The consulting firm Egon Zehnder has published a study that examined the presence of ESG issues in companies. This also addressed the question of ESG standards. For this purpose, 329 executives in 53 countries were interviewed. Among other things, the study looked at the environmental, social and governance (ESG) goals that companies and organizations have set themselves and the measures they consider essential for society as a whole. In addition, Egon Zehnder wanted to know what challenges executives face when it comes to sustainability and what roles CEOs, other leaders and leadership teams play in implementing a sustainability agenda. The study was conducted in cooperation with Sustainable Views, a newsletter of the Financial Times.

CEOs rethink their role

Two changes are shaping corporate culture in the process: growing demands for equality in the workplace and the call for more flexible, hybrid forms of work. CEOs around the world are therefore rethinking their role. How do they want to work with their teams in the future? In what ways do they want to develop the company - and themselves? How do they position the company for the long term? In the current complex business environment, it is crucial for CEOs to prioritize their own development while learning to better leverage the potential of their own organization.

C-Level shows responsibility for sustainability agenda

Who is responsible for ESG standards in companies in the first place? Most of the respondents (68 %) say that a single person is responsible for the sustainability agenda in their company. Sixty-six percent of them say it is the CEO, while 9 percent say it is the chief sustainability officer. About 27 percent of respondents said the responsibility is held by the top team: C-suite or board of directors, while 3 percent put the responsibility on everyone in the company. At the executive level, 82 percent believe their boards are well equipped to monitor sustainability threats and opportunities, but there are concerns about readiness, conflicting priorities and lack of sufficient or good enough data to make progress.

On the way to a new corporate culture

Another finding of the study is that to become a more sustainable company, current culture and goal setting may need to change. Indeed, more than half of respondents (56 %) say their companies need to change their collective mindset to achieve their sustainability goals. Recognizing that a shift in thinking is necessary is critical, but the real challenge is embedding sustainability at the core of the organization. For many, this means a big shift away from traditional business models. Some companies are already on this path: a full 37 percent of respondents describe their company's approach to sustainability as "transformative," while the next largest group (27 %) describes it as "innovative."

Topic on the agenda, but uniform ESG standards are lacking

Further, the study authors note that the lack of universal benchmarks is an ongoing challenge for most companies. Not all companies define sustainability in the same terms, and they often use different frameworks and systems to measure progress. But even for companies that have embedded sustainability into their core business, the question of measurable ESG standards to elicit progress remains. Committing to specific ESG goals is a commonly used way of measuring: about 86 percent of companies responding to this survey have committed to ESG goals. Those respondents that have not yet done so indicated that they are in the process of doing so. This high level of commitment is seen as a clear sign that the issue of sustainability is gaining momentum. However, much remains to be done in order to take effective action.

A CSO should no longer be a "nice to have

While most respondents believe the sustainability agenda is in the hands of CEOs, 60 percent believe CSOs are leading it. The study also found that most respondents find it challenging to link sustainability to overall business strategy, and that CSOs are often the missing link for organizations when it comes to linking business and sustainability goals. For them, there are four priority areas to address over the next 12 months: Incentive structures and culture, increased resources for staff and professional development, carbon emissions and internal work awareness, and alignment on the same goals and increased collaboration.

From "commitment in vagueness" to uniform ESG standards

The survey also provides insights from thought leaders across industries on the role of leadership in advancing sustainability, challenges, strategies, success stories and lessons learned. The survey shows that advancing a sustainability agenda is an achievable goal. Ultimately, it's about consistency and persistence, the survey authors said. According to Elena Rittstieg, of Egon Zehnder Switzerland, the study shows that commitment to sustainability requires decisive leadership, a clear vision and a solid strategy embedded in the overall business strategy. It is about delivering on promises made to oneself, the board of directors, investors, employees and stakeholders outside the company. This calls for managers who truly internalize the issue of sustainability.

For those interested, the study can be viewed here: https://www.egonzehnder.com/sustainability-survey

In the first quarter of 2022, the Euler Hermes Export Forecast is again well above the zero-point threshold at 0.69 points, which indicates the long-term average growth path of the Swiss export industry. Despite a decline of 0.26 points compared with the previous quarter, the indicator shows above-average export growth of around 10 percent. Over the past 20 years, it has only been higher in 20 percent of cases.

