On January 9, 2019, the St.Gallen New Work Forum took place for the second time. This event is organized annually by HR-Panel New Work of the University of Applied Sciences St.Gallen. The HR-Panel New Work accompanies companies and employees on their way to New Work. The content of the forum consists of the presentation of the annual HR-Panel New Work study, keynote speeches and workshops, whereby the latter are submitted by call and selected by the HR-Panel New Work.

The participants of this year's New Work Forum were welcomed by RAIffi, a humanoid robot from Raiffeisen Bank St. Gallen, with the words: "I think it's great that you're daring to take a look at the future of the working world. At the forum, 200 professionals and experts from business, government or educational institutions discussed whether satisfactory collaboration between humans and machines was a utopia or achievable. This question was derived from the first HR Panel New Work study, in which respondents attributed the greatest and, in some cases, undesirable potential for change to digitization. In the second study, presented on January 9, 2019, Prof. Dr. Alexandra Cloots, co-leader of the HR-Panel New Work at the University of Applied Sciences St.Gallen (FHS) and responsible for the forum, and her co-leader and rector of the FHS Prof. Dr. Sebastian Wörwag, investigate what employees expect from digitalization. As it turned out, these are both fears and opportunities.

Digitization triggers concerns in the work environment

The fears are expressed by the fact that only half of the respondents, and thus half of the employees, are looking forward to digitization. At the same time, the majority of respondents consider digitization to be an opportunity. Location-independent working is mentioned as a positive development, while the increase in performance pressure or the routinization of work, for example through more documentation, is mentioned as a negative aspect. Changes, according to the respondents, will mainly be reflected in terms of efficiency thinking, rules and technologization. Only 12% expect more humanity as a result of digitization, i.e., that routine activities can be handed over to the machine and employees can focus instead on people, customers, guests, work colleagues or partners. While the skeptics are mainly to be found among employees over 46 years of age, those just starting out in their careers are also skeptical about individual aspects: the young see a danger in the substitution of people, i.e., that jobs will be eliminated.

Technology, Michael Baeriswyl, Head of Data, Analytics and AI, Swisscom is certain in his keynote speech, will have a very big impact on the world of work. "Everything you can imagine is technically possible and everything that is technically possible will eventually be made possible." The truism that nothing is as constant as change proves true here as well, and as Luzia Schuler of workingwell emphasized in her workshop, a learning culture, flexibilization and networking are central to successfully dealing with digitization as an aspect of New Work. This in turn requires new, adapted leadership. However, as the HR Panel New Work study found, there are many skeptics among management. Accordingly, it is not surprising that only 18% of the respondents recognize a change in leadership behavior. In view of all these aspects, the HR Panel New Work study authors formulate a central request: "We need to communicate well about the benefits, the approach and the scope of a digitization strategy honestly and transparently," said Cloots during the presentation.

Artificial intelligence and automated processes also do work

Sandra Hutterli, Head of corporate training at SBB, showed in her workshop what such communication can look like: A video made for the employees shows the positive aspects of digitalization. Although Hutterli did not introduce this by saying that the video is intended to take away fear, this nevertheless resonates in statements in the video such as "we all want to be digital for a strong SBB". Likewise, SBB's head of education emphasized that artificial intelligence and automated processes also get work done. Therefore, she said, they are not evil, but can make a significant contribution so that SBB can fulfill its mission. These statements explain the benefits of digitization and arose in the context of SBB's claim to prepare and qualify all employees and managers for digitization in order to ensure the organization's future viability.

If digitization brings freedom, as Roman Büchler from BSG Unternehmensberatung AG emphasized in his workshop, the question arises as to which prison employees are currently in, what they are currently missing out on because this cannot be experienced in a prison, and ultimately also how people will relearn how to deal with freedom. These aspects are also reflected in the HR Panel New Work study: While, as mentioned, location-independent working, or a general flexibilization of work in terms of location, time and portfolio, is seen as an opportunity, at the same time there are fears of rules that restrict or complicate the freedom that comes with flexibilization. This brings us full circle to the fact that digitization as an aspect of New Work requires new management behavior that is characterized by trust - which, however, is in contradiction to the skeptics in management already mentioned.

