Dentsply Sirona is in the midst of a transformation making significant changes to drive growth, simplify the organization and focus even more on the customer.
Employees have heard a lot about Project Växa over the past few months. The name comes from the Swedish word meaning “to grow.” Project Växa is the Company’s strategy to transform itself into a more efficient organization and tap its full potential for growth. The initiatives that are being rolled out are enabling the organization and its employees to #OwnOurFuture – meaning that everyone will have a hand in creating the Dentsply Sirona of the future. It is about empowering all 16,000 employees as part of one team working toward a common set of goals.
Working session at the Hong Kong kick-off.
At the beginning of the year, a transformation began to make a faster, more transparent and more focused company. This included a new structure for the business units to be organized into four Dental Product Groups and some changes to the RCOs to be more regionally focused. A visual illustration and details can be found in this issue of Spotlight on pages 6 and 7.
While a lot of progress has already been made, this is a multi-year journey. The Company has committed to $260 million of improvements for our shareholders over the next three years, along with sales growth of 4%. But the long-term goal is to make this growth sustainable. The #OwnOurFuture transformation entered a critical new phase in February with the launch of Bottom Up Planning (BUP).
CFO Nick Alexos tips his hat to the bottom-up process.
What is BUP?
It is imperative that Dentsply Sirona colleagues engage in the assessment and implementation of the changes that are needed for this transformation. Bottom Up Planning is the process of identifying initiatives from the ground up, assessing their feasibility and developing business cases. BUP is inclusive and empowers more voices to be a part of the process. This phase is all about implementing changes and improvements to focus on the customer, drive growth, improve margins and simplify processes. Simply put, it will change how work is done at Dentsply Sirona.
Colleagues working on a task at the Charlotte kick-off meeting.
The Company recently held three BUP kick-off sessions which took place in Heidelberg (Germany), Charlotte (USA), and Hong Kong. Participants came together to learn the tools needed to begin. These meetings were very successful with a lot of time devoted to brainstorming and sharing ideas. Along with several related online meetings, hundreds of participants have engaged in the process and have in turn involved their teams.
The sessions were genuinely exciting. All the participants had opportunities to provide their input and experience, which was in no short supply. There was an astounding number of combined years of service represented in these sessions. At the same time, it was great to have the coaches and facilitators there to challenge us to step outside our normal way of thinking – that’s when the most interesting and productive ideas happen.
In CEO Don Casey’s letter to employees on February 12th, he noted the creation of a Transformation Office (TO). Dave Semple leads this new function and together with the team in the Transformation Office and the Executive Leadership Team, will have responsibility for the transformation. The TO acts as an independent team that drives the process of change. This team will also be responsible for mobilizing the organization by setting the pace and tone for the transformation, challenging the status quo and ensuring cross-functional collaboration. They are also ensuring a rigorous process to drive accountability.
Employees brainstorming during the kick-off workshop in Heidelberg, Germany.
Who will be affected and how can you help?
Everyone is expected to be part of the transformation. Everyone’s views are important and these changes need to happen together in order to be effective. Some of the initiatives may change the way people work. It’s a great opportunity to make Dentsply Sirona better, grow faster, and better reflect the work done on the ground through interactions with customers.
The Company recently launched a change website to share inspiration and success stories as the transformation takes place. This is a great opportunity to share best practices and real-world results.
Employees can get critical information and stay updated on the transformation by visiting the #OwnOurFuture section within DS Community.
Dentsply Sirona is well on its way to achieving its potential as a truly transformative company for the dental industry. Instead of reacting to the market, the Company and its employees will be the drivers. That’s at the core of #OwnOurFuture. This kind of success will also make work fun. Dentsply Sirona’s talented, hard-working employees deserve no less.
Impressions from the Kick-Off meetings in Charlotte, USA:
Impressions from the Kick-Off meetings in Hongkong:
Impressions from the Kick-Off meetings in Heidelberg and Charlotte: