On the evening of September 21, the winner of the 2017 Family Business Award was announced at the festive awards ceremony in the Kursaal in Bern. This award was established by AMAG in honor of its founder and patron Walter Haefner, who has always been committed to a genuine, lived and sustainable corporate culture. The purpose of the award is to draw attention to the great economic importance of family businesses in Switzerland. This year, the prize was awarded for the sixth time. The following three family businesses were in the running as finalists: Jucker Farm AG from Seegräben, Ramseier Holding AG from Bern and Röthlisberger Schreinerei AG from Gümligen.

The Jucker Farm as a winner

In the presence of many prominent representatives from politics and business, the Jucker family was delighted to receive the award. The brothers Martin and Beat Jucker convinced the jury, presided over by Council of States member Pascale Bruderer Wyss, with their business strategy, with which they developed a unique concept of adventure farms, exhibitions and business events from the classic farm of their parents. With their work, they impressively prove that entrepreneurship can contribute to social and ecological sustainability, as the laudation shows. As an exemplary company, Jucker Farm joins the ranks of previous award winners: Fraisa SA (2016), Wyon AG (2015), Entreprises et Domaines Rouvinez (2014), SIGA Holding (2013) and Trisa AG (2012).

With a lot of energy led the company to a new flowering

The brothers Martin and Beat Jucker wanted to take a new path with their parents' farm. However, after gigantic parties with pumpkins and rowing races in hollowed-out giant pumpkins across Lake Pfäffikon, the rapidly growing company was threatened with bankruptcy. With a lot of energy, a corporate ideology was developed in 2004. The new strategy steers back to the roots with the production and sale of high-quality and sustainable products. The aim is to diversify more widely and, in addition to pumpkins, the Juckers plant asparagus in the spring and blueberries in the summer. The farm products are freshly prepared in the farm kitchen or bakery and sold in farm stores, farm restaurants and through various wholesalers. In addition, the "Jucker Business Model" focuses on natural arts such as pumpkin exhibitions, on adventure farms and on events such as company outings or weddings. The main goal of all activities is to make the guests happy, which is only possible with satisfied employees. This fact is also emphasized with the motto "Simply create joy for generations".

Website of the award winner

Swiss managers see six reasons for the disinterest of many employees in a management position: They do not want to take on additional responsibility (78 %), consider a good work-life balance to be more important than a higher salary or a more senior position (63 %), and prefer specialist careers to chief executive positions (50 %). In addition, executives think many employees find the pace of business too fast (45 %), lack motivation (30 %) or lack training and mentoring programs that could support them (28 %). These are the findings of the labor market study conducted by Robert Half, a recruiter specializing in professional and managerial staff, for which 200 HR managers in Switzerland were surveyed.

Interim manager for a management position not a permanent solution

"Not only are skilled workers hard to find, Swiss companies also lack junior staff for management positions. That's why interim managers are being used more and more frequently," says Yeng Chow, senior manager at Robert Half in Zurich. "They bring experience and new perspectives to the company. Nevertheless, companies should be aware that interim managers are not a permanent solution, especially in management positions. Management positions should be filled in permanent positions to ensure the continuity necessary for business success."

For the 200 managers surveyed, the most attractive aspects about their position are their great decision-making power (48 %), team management (43 %) and their influence on business decisions (41 %). These are areas where junior managers are often willing to cut corners.

Changing employee needs impact work models

"Companies should specifically help to arouse employees' interest in management jobs and create the necessary framework conditions for this. A good work-life balance is highly valued. Companies can make it possible to meet this demand, for example by offering flexible working hours or home office, and thus lower employees' inhibitions about taking on more responsibility," says Yeng Chow. "In addition, mentoring and leadership development programs can offer support to junior managers."

Source: Labor market study by Robert Half

Business Transaction AG is one of the leading service providers for corporate transactions in the Swiss SME sector. With over 130 successfully completed transactions in a wide range of industries, an enormous wealth of practical knowledge has now been accumulated. This knowledge is now made available on a dedicated knowledge portal. Almost weekly, articles are published on a wide variety of topics in the field of corporate succession.

The SME succession market is still very intransparent

 The economic importance of effective succession planning is undisputed: Over 70,000 companies are due for succession in the next five years, and thousands of jobs will be affected. Whether within the family, within the company or outside the company - potential successors are plentiful. Compared to the real estate market, however, the SME succession market is virtually intransparent: on the one hand, the published amount and quality of information on sales offers is rather low, and on the other hand, company owners and successors lack available information on the succession process. Due to its multi-layered aspects, business succession is highly complex and sometimes fails because too little know-how is available. Information on the subject is therefore particularly important.