Employees are also digitization drivers

The study also shows that the employer is not necessarily the digitization driver, but that private individuals in particular are also drivers. They already use many opportunities for digitization more frequently in their private lives than in the work environment, mentioning information gathering via blogs, forums or websites, the use of cloud services such as Dropbox or the use of instant messaging services such as Whatsapp. But even if the private individual is the driver and the majority of respondents see digitization as an opportunity, the skeptics should still be taken seriously, according to Alexandra Cloots and Sebastian Wörwag, so that they can be identified so that they can be addressed in the implementation. If digitization primarily triggers concerns in the work environment, they say, this can be countered with (quick) wins whose benefits and progress are emphasized. There are always opportunities for such development steps, because, as Wörwag emphasizes, digitization is an eternal process in which a higher level of maturity can be achieved, but which will never be finished.

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The average employee spends around three hours a week in meetings and rates two-thirds of all meetings as unnecessary and a waste of time. This equates to a global cost of around $541 billion per year, according to the Doodle Meeting Status Report 2019. Some 76 percent of workers surveyed clearly prefer face-to-face meetings to calls and video chats. On behalf of Doodle, 6528 employees in Switzerland, Germany, the UK and the USA were surveyed and data from 19 million meetings organized via Doodle were also analyzed.

Making phone calls and writing messages at meetings as a no-go

More than one-third (37 percent) of respondents consider unnecessary meetings to be the biggest cost driver in the organization, and one-third said they have no input into most meetings. But what makes a bad meeting? For more than half of survey participants (55 percent), talking on the phone or writing messages during a meeting is a clear no-go. A clear objective is the main factor for a successful meeting for a majority of respondents (72 percent).

Swiss particularly fond of meetings

Many employees (70 percent of respondents) prefer meetings between 8 a.m. and noon. The study also found that Swiss employees spend significantly more time in meetings (five hours per week on average) than in the US, UK or Germany (three hours per week). Gabriele Ottino, Managing Director of Doodle: "Many companies suffer from the sloppy organization of meetings. In particular, this also affects around 25 percent of employees who attend an average of five or more meetings per week. Through this report, we want to better understand what constitutes a bad meeting and how it affects the workday."

Source: Doodle

In the present three-year comparison by Grass & Partner AG for the period 2016-2018, a rethinking with regard to new orientations and succession arrangements is becoming apparent, particularly among SME management and board members. The reasons for this lie in the current changes on the labor market. Structural change, economic influences and, above all, digitalization are leading to new requirements in terms of skills and culture. More diversity, primarily in the sense of educational, talent and age diversity, is in demand. Those affected are therefore increasingly using professional support for career development and outplacement. The three-year survey by the company, which is one of the leading outplacement providers in Switzerland, is based on a survey of around 700 management employees and specialists from a wide range of industries.

Increasing pressure increases demand for outplacement services

The current study shows that the pressure on employees with staff and management functions has increased further. The rate rose from 23 percent in 2017 to 30 percent of those undergoing reorientation in 2018. The reasons for this lie largely in economic and technological developments, which are also confronting management levels with new requirement profiles.

The more stable economic situation overall last year had a positive effect on the industrial sector. Here, the current three-year survey by Grass & Partner AG records a decline in those in the new/outplacement process from 22 percent in 2017 to 11 percent in 2018. The care rate in the retail sector decreased from 10% in 2017 to 7% last year. The public sector also recorded a decrease in separations. The rate decreased from 11% in 2017 to 7% in 2018. Both the services and IT sectors came under pressure last year. They recorded a significant year-on-year increase in separations from 5% to 12% and from 11% to 16% respectively. There was also an increase in the use of outplacement services in staff and management support functions: The share there has increased from 23% in 2017 to 30% in 2018.

Continued positive trends for older employees

Another trend on the labor market can be seen in the area of older employees. Here, the current three-year survey reflects a strong increase in the number of over-50s and over-55s. Thanks to successful professional support, their chances for professional reorientation have improved significantly. Based on all of last year's newplacement mandates, Grass & Partner was able to reduce the time it took for the individuals concerned to start a new job from 6 months in 2017 to 5.6 months in 2018. The current high demand for experienced employees and know-how carriers in the booming SME environment has certainly contributed to this development. For this clientele, the focus is increasingly on succession planning, shareholdings and company takeovers.

