Since our developers wrote the first line of code back in 2006, Evovia has been on an exciting adventure. What began as a digitalisation of the EDP process has today become a complete leadership platform to help leaders achieve their goals.
”During a Q&A session after a leadership course back in 2006, I was asked which digital tools could be used for employee development. Back then, there was no optimal system, but I gave a couple of suggestions that were met with a very serious plea to develop such a system," recalls CEO and founder Poul Langagergaard, who turned down the request at the time.
The idea refused to fade, however, so a collaboration was started with an IT expert to develop a dialogue tool. As so often happens on long journeys, the founding team spotted new terrain along the way.
”We quickly realised that our tool offered more than just digital forms for EDPs, group development conversations, workplace assessments, etc; it was a compelling process that raised the quality of dialogues. Our curiosity was piqued. Why exactly did our many users experience an improvement in their conversations?" wonders Joachim Langagergaard, Director and partner in Evovia, and continues:
”It turned out that a process that used the employee's perspective as its starting point made a huge difference. This perspective allowed managers to understand their employees' situation and make use of what we call empathy-in-practice. During the dialogue, the manager and employee immediately focus on that which is relevant for the employee, and therefore also relevant for the manager. And clear agreements improve the follow-up process and take pressure off the busy working day”.
These conversations were transformed from unstructured chats into concrete action plans based on the employee's situation, and on visions with clear goals and agreements.
In its current form, Evovia's platform is a full-suite leadership tool that can be used by leaders to ensure wellbeing, retention, development, motivation, and results through confidential dialogues. And HR can set the framework for processes, assign roles, and gain an overview of development across the organisation.
Deep roots in leadership research
Evovia works closely with Aarhus University and the Crown Prince Frederik Center for Public Leadership. That work has led to director & partner Jørgen Skovhus Haunstrup defending his industrial PhD in November 2023 - and he continues to be part of the Crown Prince Frederik Center for Public Leadership alongside his role as CEO of Evovia.
”A lot of research and practical experience suggests there is often a shortfall between the leadership behaviour that a manager wants to embody and the leadership they actually deliver. That gives us all the reason we need to focus on developing tools that will help these managers lead. I'm excited to be part of Evovia, an organisation that invests heavily in the creation of new knowledge and even better tools in this area," says Jørgen Skovhus Haunstrup.