News, practical examples, expertise, checklists and templates for business succession

Business Transaction AG's new knowledge portal addresses the problem of limited information available on the business succession process by processing the experience gained from countless transactions on the knowledge portal and making it freely available. The portal is designed in a simple and clear way. The user selects the form of information and the subject area and can then delve into the subject matter via several steps. Behind this content is the entire team of the up-and-coming consulting firm from Zurich Seefeld. "Gathering knowledge and experience and preparing them in an understandable form is something we have anchored in our company culture" says founding partner Yves Süess. The visitor numbers prove the company right. Since the test phase in the summer, traffic has increased significantly following the successful release at the end of August 2017.

Click here for the knowledge portal

Emotional with a generous amount of images, puristic in its design concept and technologically state-of-the-art, the online presence underlines the values of the world-renowned Swiss aircraft manufacturer Pilatus Flugzeugwerke AG.

How to win an agency evaluation as a small design agency....

In a multi-stage agency evaluation, January Designbureau prevailed over numerous competitors. "We spoke the same language from the very beginning and appreciated the goal-oriented collaboration at eye level. Januar understood how to convey the perfect mix of high-end technology and our Swiss values in design." This is how Fabiola Felber, Project Manager Online Marketing, explains the choice of the Zurich-based design and digital agency. The fact that a small and thus very personal agency was chosen was a conscious decision of the international corporation and corresponds to the almost family-like corporate culture of Pilatus, the statement of the design agency continues. It was clear from the outset that the web relaunch, like the aircraft, would bear the "Crafted in Switzerland" label. Fredy Espejo of Januar Designbureau sees the successful bid as an incentive for small agencies to actively participate in tenders from large companies.

International orientation

In joint workshops at the headquarters in Stans, the project team first identified the needs of the various stakeholders such as the sales teams of the different markets and aircraft types, marketing or human resources. This was followed by an analysis of the international aviation competitive environment. However, pages from neighboring sectors such as the automotive industry also served as a benchmark for the design and interaction design. Objectives such as a navigation hierarchy that is as flat as possible and generous image components served as conceptual cornerstones for the development of the content and the subsequent creation phase.

The new international website was to create a strong, emotional user experience and convey the fascination of flying. With this in mind, January's designers have further developed the Pilatus brand for the digital flight space in a contemporary way. Addressing both the target group of military training aircraft and lifestyle/business customers, without losing focus of the Swissness of the Pilatus brand for even a moment, was the requirement for Emanuel Gürth, Senior Designer, when developing the look & feel.

The central importance of mobile use is taken into account by a fully responsive implementation. Contrary to the mobile-first trend, the design started with the largest desktop version in order to be able to define an effective visual language as soon as possible and to develop a clear design concept with atmosphere, Fredy Espejo explains this conscious decision. In this case, the subsequent reduction to mobile was the leaner and more targeted method, according to the design agency's considerations. The collaboration included the conceptual support, the entire design process and the complete front-end programming.

Source: www.januar.ch

The Swiss Logistics Award goes to a company for special market and customer-oriented process solutions that have demonstrably initiated above-average market success with their implementation. The jury nominated the following four projects for the award:

DPD (Schweiz) AG: Recipients control parcel delivery with "Follow My Parcel

Via the "Follow My Parcel" portal, the recipient of the private parcel service provider DPD Switzerland can actively monitor and control the delivery of his parcel over the last mile. During delivery, he can check the location of his parcel at any time thanks to GPS and Google Maps. In addition, he has various delivery options that he can use free of charge up to 15 minutes before delivery. A new, optimized route is automatically suggested to the driver after the recipient changes the delivery.

Swiss Post: Drones in use for health

Swiss Post wants to use autonomous transport drones to make healthcare logistics more efficient, improve patient treatment and reduce costs. It is currently testing a link for transporting blood samples between the Ospedale Italiano and the Ospedale Civico in Lugano. This will reduce transport time by 70 percent and process costs by 80 percent.

railCare AG: Cooling rail transport with kinetic energy thanks to "rCE-Powerpack

With the "rCE-Powerpack" system, railCare AG cools or tempers food and other goods during rail transport with kinetic energy instead of fuel. The energy is generated directly while the train is moving, stored in batteries and fed into the refrigeration units via load cells. The system is controlled and monitored via GPS. According to railCare, the "rCE Powerpack" reduces CO2 emissions by 75 % and noise emissions by 30-35 %.