Women grab their chances

The current figures on the presence of women in the executive floors of Swiss companies are on the decline. This is matched by the fact that Grass & Partner is recording a steady increase in female executives who receive targeted support in the area of career development or initiate it themselves. This is certainly also with the intention of proactively counteracting this trend. The next three-year survey may provide information on further developments in the Swiss labor market in this regard.

Grass & Partner conducted the first study of this kind for the years 2005 to 2007. Since then, the company has been conducting the three-year surveys, providing relevant information on the labor market situation in particular to members of management bodies as well as at cadre level.

Source and further information: www.grassgroup.ch

Another recent article on the topic of outplacement services can be found at here.

The outplacement consultancy von Rundstedt was founded in 1985 and is now a leading outplacement provider in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. von Rundstedt works with companies in all sectors in the event of staff reductions and redundancies and supports employees affected by redundancies in their professional reorientation. The company regularly publishes a labor market barometer based on findings from current outplacement consultations. The statistics recently published in January 2019 present an interesting picture of the mood in the labor market across Switzerland in 2018, with the key findings summarized as follows:

"Less economic pressure, but more layoffs due to structural change"

Various data indicate that overall, terminations in 2018 were characterized more by structural pressure than by cyclical necessity. For example, the financial sector in particular, which is undergoing major structural change, saw a sharp increase in terminations, from 22% in 2017 to 32% in 2018. In the pharmaceutical sector, which has historically been subject to major structural pressure due to its project nature, the rate of terminations also remained high, according to von Rundstedt (at 24% in 2017; 27% in 2018). Traditional industry, on the other hand, experienced a significant decline, which can be explained by the economic recovery and better macroeconomic conditions. After accounting for 29% in 2017, layoffs in industry account for only 22% in 2018. The justification for the layoffs also go in this direction. For example, downsizing measures have fallen sharply from 26% to 20%, while restructuring terminations have increased at the same time (from 40% to 46%). This trend can also be traced in the functions affected. In 2018, for example, there was more turnover among managers (increase from 33% to 36%) and cadre employees (increase from 21% to 28%), while relatively fewer terminations were made among specialists. After 25% in 2017, there were only 17% here in 2018. This also indicates greater structural change, rather than cyclical pressure.

Ü50: Situation remains tense

While in the last two years the over-50s were affected by layoffs to roughly the same extent as other age groups, there was a slight increase in 2018. Thus, 34% of the dismissals under review now concerned older workers aged 50 and over. This figure is slightly higher than the reference value of 30%, which corresponds to the proportion of 50 and over in the total workforce.

Older workers aged 50 and over continue to find it more difficult to find a job than their younger colleagues. The average search duration of 6.8 months for the over-50s deviates significantly from the overall average of 5.3 months. The decisive factor here, however, is that the statistical variance within the Ü50 group is much higher than in other groups. This means that many over-50s find a new job very quickly, but many also have to search for a very long time. It can be concluded from this that there is no general age discrimination in the market, but that the conditions vary greatly from one individual to another and are strongly influenced by other aspects.

Vacancies are being advertised more and more frequently

More and more clients of outplacement consulting find their new job based on advertisements and online job postings on the open job market. In 2018, 24% of von Rundstedt's clients obtained an officially advertised job (in 2017, only 20%). At the same time, search successes via the hidden labor market decreased from 52% to 41%. The hidden labor market thus still remains by far the most successful search channel, but the trend is nevertheless clear and significant. This is primarily due to the fact that more and more employers are using the digital possibilities of online job advertising (webpage, social media, application platforms) and that these can be optimally managed in terms of cost and effort. The newly introduced job notification requirement (MEI implementation) will further strengthen this trend in the future, believes von Rundstedt.

