Michael Lohscheller
“I want to strengthen the morale of the team, because Opel is now again a winner’s mark,” says the Opel boss.
No question: Opel-Mark Michael Lohscheller has within two and a half years at the head of the car maker achieved more than all its predecessors in two decades before.
The once chronically deficit brand with the flash writes again profits and has under the roof of the French mother PSA (Peugeot, Citroën, DS) actually a realistic chance to master the structural change of the vehicle industry.
“What’s missing a bit is self-confidence,” Lohscheller noted self-critically in July. “I want to strengthen the morale of the team because Opel is now a winner again. “
The Baumlange manager swears by a simple formula: good key figures are equally good mood. If the cash flow is correct, self-esteem increases automatically. Unfortunately, this equation is a dangerous fallacy.
Many employees have long since lost faith in the viability of Opel. They are demoralized. That the company now announces 27 employeeswho refuse to switch to the service provider Segula, they perceive as an unprecedented affront.
It is true that in the strategic partnership between Opel and Segula, all sides have run aground – the corporations, the works council and the union. But the consequences of the cooperation symbolically strengthen the impression among many specialists that Opel is writing its profits at their expense.
Under Lohscheller’s leadership, the car maker has already sealed the reduction of 6,800 jobs. And the next cuts have long since been prepared in Rüsselsheim. Hundreds of jobs wobble in the forge, toolmaking, gearbox, parts warehouse and press shop. The Opel employees yearn for peace. But that’s exactly what Lohscheller can not offer his troupe. He will continue to renovate. He should communicate the specific reasons for this much more openly. Otherwise, he risks completely losing the trust of his employees and thus his most loyal brand ambassadors.