Swissprime Technologies AG: Repurposing telephone booths as variable multiservice stations

Former telephone booths become multi-service stations: That's what Swissprime Technologies AG wants with its "Omphalos" project. Private individuals or businesses can use the refrigerated or non-refrigerated lockers in the converted phone booths as pickup stations for ordered goods, to exchange documents or to deposit products. Access authorizations to the lockers are cloud-based with the access and authorization management solution www.kleverkey.com managed.

Presentation of the Swiss Logistics Award on 29 November

The winning project will be presented with the Swiss Logistics Award at the BallyHouse in Schönenwerd on November 29, 2017. Until this has been decided, the jury of twelve representatives of the Swiss logistics industry will certainly hold dedicated discussions.

More information about the projects: www.gs1network.ch

The kick-off at this year's Business Day was critical and political: Swissmechanic President Roland Goethe called for: 1) The mobilization of commercial banks for SMEs. 2) The liberalization of the financial market by giving equal rights to FinTech as an alternative to commercial banks. 3) A realistic and fair opportunity for those SMEs that can overcome the hurdle of digitalization and automation through a loan as a start-up investment. "On the one hand, the money is abundant in Switzerland. Private investors and institutions would also like to invest at good interest rates. On the other hand, there are SMEs that need this money and are willing to pay interest for it. For this, our family businesses need new, digital, economic solutions, because it is a structural problem of the capital market. The money is no longer getting to those who need it, and investors are not getting enough interest. It is not only in industry that a structural change must take place." After this political prelude, the event was divided into three panels: innovation, implementation and financing, with more than different representatives.

Marketing 4.0 at the Business Day

The first forum of the Business Day was opened by the study and practical project of Prof. Peter Jaeschke from the University of Applied Sciences St. Gallen with Swissmechanic. He emphasized that SMEs need clearly defined and communicated goals to be successful, both in implementation and in financing. He also presented the joint DigiNav project, which aims to help SMEs make the new leap into the cold water of Industry 4.0 with the help of surveys and studies. In summary, the company culture must be attuned to change. "Getting ideas cannot be prescribed, only encouraged". The presentation by Otto Hofstetter, CEO of Hofstetter AG, also revolved around this very corporate culture. He described the influence of advertising on society and how digitalization also affects marketing. In this context, he described Marketing 4.0 and clarified that his company reinvests 0.6 - 0.7 % of sales directly back into advertising for new business. Smovie offered a practical example of applied advertising. A company that offers image films via cell phone, which can be made by anyone. This panel discussion offered the following statements in summary: Patrick Berhalter, CEO Berhalter AG, Digital Expert of Swissmechanic: "You have to optimize platforms holistically. If you don't go along with that, you'll be left behind." Andreas Rauch, from GF Fischer emphasized, "The whole organization has to work if you want to transform customer trust from the real to the digital world." These two statements summarize the general view on company culture: People are and must be the basis of digital transformation- without this connection, digitization remains pointless and useless.

"Without data we are nothing"

The subsequent forum was introduced by CVP President Gerhard Pfister. In his speech, he spoke across party lines about the problems of the credit crunch and the connection between knowledge, tradition and profession. On the credit crunch, he made it clear that although there was enough money in Switzerland, it was not reaching the right ones, namely SMEs. In this sense, he also presented the idea of an SME fund and pleaded for financial aid for trade-oriented guarantee cooperatives.

Mr. Wisard from Tectris AG told how his company's factory burned down completely in July and how digitization, or rather the storage of data, not only made the reconstruction process extremely easy, but was a condition for its continued existence in itself. He believes that data is worth more than machines because it was the only way they could design a recovery plan and survive without their machinery or buy the machines - not the data. Nicely summarized by Mr. Wisard: "Without data we are nothing!"

There is agreement that the corporate culture plays an enormously important role, and with it teamwork and cohesion. This is especially true because the demands placed on employees are developing faster and faster.

Against the credit crunch

The final round at the Business Day was opened by FDP Council of States member Ruedi Noser. He began by presenting the financing of digitization as a huge problem, partly because he feared piracy due to the digital availability of data. Furthermore, he emphasized that he would rather hold SMEs accountable for the financing problems. Many did not have a reasonable business plan or wanted financing for projects that they would not finance themselves. However, he emphasized that he sees bank regulation as one of the main causes of the lack of lending to SMEs. He listed problems such as the location issue and made it clear that solutions should be sought through market means. In this sense, he also called the idea of a fund idiotic.