Trend towards self-employment

The figures express that self-employment is becoming an increasingly common option for people in a professional reorientation. In 2018, for example, 12% of von Rundstedt's clients newly decided to become self-employed and set up a business field themselves. This increase is enormous, according to outplacement consultants. After all, this self-employment rate was only 5% in 2017. There may be two reasons for this development: First, they say, there is a general trend toward the downsizing of corporate structures and the increasing fragmentation of supplier markets - in other words, once again, a structural change. The sharing economy, gig economy and freelancer trend are seen as the driving forces behind this development. Secondly, there is also a pragmatic reason: Self-employment is often the only way to stay in the labor market, especially for older workers with a difficult profile and lower employability.

Zero Gap: Employers can still afford to recruit without compromise

Zero Gap means that employers show little tolerance for deviation from the perfect desired profile in recruitment and stick to the perfect requirements profile. Thus, it is still not easy for clients to move to a new industry or function. In 2018, only 25% of the clients advised by von Rundstedt succeeded in changing industries, and the figure for changing functions is also 25%. Zero Gap thus continues to be an obstacle for people who need to reorient and reposition themselves due to structural changes. This presents great difficulties for many of those affected, especially against the backdrop of digitization.

Signs of the arc career are visible for the first time

The arc career has long been written about in theory. It is said to be an effective concept for protecting older employers over 50. Nevertheless, it seems to have had great difficulty in working in practice. However, salary trends of outplacement clients by age group now show an interesting development for the first time. For example, von Rundstedt 2018 found a significant negative salary trend (-12%) for Ü50 in the case of job changes due to termination, with a simultaneous positive salary trend for younger workers (+9%). On the one hand, this illustrates the increasing pressure on the Ü50 group, but on the other hand, it also shows that the wage cost hurdle for Ü50 can apparently be overcome with flexibility on both sides (employer and employee) and that the market also seems to function via wage flexibility. This is a good testimony to a functioning labor market. Thus, the arc career concept seems to be slowly working in practice.

Source: von Rundstedt

The online B2B marketplace "Wer liefert was" (wlw) is also on a growth course in 2019. 2018 was the most successful year in the company's history so far. The company wants to build on this: The overriding goal is to expand its position as the best research tool for trade between companies in the DACH region, the company writes in a statement to the media. Collaboration with subsidiary Europages will be further strengthened to drive the company's international expansion and establish wlw as the European market leader in the B2B segment, it added. "We will make searching on wlw.ch even more attractive in 2019 and place data quality at the center of our efforts," said Peter F. Schmid, CEO of Wer liefert was. "We want to become the largest B2B marketplace in Europe as a central data hub that manages the product and company data of European companies," he explains.

New technology for even better online search

Various technical innovations in the search and search results display are to ensure an even better online search. And the online B2B marketplace is also making additional investments in new employees and the further training of existing teams, the media release continues. "There are currently around 40 vacancies to be filled, primarily in the areas of web development, business intelligence and sales," says Peter F. Schmid. "We need to fill these positions as quickly as possible, which is why we are recruiting across Europe," Schmid said.

Top search terms 2018: "EURO pallets" and "industrial PC

Once again in 2018, over 37 million search queries were made via the country domains wlw.ch, wlw.de and wlw.at. That is over 100,000 search queries per day. The most frequently used search terms for product searches were "EURO pallets" and "industrial PC". The top search term of 2017 "aluminum profiles" was thus displaced to 3rd place. In the category search, "mechanical engineering" was again at the top, followed by "packaging machines". The category "food" made it to third place. The most curious search terms include "baobab", "chastity belt" and "credit card destruction equipment".

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18 years of consistent training quality and more than 1,500 top satisfied graduates: This calls for expansion of resources. The steady and increased demand for the training to become a company mentor FA was the reason for the job advertisement: The company was looking for seminar trainers with a degree in coaching SCA and/or company mentor FA. A good coaching practice as well as several years of experience as a trainer were also part of the selection criteria. 30 applications were finally received by Coachingplus. "We are very happy about the numerous applications," reports company founder and owner Urs R. Bärtschi. "On this basis, we can competently expand our top trainer team."

