and Stefan around the table, the same people talk about the same things all the time. Diversity is the key to innovations and from all directions, i.e., gender diversity, age, background and education. People often say that diverse teams are difficult to manage. Yes, it is complicated. But as a manager, you should get involved and, if necessary, undergo further training.

Hamburg News: What can managers do to boost corporate diversity?

Fränzi Kühne: In an era of crises and budget cuts, corporate diversity can seem a nice-to-have. But everyone can play their part by asking themselves: "How do I actually recruit people? What criteria do I use to decide whether to promote someone? Is this person very similar to me or is he/she slightly different? Does this person laugh at my jokes and is everything a bit more uncomfortable with them?" Yet, that shouldn't stop someone from promoting or hiring them. Start looking for solutions and not be so problem-orientated. That's probably the most important point.

Hamburg News: Thank you, Fränzi!
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Interview by Sarah Bischoff