This was followed by Alwin Meyer from swisspeers. He introduced the principle of crowdsourcing and the crowdlending etc. that came out of it. He explained how these methods can be used by platforms like swisspeers to boost SME financing or in his words: "We want to get the illiquid SME credit market liquid again". Furthermore, he also saw the so-called investment imperative, which he described as follows: "With digitalization, I have one chance. Either I'm in or I'm out." He also explained how swisspeers can be so successful because of the lot size problem of the banks and why this is good for investors: yield and diversification.

Attilio Zanetti from the SNB joined the final panel discussion. An interesting exchange of views developed between Mr. Zanetti, Mr. Noser and Mr. Meyer. The main topic was the regulation of banks and the sense of banks. While Ruedi Noser would prefer no more regulation, Alwin Meyer insisted rather on a more moderate solution and an expansion of FinTech. Attilio Zanetti also frequently took the neutral position of the central bank in the discussion and emphasized the importance of regulations to preserve our economy after the financial crisis.

www.swissmechanic.ch

Georg Schönauer is the owner of an online store for industrial painting and automotive accessories. His company is already making a turnover in its second year that could give cause for satisfaction. Nevertheless, Georg Schönauer is shaking his head these days: customers have already failed to pay their bills several times - and the trend is rising. In fact, there are several million so-called debt collection cases in Switzerland every year. These are cases in which a customer does not respond to a company's outstanding receivables despite a reminder and does not fulfill his payment obligation. What means can companies - large or small like Georg Schönauer's online store - use to defend themselves against this? "If a company has new customers on a regular basis and lacks payment experience from the past, it is possible to use a reminder. Credit rating check to prevent payment defaults from occurring," says Martin Honegger, Head of Business Information at Intrum Justitia.

How a credit check works

Credit checks are useful for companies of all kinds. By means of a monitoring system, they can also monitor existing customers (persons/companies). Any changes in creditworthiness can thus be seen at a glance. "Since 70 percent of payment defaults occur with existing customers, this is a very important instrument for every company," explains Martin Honegger. "In the case of companies with a high volume of payments per transaction, an additional so-called Fraud Audit recommended to detect fraud at an early stage."

There are two types of credit checks:

• Interface solution:
  1. With the interface solution, the customer enters his address data and date of birth directly in the address form of the online store.
  2. The creditworthiness check then takes place in the background (immediately when the form is sent).
  3. Depending on the rating, appropriate payment methods are suggested to the customer, for example, payment in advance or payment via invoice.
• Manual solution:
  1. They enter the address data and the date of birth from their customer into the credit decision tool.
  2. The credit decision database provides information on companies around the clock, such as debt collection information, business reports and authorized signatories. In the case of private individuals, it provides a rating that shows their creditworthiness.
  3. Depending on the rating, you then decide which payment options you will offer the customer.

"We proceed according to several logical steps when checking creditworthiness," says Martin Honegger. "We integrate our collection payment experience and combine it with information from various agencies and authorities. In this way, we provide a comprehensive database that fully covers our customers' needs."

Low effort

In small and medium-sized companies, the interface solution usually works via plug-in and can be linked without much effort. In large companies, this is done by means of in-house development, i.e. a separate channel, or equally via plug-in. The manual solution also requires very little effort: companies can access the credit decision database with a user ID and a password.

Georg Schönauer is also convinced by the credit check; he opted for an interface solution for his online store. He knows: now he can turn to other business activities without worrying - he no longer has to send countless reminders to customers and constantly worry that they won't pay his invoices.

Facts about the credit check

1. Intrum Justitia's creditworthiness database is unique in Switzerland. The volume of debt collection cases at the end of 2016 was around CHF 3.8 billion.
2. Both positive and negative payment information is included in the assessment.
3. Intrum Justitia makes 30 million automated and 80,000 manual credit decisions per year.
4. The B2B and B2C data universes are interconnected. 5. credit checks are tailored to the needs of individual companies.
5. Since over 70 percent of bad debt losses are incurred by existing customers, Intrum Justitia developed a detailed monitoring system. There, you can see, for example, a change in management or creditworthiness.
6. The costs for the credit check can be planned using a flat rate price model.
7. In order to prevent fraud, an additional fraud check is recommended for high volumes per transaction. With its proven specialists and modern technologies, Intrum Justitia offers the highest level of security with its multi-stage fraud process.