Two new trainers

As of now, the team of trainers is expanded by Claudia Edelmann and Gabriele Schwieder. Dr. Claudia Edelmann supports specialists and executives in their personal and professional development and accompanies teams and organizations in change processes. The owner of Worklife GmbH holds a doctorate in business administration, is a certified coach SCA and a recognized mentor according to bp-mentor.ch. In addition, she lectures at various educational institutions. She is currently completing further training in change management and organizational development. From 2019, Claudia Edelmann will also take on tasks as an examination expert for the Betrieblicher Mentor FA.

Dr. Gabriele Schwieder worked as an HR consultant, headhunter and unit manager before becoming self-employed. As the owner of Schwieder GmbH Career Coaching & HR Consulting, she has been accompanying experts and executives in her capacity as a coach and consultant since 2011. With a doctorate in linguistics and cultural studies, she is a regular lecturer in adult education. Gabriele Schwieder is also a federal company mentor FA.

The willingness for continuous development is mandatory at Coachingplus: Each new seminar trainer has already undergone an internal on-the-job training, which will continue next year. Urs R. Bärtschi makes his coaching knowledge and training expertise available to the three new recruits.

Proven team

The existing coaches will continue to work for Coachingplus: Thomas Kümmerli has been a part-time seminar coach at Coachingplus since 2014. Now he is expanding his workload and training program with team coaching as well as career coaching. As a trainer, the SVTS business technician draws on his experience as a supervisor, consultant and project manager. The head of HR and certified coach SCA is the owner of Coaching Kümmerli GmbH and a recognized mentor according to bp-mentor.ch. Ruth Bärtschi has been a permanent member of the training team since 2006. The experienced lecturer is founder and director of the Academy for Individual Psychology AFI, certified Individual Psychological Consultant RDI, consultant in the psychosocial field with federal diploma, supervisor and teaching supervisor SGfB. And Urs R. Bärtschi (coach with federal diploma) as founder and owner of Coachingplus GmbH has the overall management and teaches the 10-day study course for applied coaching, as well as various modules in the training to become a company mentor.

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Cybersecurity company CrowdStrike analyzed large amounts of security-related data from 2018 in its latest report, the Cyber Intrusion Casebook. In it, it summarizes the challenges organizations and businesses face and how they can better prepare for the next wave of attacks. Four main trends in cyberattacks and attack methods can be identified:

1. e-crime actors are using increasingly creative techniques to monetize their attacks.

The innovation of attackers and the sophistication of e-crime actors is not diminishing. The hostile ecosystem continues to evolve, and actors who used to work discreetly and in isolation are now working in a coordinated manner and joining forces. In 2018, for example, users of business email addresses felt this repeatedly. The report came across cases that went far beyond simply reading emails: Stakeholders could watch live as the emails were written and sent.

2. attackers strike quickly and deeply

Attackers are patient when it comes to achieving their goals: they get into systems quickly, become active quickly, but when it comes down to it, they muster enormous patience. State attackers are particularly persistent and resourceful in their search for high-value data in the target organization.

As in previous years, uncritical reliance on legacy tools provided attackers with the opportunity to linger in the systems for an extended period of time. Often, for example, companies thought the case was solved. But the attacker continued to hide or was quickly back.

Often, organizations migrated their data to the cloud with the expectation that the cloud services providers would have security mechanisms and controls in place. Whether the providers configured and applied the controls correctly, they had no way of knowing. Simple misconfigurations and misunderstandings of access controls allow hackers to gain access to an organization - simply through the cloud provider.

3. commodity malware is often a precursor to a highly disruptive attack

Access gained with commodity malware (malicious code that affects software used on a variety of devices) is increasingly sold to other actors. They then deploy ransomware, steal intellectual property, or initiate cryptomining, fraud, and extortion. For example, attackers were observed using a malware family called TrickBot, only to pass on the access gained with it to other hostile groups, who then launched extortion attacks. This method has even been observed in small to medium-sized businesses. A company's vulnerability to commodity malware can ultimately be an indicator of the effectiveness of its overall security strategy.

4. attackers hide in plain sight and pose as legitimate users

The fastest and most damaging attacks are still those in which attackers impersonate legitimate users. They often occur when user credentials are unchecked, misconfigured, or bypassed. Once access is gained, the organization is fully exposed. Incorrectly configured and ill-conceived use of access controls often gives organizations a false sense of protection.

