In 2016, the Volkswagen group had to retract 8.5 million cars in Europe due to faults in emissions data on EA-189 engines. Møllergruppen (The Møller Group) is a Norwegian distributor of Volkswagen, and immediately had to implement crisis management to salvage operations and reputation when these issues were made public.
Specifique developed a detailed plan for how Møllergruppen could effectively mobilise its entire dealership network, where the goal was to:
- Communicate expectations for the following consequences for the company and the individual retailer
- Clearly state what this issue would mean for the dealerships and the individual employee
- Develop local incentives for safeguarding opportunities and limit potential harmful ripple effects
The solution became the development of a Dialogue Mat, which was used at each retail location at the same exact time, 5pm on January 20th 2016. Additional support material was also created, in the form of films and a customised website. This resulted in the largest group work project in Norwegian history, with 4000 employees working simultaneously to develop a mutual understanding of the importance of standing by each other through 2016.
The overall result of the project was increased awareness of organisational requirements, and a number of local initiatives based on employees’ ideas.