Contact for more information:

Intrum Justitia AG, sales.ch@intrum.ch, +41 44 806 85 57

Author: Christian Wild is a freelance copywriter.

Under the "Case Study" format, Kalaidos University of Applied Sciences offers an attractive form of business consulting by students. The spectrum of business issues dealt with is based on the professional, social and methodological competencies acquired in professional life and taught in the course of studies. Topics include in particular strategy, marketing, business development, human resources, knowledge management, accounting, change management, quality & risk management and process optimization. The application of pragmatic, goal-oriented problem-solving methods and a sound scientific approach are central. The results are presented in the form of concepts, decision bases, market studies, analyses as well as concrete implementation measures.

The initial situation

The Rapperswil-Jona-based Geberit Group is the European market leader for sanitary products and comprises a total of 35 production plants. One of the production plants is Geberit Apparate AG (GAAG), which specializes in the manufacture of Geberit AquaClean and similar electromechanical products. It commissioned three students from Kalaidos University of Applied Sciences to investigate the total cost of ownership (TCO) in Asian procurement and to develop measures for best practice. As a global industry leader, with a procurement share of around 70 % of the value added, purchasing in Asian markets is of great importance. But the demands on procurement are constantly growing and the right balance must be found in a dynamic field of tension. This work helps GAAG to identify potential in procurement on the Asian markets, presents measures and supports implementation.

The procedure

In order to create a good starting position, the project team first developed the theoretical foundations in the very heterogeneous subject areas of procurement, cost management, TCO, best practice as well as the Asian procurement market. A quantitative and a qualitative analysis were then carried out over a period of 14 weeks in order to collect the data relevant to Geberit Apparate AG.

The quantitative corporate analysis with a focus on total cost of ownership clarified the actual situation of "Asia procurement" within GAAG. It covered the purchasing volume, personnel expenses and expenses for freight and import of procurement in Asia for the years 2013 to 2016. A total of 607 suppliers and around 1440 components of GAAG are analyzed. In order to be able to represent a volume comparison of the procurement in the Asian market to the remaining procurement, the purchase quantity and the purchase volume are raised over all suppliers and compared on the levels supplier, country as well as total. In order to be able to represent additionally a comparison of the personnel, freight and import expenditures of the asiatic procurement to the remaining procurement, these are compared on the basis the total expenditures. The data collection of the purchasing quantities and the purchasing volume is carried out by means of an evaluation from the Geberit Business Warehouse.

The qualitative data analysis consisted of two different parts. The first analysis dealt with the internal stakeholders of the procurement process in Asia. The second analysis focused on the external view and was conducted with selected external experts. This division ensured that an external view was included in the assessment in addition to the internal view. A qualitative content analysis was used to assess the qualitative results.

The results

The results of the analysis showed that purchasing in Asia accounts for around a quarter of GAAG's total procurement volume. However, due to the overall cost situation, it is not worthwhile to purchase in Asia in every case. Procurement on another continent means much more effort in terms of transport, communication and administration. In addition, it has become apparent that costs have risen in recent years.

Based on the findings and a scenario analysis, a best-practice approach was developed with three priority levels and 26 measures divided into 12 categories. The spectrum of the identified fields of action ranges from dealing with the identified cost drivers and technical approaches to measures aimed at improving cooperation with suppliers, as well as possibilities that help to meet GAAG's high social and environmental standards. The accompanying schedule for the implementation of measures was drawn up to check the plausibility of the implementation quality and shows not only the prioritization in terms of time, but also the phases of the impact review that are central to the success of the project.

Benefits for Geberit Apparate AG

In addition to the comprehensive project report and the presentation of the concrete results on the total cost of ownership in Asia procurement, the main benefit for GAAG lies above all in the interactive processing of a strategically important question and the neutral external view of the project managers. As an additional benefit to the extensively described and prioritized improvement measures, many further ideas for the optimization of Asia procurement are identified, which GAAG can examine. Especially from the in-depth analysis of the interview statements, additional and very concrete information can be gained, e.g. on communication costs or on the costs of problem solving strategies. Karl Zahner, Managing Director of Geberit Apparate AG and client, puts it this way:

"The project team succeeded very well in grasping the complex task in terms of its essential content and in delineating it in a meaningful way. Based on an extensive analysis of the relevant data and information, interesting approaches to a concrete catalog of measures have been developed, which supports us in further optimizing our Asian procurements according to the TCO approach."

