With decreasing sales since 2014 in Germany and since 2015group-wide, primarily due to losses in traditional retail resulting from online competition, management has been moved to strike out a new path in order to keep the Ganter Group on track for growth in the future, too. In a first step based on the brief provided by Michael Ganter, the management team got together in a multi-day workshop in early 2016 to develop a draft strategy to turn the Group into a global construction service provider. Everyone was unanimous that clients from Commercial and Residential should be served in addition to the existing Retail segment. Moreover, one goal identified was to gradually expand the Ganter service portfolio to cover the entire lifecycle of properties in order to be able to offer clients a cooperative, expert partnership from the initial concept to the smooth operation of their property.
The new structure provides clear, international support for both growth and teamwork on large-scale projects.
During the detailed development of these strategic approaches and the road map in summer 2016, it became clear that there were many new opportunities associated with the changes in the pipeline, but also challenges in terms of their implementation – for management and staff alike. These realisations led to the founding of an internal team that took over the development of the ‘Empowerment’ transformation process and monitored it from that point on. Key milestones included the reorganisation of the company, the subsequent revision of the entire Ganter Group corporate communication – including all advertising and online content – and events such as the Ganter Inspiration Day. This interdisciplinary event with 130 guests attending from various industries, dealing with the topics of retail, construction and property, communicated the changes in the business divisions and services at Ganter far beyond the company itself. At the same time, efforts were made to train staff and recruit new employees, draft work processes and create structures to serve the new divisions and to be able to offer the new services. High customer loyalty was assured by the continually fulfilled promise that Ganter is able to bring the construction vision of its clients to life as an international construction and property service provider with expert staff on hand. During the entire transformation process, the Empowerment team continued to monitor individual measures for their validity and feasibility. The decision to open up a new division in addition to Retail, Commercial and Residential was one result of this. The new division – known as Public – will specialise in public and semi-public-sector clients. With 2018 coming to a close, Empowerment is now largely complete and Ganter management and staff alike are very happy with what has been achieved so far, even if there are occasional adjustments still to be made. The key positions have already been filled in all divisions and the new structure provides clear, international support for both growth and teamwork on large-scale projects. Numerous projects have already been completed successfully in the new divisions and with the new service portfolio. As general contractor, Ganter has already developed several hotel and office projects in its Commercial division, as well as a number of high-prestige properties in the Residential division. First successes have also already been seen in the brand-new Public division: here, Ganter has been able to gain a foothold with a multi-year service contract for 1.000 residential units for government employees. What’s more, the Retail division is also once again showing growth, which is partly due to the fact that Ganter continues to enjoy an exceptional reputation around the world, but also because the Ganter range of service is being supplemented by the new Product Design & Procurement unit. A dedicated team was set up for Product Design & Procurement, and its services have been in high demand. So, whether you are already a client, partner, or employee of Ganter, or not, we look forward to working with you in the future across all of our business divisions and with a fully comprehensive range of services.
More Insights about the Ganter Group can be found here.
Felix Mathiowetz, a native of Bayerischer Untermain in Bavaria, has been a managing director of the Ganter Group since 2016. He holds a degree in Construction and Industrial Engineering, has a Master of Facility Management and worked until 2016 for a German holding which is part of the French Vinci Group. Felix gained eleven years of management experience there, working in various leadership positions from site manager to managing director. In the latter role, he managed diverse construction and facility management projects in Europe, Africa and the USA. As CEO of the Ganter Construction & Interiors Group since 2017, Felix has defined the company’s strategy for the core business of Ganter in the fields Commercial, Residential, Retail and Public. In addition, he has been responsible for positioning the company on the market, for building its portfolio, for leading the administrative department and business fields as well as for the optimization of the organisational and operational structuring.
