Culture Transformation at UNIQA

We want to create a working environment in which our employees can develop into inspiring coaches and in this way noticeably improve the lives of our customers. The cultural transformation programme required for this, which is effective throughout the Group, is orchestrated by the newly created UNIQA Culture Office. The Culture Office defines the strategy for Group-wide cultural change at UNIQA, develops cultural initiatives that are in line with the UNIQA 3.0 future programme and the target culture, and thus creates a culture of inspiring coaches as the engine of change.

On the way to our desired target culture, we defined and implemented clear steps. As a first step, we wanted to understand the current corporate culture. To do this, we conducted a comprehensive culture survey in the first two quarters of 2021, in which more than 8,000 employees in twelve countries participated. Using recognised models and methods, we measured our culture along seven dimensions: from "structured vs. flexible" to "planning vs. acting". Despite the high diversity in our company, a similar and common corporate culture is evident across national borders. 

Based on these results, the target culture was defined in a second step. It prioritises three dimensions and commitments from which clear behaviours can be derived. We want a corporate culture that is ready for the future: a culture in which people feel encouraged to take responsibility, take initiative and cooperate across familiar boundaries; a culture in which we take action and mistakes are allowed. Because we learn from mistakes. We have aligned our prioritised dimensions with our Guiding Principles: Community (cooperate), Simplicity (act) and Responsibility (encourage). In the last two quarters of 2021, we tested best practices in culture change and successfully implemented our pilot projects.

For our culture transformations, we have subsequently defined culture change projects and started implementing them. Our approach: involve employees and achieve big change with small steps. To do this, we rely on two pillars: Experimentation & Culture Hacks. Experiments are individual approaches to solutions for individual everyday challenges. Culture hacks, on the other hand, are generally tested and standardised methods for specific challenges. Our culture change is built on people. Currently, 165 colleagues from ten countries of the UNIQA Group are already involved in the two culture change initiatives. The first results show a high level of agreement among employees that culture change is already noticeable and that we have chosen the right approaches for our culture change.