To the Case Study

"It is very demanding to clearly delineate topics without neglecting relevant aspects. It is also very important to regularly compare the procedure with the client's ideas and requirements. In this way, problems can be identified at an early stage. Despite the extraordinary time commitment, it was extremely exciting and valuable to gain insight into a company that rightly belongs to the world leaders."

Michael Wettstein, Head of Purchasing & Logistics, Torgen Switzerland GmbH

* The authors are graduates of the Bachelor in Business Communication FH, in Business Administration FH and in Business Law FH at Kalaidos University of Applied Sciences. Contact via Dr. Marcel Schmid, Head of Knowledge Transfer in the Prorectorate Teaching at Kalaidos University of Applied Sciences. marcel.schmid@kalaidos-fh.ch, www.kalaidos-fh.ch

The independent end-to-end IT service provider DXC Technology surveyed 100 industrial managers in Switzerland on the opportunities and risks of the smart factory of the future. 60 percent of Swiss companies already see the risk that their current business success will be challenged by new digital competitors. Against this backdrop, around two-thirds of companies are prepared to join forces with their business partners for Industry 4.0 projects in order to invest jointly in digital infrastructure. The survey was conducted in July 2017 via a market research institute. Industry managers in Switzerland were surveyed. The study focuses on the automotive industry and its suppliers, mechanical engineering, the electrical industry, manufacturing, transport and logistics, and the construction industry.

The risk of losing market share to digital competitors

"Digital transformation in industry requires new strategic thinking," says Liliana Scheck, General Manager of DXC Technology Switzerland. "As our latest Industry 4.0 study shows, for the majority of companies, the market success of their current business model is based on a specialized product with which they have developed a unique selling proposition - this is reported by 54 percent of Swiss industry managers. At the same time, only around one in three currently categorically rules out the risk of losing market share to new digital competitors. In this situation, 65 percent rate positively the idea of working together with partners from their own value chain and investing in cooperatively used digital platforms."

Nearly 40 percent of industry managers even rank close cooperation in building digital platforms with business partners from their own network among the most important investment goals for the next three years. Just as many are prepared to join forces with competitors to share the investment costs in digital infrastructures.

Accompanying companies on the digital journey

As the Industry 4.0 survey shows, the use of digital platforms in Switzerland plays a key role for solutions in the smart factory of the future. This creates entirely new opportunities for companies to collaborate with their value creation partners across traditional boundaries. These digital platforms pave the way for linking business and production networks with each other and thus tapping into shared resources and connected marketplaces. Digital platforms will thus be the basis for operating entire value networks - including order management, automated contract processing or supply chain integration. For this purpose, a digital platform not only enables the use of cloud solutions. Hybrid systems with edgeline components or, for example, blockchain solutions will also be used to implement functionalities of business and production platforms.

Source and further information: www.dxc.technology/ch.

According to the latest Manpower Labor Market Barometer, Swiss employers are not very optimistic about hiring new employees in the fourth quarter of 2017. With a net labor market forecast of zero percent, Switzerland brings up the rear in international comparisons. "The timid labor market forecast of Swiss employers may come as a surprise when looking at the economic indicators published at the end of summer," comments Leif Agnéus, General Manager of Manpower Switzerland. "Nevertheless, almost 90 percent of the employers surveyed expect to maintain their staffing levels, at least until the end of the year. However, the current survey shows significant differences by region and sector. We interpret this as a slowdown in hiring, not as a sign of declining headcount," Leif Agnéus further explains.

Eastern Switzerland: top performer among the regions

Three of the seven regions surveyed anticipate a positive employment outlook by the end of the year. Eastern Switzerland is clearly in the green (+12 %): employers in eastern Switzerland are more optimistic than they have been for seven years. The region also shows the strongest quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year increases (12 and 13 percentage points, respectively). Employers in the Zurich and Central Switzerland regions are also optimistic (+6 % each). By contrast, the survey results in Ticino (-6 %), the Lake Geneva region (-5 %) and the Espace Mittelland (-5 %) are weakening.

Positive outlook in more than half of the sectors

The quarterly Manpower Labor Market Barometer examines the employment outlook of private and public companies in 43 countries and territories based on the expected development of staff numbers during the upcoming quarter. Swiss employers in six of the ten business sectors participating in the survey expect their workforces to increase over the course of the fourth quarter of 2017. The energy and water supply sector (+8 %) achieves the highest net labor market forecast as well as the strongest year-on-year increase (8 percentage points). Retail employers are regaining confidence: Their score reaches the strongest quarter-on-quarter increase (12 percentage points).