In view of these trends in cyberattacks, it is also apparent that security is not just an issue for the IT department, but affects the entire company and must be considered strategically. The golden rule is the time target of the "1-10-60 rule". On average, companies or organizations should allow no more than one minute to identify a threat, ten minutes to investigate it and 60 minutes to resolve it. Companies that act with this in mind increase their chances of staying ahead of the enemy and preventing an attack.

Source: CrowdStrike

Do you want to find out the true character of a person (or of yourself)? Then observe the person secretly when he is alone or put him in extreme situations. This is not a call to action, of course, and yet: the true quality of a person is revealed by his behavior in two situations: under extreme stress and when no one is looking. In the first case, our cerebellum takes control (to put it simply), and in the second case, we don't have to "prove ourselves to anyone." Therefore, we like to "let ourselves go". The problem: a strong and positive character works only in consistency. That is, you cannot be an outstanding person in the long run when you are in the limelight, and an average person when you are under stress or alone.

Constant character

Your character is constant and is only reinforced by situations. Why is this important? Well, if you want to achieve more (whatever that means to you), then you need to do the consistent want (and not only from time to time). And you have to want it even when no one is looking.

I see this time and again very strongly in business teams: In meetings, for example, when people are "among themselves," they don't prepare, accept the postponement of decisions, and so on. In any case, many do not exactly show outstanding performance then.

Why many remain only mediocre

And what often happens under extreme stress? That's right: blaming, self-protection ("I didn't do it!"), abusive language, etc. Again, this behavior doesn't exactly represent excellence. This is exactly why so many teams and people remain in mediocrity and often even tread water in frustration: they allow unacceptable behavior for top teams in the two situations mentioned.

Success impulse for more character

Here are three ideas on how to change that for yourself and your team:

1. Your identity. Define what you expect of yourself. What standards do you have? I had already explained this elsewhere, so here is just the tip that it helps to describe yourself once in three words. One of the ways to implement this is to constantly remind each other.
2. Your discipline. Make sure you live and behave by these standards at all times (even when no one is looking). There are several techniques for doing this. It is important that you notice and correct any deviations immediately.
3. Your progress. Evaluate yourself daily against your criteria. How good were you? If you can't even manage to hold a mirror up to yourself, who else do you expect to do it? Mutual "micro-coaching" can help here.

You can do these three steps very well individually and with your team. It helps if you hire someone external to orchestrate them (also so that you don't fall back into mediocre behavior).

To the author:
Volkmar Völzke is a success maximizer. Book author. Consultant. Coach. Speaker. www.volkmarvoelzke.ch

The fact that there is a shortage of workers in the so-called STEM professions (mathematics, information technology, natural sciences, technology) is not new. However, the extent of the problem is. According to the 2018 study [1] conducted by Adecco together with the University of Zurich (UZH), the overall shortage of skilled workers in Switzerland increased by 8 percent compared to the previous year. In particular, in the areas of management and organization, the shortage of skilled workers increased by a whopping 25 percent. Similarly, according to a study by the World Economic Forum on the future of work, two-thirds of elementary school students will be working in a profession that doesn't even exist yet. Automation will cause professions such as radiologist or bank consultant to largely disappear. IT specialists, on the other hand, will continue to be in demand. IT has found its way into almost every workplace, and the demands placed on IT specialists are rising continuously. Digitization is changing the world of work at a pace and with a dynamism that can only be mastered with people who have the necessary expertise.

Investing in IT education

Yet, as written, there is already a shortage of thousands of computer scientists. A shortage that is hampering the growth of entire industries and putting Switzerland, Austria and Germany in a tight spot as innovation locations. That's why it's imperative to do more for the digital education of young people. It will determine what happens to the locations of companies in the DACH region.

The most important thing would be to adapt the education system quickly and efficiently to meet future conditions. This starts with the equipment in the schools. Every secondary school needs a fiber-optic connection and modern technical equipment in sufficient quantities. In addition, an appropriate curriculum must be created.

