Clear direction and strong leadership: Business development with Olofströmshus

Unik Resurs has had the privilege of working with Olofströmshus to develop and strengthen their management team. By implementing SMART goals and working with a strategic focus, we have helped to create a more forward-looking and efficient business.

Unik Resurs stepped in as a long-term development partner. Under the leadership of Ola Johansson and Selma Sabanovic, a tailor-made management team development program was implemented. The effort focused on establishing SMART goals, developing a joint strategic plan (OPSP) and, above all, shifting the focus from daily operational work to a clear strategic focus.

The challenge: From operational day-to-day to strategic whole

Managing a company with great social responsibility and hundreds of tenants places high demands on the management team. Olofströmshus had committed employees and good ambitions, but often got stuck in the day-to-day operations. To be able to manage the business purposefully, they needed to bridge the gap between the overall vision and the daily priorities.

The big challenge was to build a strong team that dared to have important discussions and establish a common thread in the work. Ola Johansson, development consultant and HR manager at Unik Resurs, explains the essence of the problem before the work began:

“One reason was to create insight into the fact that if everything is perceived as important, it becomes difficult to prioritize and then nothing risks getting real focus, i.e. daring/willing to prioritize and focus.”

The management team needed tools to ensure that objectives, strategies and corporate culture were linked and actually permeated the business.

The solution: A structured development program

Our core competence is to understand our clients’ business, what is to be achieved and the conditions under which it is to be done. For Olofströmshus, Ola Johansson and Selma Sabanovic designed a process-oriented intervention that lasted several months. The program combined physical workshops with practical tasks and individual manager support.

The work was based on breaking down broad visions into SMARTA goals (Specific, Measurable, Accountable, Realistic, Timed and Accepted). Participants also had to develop a One Page Strategic Plan (OPSP) – a powerful tool that brings together the entire company’s direction on a single page.

The approach was characterized by security and practical action. Selma Sabanovic describes the focus of the intervention:

“The support and challenge of concretizing your goals with a focus on daring to start and test yourself rather than trying to get everything perfect right away.”

For Olofströmshus, the form of the collaboration was crucial. CEO Lisa Palmkvist emphasizes how Unik Resource’s way of working made the group grow:

“The simplicity! The simplicity characterized the whole approach, from the practicalities of planning and rowing in connection with the meetings to the reception. We are a team with mixed experience of this type of work and you managed to make everyone feel comfortable through their confident and humble way of guiding us through the process.”

She goes on to describe the value of the workshops themselves:

“The times when we had group discussions/work on our process. We received direct questions and feedback while being challenged, which pushed us to move to the next level in the discussions. It developed us a lot.”

The ability to prioritize was one of the most prominent results. Ola Johansson notes:

“The insight that gave the ability to prioritize and make clearer decisions was strengthened along the way. Clearer goal formulation to steer, support and lead towards and how the work continued and concretized after we ended our support for the management group.”

The customer experiences a tangible difference in their daily work. Lisa Palmkvist summarizes the progress on how they drive the business forward:

“Above all, we have improved our structure and our way of working in terms of how we gradually drive the work forward. For example, we have established a new vision and company-wide goals since we started.”

Perhaps the most important outcome is the shift from the operational to the strategic. Lisa Palmkvist explains the value of the journey they have made:

“In the short term, we got started with our work and received support to keep us on track. In the longer term, the greatest value is that we now have a clearer strategic focus. We have gone from having an almost exclusively operational focus to actively allocating time for strategic work. This provides development for the entire company.”

Summary: Olofströmshus’ strategic success

Creating real performance management requires time, commitment and the courage to challenge existing ways of working. By investing in management development and creating a structured, strategic plan, Olofströmshus has laid a strong foundation for the future. Their management team now operates as a genuine, close-knit team with a clear picture of where they are heading.

At Unik Resurs, we strive every day to add value and build long-term relationships with our customers. We are very proud of the development journey Olofströmshus has completed.