Employment climate in the manufacturing industry appears gloomier than ever

The forecasts in the manufacturing industry (-17 %) are the lowest in negative territory, which at the same time records its weakest result since the introduction of the labor market barometer in Switzerland over twelve years ago. Compared with the previous quarter, there was an abrupt drop (28 percentage points) and the figure also fell significantly compared with the fourth quarter of 2016 (15 percentage points). "Not even after the abolition of the minimum euro-franc exchange rate did employers in the manufacturing industry show such pessimism," emphasizes Leif Agnéus.

Labor market barometer with robust forecasts in large companies

Among the four categories of companies surveyed, large companies are the most optimistic (+12 %) and also achieve the most substantial year-on-year increase (6 percentage points). Medium-sized companies also expect to expand their workforce (+5 %). On the other hand, employers at the smallest companies (-1 %) are more pessimistic, with their outlook weakening both quarter-on-quarter (5 percentage points) and year-on-year (2 percentage points).

Bottom of the league in international comparison - but still stable

With a net labor market forecast of zero percent, Switzerland brings up the rear among the 43 participating countries. Nevertheless, Leif Agnéus sees the positive: "Switzerland has weathered the economic crisis relatively well. Compared with other countries that experienced greater fluctuations, its employment prospects have therefore remained constant during this period. Switzerland's result can therefore be seen as a sign of stability." Neighboring countries offer good opportunities for job seekers. Employers in Germany continue to show confidence (+5 %), French employers report their best survey result (+4 %) since the third quarter of 2015, and Italy (+3 %) reports its highest reading in nearly seven years.

Source and further information: www.manpower.ch

An exciting topic attracted more than 300 business representatives to the KMU SWISS panel in the Campus Hall in Brugg-Windisch on Thursday, September 7, 2017. In three presentations and a panel discussion, successful entrepreneurs gave an insight into their careers and reported on what it takes to realize a vision. Representative for all was the statement of Robert Nussbaumer: "Visionaries always get up again. It's a matter of persevering. Keep at it. Win."

Visionaries take off

Keynote speaker, trainer and author Robert Nussbaumer is convinced that visionaries must have a "perseverance gene". In his first presentation, he emphasized that it is not enough to have a dream, you also have to take action. But many are afraid of failure, of hurdles that have to be overcome, or they are not motivated enough. The second speaker Roland Brack (Brack.ch) agreed with this and added that it takes a lot of courage to implement a vision: "I was always initially thought to be crazy when I made my biggest decisions." He first supplied customers with electronic goods from the attic of his parents' house. His company now employs 550 people, and the online store stocks 150,000 items. In his last presentation, Oliver Furrer showed that you can literally take off with visions. The multiple world champion and record holder in skydiving is approaching his dream of "flying like a bird" step by step. In addition to his job as CCO of the airline SkyWork in Bern, he jumps on weekends with a so-called wingsuit from rocky edges and helps to improve the wingsuit.

Fun and passion for a cause

In the second part of the KMU SWISS podium, moderator Tamara Sedmak welcomed the legendary Hausi Leutenegger on stage first. The Olympic four-man bobsleigh champion, film actor and founder of Hans Leutenegger AG was extremely entertaining as he explained how he never looked "left or right" during his career and always went his own way. His company now employs around 1,000 people. Leutenegger advised the participants to deal with people in a friendly manner, to have an open ear for the employees' concerns and to trust them. In addition, an entrepreneur should be open and communicative and always look ahead.

Marc Gianola also made the leap from sports to business. The four-time Swiss field hockey champion and OC President of the Spengler Cup Davos believes that top athletes have good prerequisites for realizing visions. Athletes have to be ambitious, determined and persistent in order to prevail in a tough environment. Robert Nussbaumer and Oliver Furrer joined us again for the final panel discussion. They all had a lively discussion about visionary behavior and emphasized that, in addition to a vision, what is needed above all is fun and passion for the cause. These help to achieve the necessary stamina when things don't go according to plan. After all, everyone falls on their face once in a while, that's part of it.

 Establish contacts

The KMU SWISS Podium, which traditionally takes place once a year in September, not only thrives on the presentations and the panel discussion. Just as important for the managers and entrepreneurs are the encounters during the breaks, at the stands of the 35 exhibitors or at the subsequent dinner. There, valuable contacts are made and cultivated. The guests philosophize about visions and who knows, maybe one or the other idea will be implemented. In any case, the same applies here: stay tuned!