We need subjects like programming as mandatory courses in school, like a second foreign language. Media literacy, critical handling of information and data, security on the Net, and knowledge of technology, coding and problem solving - in other words, everything that relates to the topic of "digitization" would have to be removed from computer science classes and integrated into all subjects. In history classes, for example, it is important to talk about cryptography and the effects of machine data processing in the Second World War. This is the only way to get an awareness of what can be done with data. Students need to learn how complex processes consist only of zeros and ones, how messages can get from A to B in a matter of seconds, and how social networks remember incredible amounts of data.

Cooperation models necessary

But not every school has the staff to offer IT courses or focus more on digitization in the subjects. That's why we need to develop cooperation models between schools, companies and associations such as the Deutschsprachige SAP-Anwendergruppe e. V. (DSAG) and offer courses from the cloud, for example, for all interested students. No one with an interest in the subject should fail due to a lack of access to knowledge.

Improved knowledge transfer will not only lead to more young people becoming interested in IT. It will also reduce dropouts. This is because a lack of information or false expectations are often the reason why potential young IT professionals drop out early, even though future-proof, interesting and well-paid jobs are waiting in the wings. Companies that work with SAP and want to attract young talent should therefore ensure, for example, that young people know what to expect. This is also a matter of breaking down prejudices to a certain extent. In terms of its IT architecture, SAP is no longer a largely self-contained ABAP world in which companies have raised their young IT talent. Since SAP has opened up the Java world and the cloud, the competition with the large and innovative app developers has opened up. SAP, too, has entered the hip app development arena. Away from the classic, usually lengthy development cycles of a solution, towards agile development with short steps and quickly realizable successes. But only very few of the upcoming IT specialists are familiar with this facet.

[1] http://adeccogroup.ch/de/studien/fachkraeftemangel-index-schweiz/fachkraeftemangel-index-2018/

Author:
Ralf Peters is the Executive Board Member for Application Portfolio, Deutschsprachige SAP-Anwendergruppe e. V. (DSAG)

Are you planning to introduce a new ERP system next year? If so, this wants to be well prepared - just like a journey. If you start an ERP implementation without a roadmap, you will quickly end up in a dead end - and that can be expensive. To successfully guide the journey to its destination, you need a map that shows the way station by station. David Lauchenauer - Managing Director and shareholder of the Myfactory Group - has summarized what this map should contain for small and medium-sized companies in Switzerland.

Tip one: Determine framework conditions

Searching the Internet and randomly writing to providers is the quickest way, but not the best. On the contrary. It quickly leads to disillusionment and only costs time and resources. What is needed, therefore, is a project definition. Here, it is necessary to set goals, define responsible persons and assign roles. The result is a framework for the upcoming project. This also includes all the requirements that the system must fulfill - a so-called requirements specification.

Tip two: Search for providers

Once the framework and specifications are in place, the next step is to find the right manufacturer. Ideally, companies limit themselves to three to five providers. The solution is then presented in personal meetings and it is shown what the software can do per se and what still needs to be adapted. When making the choice, it is important to consider not only the costs but also the interpersonal aspects - if the chemistry is not right, even the best offer will be of no use.

Tip three: Test solution

Immediately after selecting the provider, it is recommended to set up a test environment. It serves as a central development and verification instance and is adapted in an agile manner. The advantage: Change requests can be implemented directly and those involved identify more quickly with "their" solution. If the ERP system meets the expectations, it is accepted. This is followed by data transfer and preparation for live operation, which must be accompanied by comprehensive training for all users.

Tip four: Optimize software

Once employees have been trained and all processes have been established, the optimization phase begins. The goal is to be able to react quickly to changes or external and internal influences. Especially in the digital transformation, this flexibility and agility is essential to achieve competitive advantages and efficiency gains. However, this also requires a trustworthy partner who can make the desired adjustments quickly and reliably.

Tip five: Evaluate project

The introduction of an ERP system is an immense challenge for everyone involved, and one that the entire organization can grow from. For this reason, it is important to evaluate the project after implementation. Retrospectives are a good way to do this. Here, everyone brings up what was negative, what was positive, and what was learned. These insights in turn help in future projects to create an even better map and to reach the goal faster.

