Allfoye introduces New Management Team

Maren Rixen and Marcus Baur are true Allfoye veterans. From day one, they played a key role in building the organization. They assumed leadership responsibilities early on and, as Executive Directors, were granted power of attorney.

With the departure of the previous managing director, it quickly became clear that the leadership team should be filled from among the established executives who know the company, its customers, and the workforce best. This led to the formation of the co-equal leadership duo of Rixen and Baur, which fills the resulting gap while bringing together different disciplines and strengths under a shared responsibility.

Neither of them sees themselves as a traditional CEO/CFO tandem with a clear hierarchy of superiors and subordinates, but rather as two co-managing directors on equal footing who make key decisions together. Neither can outvote the other – shared responsibility and a shared vision for Allfoye take center stage.

For Marcus, Maren is one thing above all else: an exceptionally strong personality when it comes to interacting with people. She quickly builds trust and develops solid relationships that lead to sustainable collaboration with added value for everyone involved. She understands where customers’ pain points lie and literally “walks in the customer’s shoes.”

Marcus describes this intuition not only as a business skill but also as something that sets Maren apart in her personal life as well. The two have known each other for about a decade and a half, and trust, closeness, and understanding of people have always shaped their collaboration.

Maren describes Marcus as someone you can rely on 100 percent. He sticks to what’s agreed upon – in terms of timing, content, and quality. When he commits to delivering something by a certain deadline, that’s exactly what happens: reliably without exception.

According to Maren, he is far more empathetic than he often realizes – both in a professional context and in his personal life. Reliability, clarity, and commitment are qualities that his employees also particularly value in him.

Another point that’s important to Maren: Marcus is able to lead large and even difficult teams, address conflicts head-on, and resolve complex situations. He embodies structure, ties loose ends together, and untangles “mental knots.”

In terms of its core mission, Allfoye remains true to its fundamental orientation: The company advises and supports organizations through strategic, structural, and cultural changes, as well as complex transformation projects. What’s new is a stronger focus on specific topics.

At its core is support for transformation, with a focus on two key areas:

• Organizational Development: Strategy development & vision, design of structures, roles, processes, as well as operational and organizational structures.
• Change Management: Facilitating change processes, empowering employees and leaders, and designing change architectures.

Cross-cutting topics that may arise in connection with the above areas of focus and in which Allfoye specializes:

• Technologies, particularly Artificial Intelligence (AI)
• Risk management and governance related to ESG
• Cultural Development

With the new management team, collaboration on projects with the parent company, All for One Group, is set to grow. The goal is to combine the Group’s technological strengths – particularly in the areas of ERP, M365, CX, cybersecurity, analytics, and AI – with Allfoye’s transformation and organizational expertise. This initiative is underscored by the move to All for One’s office in Ratingen.

One of the greatest challenges for companies lies in the speed of technological developments, particularly in the field of artificial intelligence. As management consultants, Maren Rixen and Marcus Baur see Allfoye’s primary role as understanding what new technologies mean for organizations and how they can create added value in the context of business models, roles, and structures. In this regard, as well as in the design and implementation of transformation initiatives, they plan to support even more companies in the future.

The consulting market is under pressure and undergoing significant change itself – not least due to technological developments such as AI. Under its new leadership, Allfoye is placing even greater emphasis on personnel flexibility and the right match between consultants and clients, because projects succeed when there is a good rapport and mutual trust.