More information: SME Swiss

Today's society fights against the aging appearance, injects itself wrinkle-free, corrects the supposed inconsistencies and gets rid of the fat pads. Where does this dream of living forever come from? To want to stay young forever? Not only Sebastian Wörwag, the rector of the University of Applied Sciences St.Gallen, asked himself this question on September 8, 2017 in the Olma Halle, but also the approximately 700 participants of the 13th Networking Day of the FHS Alumni. Because the theme is "Forever Young." "The idea for this came about last summer during a hike up Alp Sigel. I really struggled up and realized: the mind moves forward, the body unfortunately backwards. Finally, the song by Alphaville helped me: Forever young," says Sigmar Willi, head of the FHS Alumni.

The eternal youth wears a unity face

"Today's man no longer accepts fate - the fate of aging," finds Philipp Tingler, philosopher and economist. Rather, he sees himself as a self-creator, a homo-creator. One no longer accepts his big nose, but corrects it. And so the Western uniform face takes its course: small nose, big mouth, face pulled back. "They all look like frightened goldfish." People get carried away by the tsunami of processed images, in the sense of: I may be getting older, but I don't have to look like this. In the process, humanity seems to forget: "Even if we're 85 and look like we're 40, we're going to drop dead at some point," says Tingler. Ute Frevert, director of the Max Planck Institute for Human Development, agrees with him. She talks about her friend who lives in the USA. She is a woman in her 70s who decides to stop injecting Botox and to let her hair go gray. But she triggers a storm of indignation in her environment. "In the past, youth was not appreciated everywhere, it all depended on the circumstances. It was only in the 19th century that being young came to light, but only among men and in higher classes," says the historian. The first rejuvenation surgeries were handed down in the early 20th century, but without visible results, she smiles. "Today, youth means being self-determined and independent, mentally and physically."

Reflect back: More being than having

Before you know it, the "midlife crisis" will hit. Developmental psychologist Pasqualina Perrig-Chiello knows this all too well. "In midlife, we're not old yet, but we're not young anymore either. It's the time that is most prone to crisis." You're stuck at the bottom with your life satisfaction, going through personal, family or career changes. Often all at once. They feel overburdened, pressured by young people and are on the threshold of an important biographical transition. A big challenge that many would not be able to cope with. But she encourages the participants in the room: "Things start to look up again after 49, as numerous studies have shown. It is the best time to set a new course. To develop oneself again. And instead of defining oneself by having, to concentrate on being again.

The youthfulness in management

The question remains: Do young managers lead differently? "Thirty years ago, I made different decisions than I do today. Namely, with much more Sturm und Drang. The advantage today is that I can assess people better," says Alexander von Witzleben, CEO of Arbonia AG. Caroline Forster of the Forster Rohner Group remembers how, at the age of 27, she and her brother took over their father's company. At that time, she was still naive and simply did what she had to do without thinking twice. Today, experience plays a role. The third person on the panel is keen to experiment: Marc Stoffel, CEO of Haufe-umantis AG (see also Interview in issue 7-8/2017 of ORGANISATOR). In his company, each leader is re-elected or voted out by the entire workforce after one year, using anonymous voting via app. "Every product and company has an expiration date. That's why we have to keep questioning ourselves and stay agile."

Activity - for a long life

This is also the keyword of Beat Villiger, the doctor and manager who was trusted by top athletes for many years. He impresses with unbelievable studies, such as that Mediterranean food is the best diet and surpasses every diet, or that a little fat on the bones is a decisive survival factor in old age. The most effective medicine for a long life, however, is regular exercise. His advice is then: "Do not give up lifestyle. Drink 2dl of red wine every day, but no more. You don't have to give up the unhealthy as long as you don't leave the healthy aside. And remember to be active."

Networking Day 2017: Fresh cell cure for the mind

You don't have to tell networkers twice, and they're already sipping a glass of wine with a clear conscience, feasting at the Forever Young buffet and trying their luck at the Alpha Casino. Winning back the youth will be difficult. But thanks to the speakers, presumably no one wants to do that anymore. Instead, they remember: "More being than having. That's what has stayed with me most from today," says Marcel Thoma, Head of the Sports Office of the City of St.Gallen. Or as Wörwag likes to say: "The finite moment fulfills us much more than an eternal moment. That's why we should savor the now. And if a fresh cell cure, then only for the mind."

More information: http://www.networkingtag.ch/