From Overload to Alignment: How an EV Company Became Fit for Purpose

Fast growth is exhilarating — but it often hides cracks that only surface once the organization starts to buckle. In late 2021, a leading EV charging provider in the Netherlands found itself at that breaking point.

After years of rapid expansion into home, fleet, and public charging — plus solar and battery solutions — headcount had grown fivefold. But the operating model hadn’t kept pace. Legacy systems, manual processes, and siloed teams created mounting inefficiencies. Customers voiced their frustration in scathing reviews, while employees faced burnout and rising sick leave.

The business was no longer fit for purpose in the eyes of its customers — or its people.

Starting with Fit for Purpose

The newly installed leadership team partnered with the change management consultants from ADAPTAVIS (official Businessmap Training partners) to find a way forward. Their goal was not just to improve processes, but to connect strategy to delivery and to build a system their people could believe in.

The discovery phase was telling. Customer demand, regardless of type, was largely being handled in the same way. Call center feedback revealed painful truths: long delays, broken promises, and poor communication. For many employees, this visibility was difficult — but it replaced guesswork and blame with facts and focus.

A Shift to Customer Purpose

The breakthrough came when the company reorganized around value streams defined by customer purpose. Instead of structuring by function, cross-functional teams were formed around outcomes like "charging at home" or "charging on the go."

This shift created three big changes:

1. Better knowledge flow: Engineers, operations staff, and support teams gained visibility across the customer journey, enabling faster fixes and more creative solutions.
2. Aligned decisions: Teams were no longer optimizing for departmental KPIs. They were making trade-offs based on what mattered most to customers.
3. System-wide coherence: Inefficiencies that were hidden in silos became obvious, allowing systemic improvements rather than local fixes.

As one senior leader put it:

"Fit-for-Purpose forced us to confront the truth about our performance. We could finally see what mattered to our customers in real time — and act on it."

The Results

The impact was clear. Customer satisfaction climbed. Lead times for installations and support improved. Costs fell. Teams began to take joint ownership of outcomes. Leadership conversations became more strategic. And most importantly, employees regained a sense of pride and purpose.

Transformation wasn’t just about performance metrics — it was about shifting the organization from firefighting to alignment, and from burnout to resilience.

Lessons for Transformation Leaders

Looking back, several lessons stand out for leaders navigating similar change:

• Anchor transformation in customer outcomes — talk the language of the business, not just internal mechanics.
• Make change contextual — every organization is unique; avoid one-size-fits-all frameworks.
• Respect people — employees don’t come to work to disappoint customers. Transformation should enable them to succeed.
• Build capability, not dependency — sustainable change is about embedding improvement into the DNA of the organization.

From Growth to Alignment

This EV company’s story reflects a challenge many fast-growing organizations face: what works at 100 people can collapse at 1,000. Success requires more than scaling processes — it requires scaling purpose.

By realigning around customers, creating cross-functional collaboration, and empowering people to own outcomes, the company not only recovered performance but built a model for sustainable growth.

In the end, the real transformation wasn’t about adding structure. It was about finding alignment — and with alignment, everything else followed.

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See James Enock Live at Management Summit 2025

If this case study struck a chord — especially the honest, ground-level approach to becoming fit for purpose — you’ll want to hear directly from James Enock at Management Summit 2025 in Lisbon.

On Day 2 (September 24), James will lead a session on transition: how organisations move from tactical chaos to strategic clarity, and why value creation must be the guiding principle. Expect a candid exploration of:

• How to map and expose operational reality in a growing business
• Why Fit for Purpose is a powerful lens for designing meaningful change
• What it takes to build capability at scale while respecting the people inside the system

About the Summit

Spanning three immersive days (September 22–24), Management Summit 2025 brings together global leaders to reimagine how organizations lead, collaborate, and create impact. From hands-on workshops to CEO stories and crowd-powered sessions, this is not theory — it’s a turning point.

Why Businessmap Is Partnering

At Businessmap, impact matters more than activity. We help teams visualize work, align leadership around outcomes, and drive continuous improvement. Partnering with the Summit makes sense — because this is where value-centric leadership comes to life.

Exclusive Offer for the Businessmap Community

• Where? Join us in Lisbon.

• Discount: Enjoy 5% off registration.

• Use Code: 5%MS25 at checkout to claim your spot.