Joanknecht has put young talents in the lead. Those young professionals, not yet having a partner role, are active at the strategic management level. That's different than usual in the industry.

At Joanknecht they are called "cluster leads"; talented professionals who do not have a partner role but have a lot of knowledge of the organization. With the support of partners in a buddy role, they are responsible for achieving the objectives and the ins and outs of their cluster.

'Tradition-breaking redesign'

At the beginning of 2022, Joanknecht started a strategy process to set the ambition for 2025. A group of sixteen professionals from all job levels and teams started working together. "The result? In three months, the ambition, strategic objectives, KPIs, required capacities and organizational structure were ready. This has, among other things, resulted in a tradition-breaking organizational redesign”, reports Joanknecht.

All of Joanknecht's teams belong to a cluster or department. The four clusters – talent management, client management, operations, strategy & support – are managed by young talents in their early 30s. They are given the decision-making power and support they need to implement Joanknecht's strategy. Based on trust from both the partners and the entire organization, they can show what they’ve got.

“We do this in a structured way with weekly stand-ups, monthly meet-ups and quarterly clean-ups”, says Marlies Vervoordeldonk, cluster lead Strategy & Support.

Passing on to the next generation

“The vision of Joanknecht's partners is one of stewardship. The goal is to transfer the company to the next generation independently and in even better shape and condition”, reports Joanknecht. “That includes choosing to put young talent in the lead. Of course, the cluster leads are not left alone. There is a lot of contact between cluster lead and buddy partner and between the cluster leads themselves. In addition, the partners themselves are involved at a strategic level, each based on their own expertise and interest. Self-management with the necessary support is stimulated and activated, from strategic to operational level, from cluster to team to individual.”