Those looking for even more detailed information on planning an ERP implementation will find it in a free whitepaper from Myfactory.

The history of the Egeli Group can be read as a reflection of how the service sector as a whole developed: from manually executed bookings to paper customer files, the path led first to mechanical calculating machines and finally to digitalization. But the corporate culture has also gradually modernized. Today, the group consists of EGELI Treuhand for "classic" fiduciary services, Creditreform for credit information and debt collection, EGELI Immobilien for comprehensive real estate management, EGELI Informatik for standard or individual software and IT solutions, and E-Druck AG. Today, the entire group employs a good 170 people.

Three generations shape the Egeli Group

Three generations have shaped the Egeli Group to this day. First, there was the charismatic founder Willy V. Egeli, who started his one-man business "Willy Egeli Treuhand Inkasso" in St.Gallen in 1943. Apparently, the business must have gone quite well right from the start - in the middle of the Second World War, nota bene - because the first employee was already hired in the founding year. A lot of "busy life and work" has been handed down from the early years, as can be read in the anniversary brochure. One employee remembers it as follows: "At that time, the clock did not play a role after the official closing time. We crammed like in a recruit school, where the boss was the non-commissioned officer and we, the employees, were the drill soldiers. Nevertheless, there was a good comradely spirit between the principal and the employees, and I count those years, despite the long working hours, among the best in the company." The boss always came to the office early in the morning, took care of the mail and distributed orders to the employees. And then it was off - by bicycle - to visit customers... In 1957, the company already had 26 employees, including six apprentices. Accounting, debt collection, field service and the district office of the Creditreform association were located at the St.Gallen headquarters, while branches in Weinfelden and Winterthur also offered fiduciary and debt collection services.

From manual labor to digitization

In 1958, the in-house print shop was added to the "core business" in order to produce customer information and forms in-house. The print shop - which today operates under the name E-Druck AG - was managed from 1965 by Bobby Feurer, the son-in-law of company founder Willy V. Egeli. Today, E-Druck AG is still a successful printing service provider in St.Gallen - managed by Andreas Feurer, also in the second generation. At that time, the fiduciary business was naturally still characterized by a lot of paper. However, mechanical office technology was also introduced at Egeli. From the beginning of the 1960s onwards, client accounts were kept using a new accounting machine with 26 registers, an "electromechanical rattletrap". But annual financial statements were still typed on a typewriter - with carbon copies, of course. It is easy to imagine the consequences of a typing error. It is not known how much overtime had to be worked because of this... It was not until the 1980s that the first electronic accounting systems were introduced.

Company founder Willy V. Egeli died in 1980 at the age of 63. His son Willy J. Egeli - who had already taken over operational management of the trust, auditing, real estate, credit and accounts receivable management business areas in 1968 - continued to run the company. His father's sole proprietorship was subsequently transferred to EGELI Treuhand AG. Under Willy J. Egeli's leadership, the company's culture gradually became fresher. Whereas previously interaction between employees had been characterized by the formal "you", the "you" culture finally took hold towards the end of the 1980s. Digitalization also began in this decade: EGELI Informatik AG was founded in 1986, led by another branch of the family in the person of Werner Egeli and his wife Eliane. With the digital recording of the Creditreform registers, they laid the foundation of a database that is continuously updated and modernized to this day.

Family business built on values

In 1995, the third generation joined the company. His son Raoul Egeli first took over the management of EGELI Treuhand AG in Zurich and in the following years assumed more and more functions and offices, also outside the company. For example, he has been president of the Swiss Creditreform Association since 2008. In 2009, Raoul Egeli becomes President of the industry association Treuhand Suisse and Vice President of Creditreform International. Together with his sister Francine Egeli, he finally succeeded his father Willy J. Egeli in the company in 2011. Today he recalls: "I am very grateful to my grandfather and father for what they built up. That binds and obliges at the same time. Central to me is respecting the company's heritage and always looking for new opportunities to develop the business." And he emphasizes that in all the succession arrangements in the 75-year history, there has never been any pressure from the older generation on the younger generation. This probably explains the organic growth that the Egeli Group can look back on in 2018, based on the values of future, past, freedom limits and trust.

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