Industry remains under pressure

As before, the Industry due to persistent supply bottlenecks under great pressure. As a result, the Swiss economy is likely to get off to a rather modest start this year. Companies are holding back on major investments, and consumption is suffering from the current wave of omicron and the sharp rise in inflation. Despite these dampeners, thanks to strong growth impulses from the chemical, pharmaceutical, IT and financial services sectors, no renewed economic slump is currently expected, according to Euler Hermes. "The economic outlook is likely to brighten significantly again as early as spring," predicts Euler Hermes European economist Katharina Utermöhl. "Then both supply chain stress and, consequently, inflationary pressures will gradually ease. At the same time, accompanied by a slowdown in infection, private consumption will shift up a gear again. Accumulated private savings, the good labor market situation and high capacity utilization provide fertile ground for a robust recovery." Overall, Utermöhl expects global trade to grow by 5.4 percent in 2022 (2023: +4.0 percent). GDP is expected to increase by 3.0 % (2023: +1.8 percent). This would mean that economic growth would slow down compared with 2021, but the Swiss economy would still grow at an above-average rate.

Switzerland with world's highest purchasing managers' index

Despite good chances of a further recovery of the global economy, there are risks which could impact the economy: The Corona pandemic, negative indicators on the financial markets and the war on the Russian-Ukrainian border. The war is likely to put additional strain on trade flows, which are already impaired. "Of course, Switzerland could not escape additional stress on world markets," comments Stefan Ruf, CEO Euler Hermes Switzerland, "but Swiss industry is doing very well. This is indicated by the J.P. Morgan Global Manufacturing (PMI), the most important gauge of industrial purchasing managers. Switzerland has 63.8 points in it. No other country in the world has a higher value. This proves Switzerland's strong competitive position. Also helpful is the portfolio of destinations broadly diversified by exporting companies." Globally, the PMI stood at 53.2 points. This is a decrease compared to the previous quarter (54.3). Growth rates in new orders fell. New business growth was the weakest in a year and a half. New export business contracted for the first time in more than a year in both the consumer goods and intermediate goods sectors. The overall outlook for global manufacturing remains positive. The growth outlook, combined with the clearing of backlogs following recent delays in supply chains, is also encouraging further job creation. Headcount increased in the euro area, the U.S. and Japan in January. In China and India, the number of employees decreased.

Above-average export growth, especially to the USA

In 2021, Swiss exports grew by 15.2 percent to a new record level, while imports increased by 10.1 percent. This boosted the surplus in the balance of trade to 58.7 billion Swiss francs. The Swiss export industry was able to sell more goods in all three major economic regions. Deliveries to Europe (+18.1 percent) and North America (+17.0 percent) showed double-digit growth. Exports to Asia rose by 9.0 percent. The USA replaced Germany as Switzerland's most important export country. Imports were boosted by increased purchases of chemical-pharmaceutical products (+7.1 percent), especially immunological articles, and food and beverages. The jewelry and automotive sectors, which had still been hit in the previous year, recorded increases of 2.8 percent and 2.4 percent respectively.

Source: Euler Hermes

What are the characteristics of effective leaders? Many books have been written about this, because: Regardless of whether employees are support staff or highly qualified specialists, or whether their company is currently going through a crisis or a successful phase, managers need certain characteristics or competencies in order to be genuine, i.e. effective, leaders.

1. Ownership: This includes, among other things: setting challenging goals for oneself, sustainably implementing corporate goals, developing creative space, identifying priorities, communicating intentions consistently and clearly, generating solutions and putting them into action, creating realities.
2. Self-orientation: This includes, among other things: being self-aware, asserting oneself in one's environment, taking a stand even on sensitive issues, dealing confidently with new and unknown things, having a broad, flexible repertoire of actions for differentiated situations, a clearly developed sense of personal values.
3. Entrepreneurship: This includes, among other things: developing and driving the business, the will to succeed, sensitivity to market signals and early recognition of business opportunities, thinking through and managing products, processes and behavior consistently from the customer's point of view, the ability and courage to break new ground if necessary.
4. Ability to effect behavior: This includes, among other things: Creating meaning and generating understanding, communicating credibly and authentically, mobilizing willingness to perform, having an encouraging effect on others, feeling for the effective forces in the organizational structure and recognizing the decisive leverage forces, creating clear responsibilities and transparent task structures in order to make others successful.
5. Successful relationship management: This includes, among other things: A convincing demeanor and open approach to others, the ability to shape relationships cooperatively and develop interfaces conducively, the ability to network and deal with heterogeneous interests, the ability to move effectively within the social organizational structure.
6. Emotional stability: This includes, among other things: Confidence in one's own abilities, remaining calm and reliable in stressful situations, understanding one's own and others' feelings and being able to respond to them, being able to deal with disappointments while remaining capable of taking action, demonstrating appropriate conflict resolution behavior.
7. Willingness to learn and develop: This includes, among other things: learning from experience, accepting challenging situations and seizing the opportunities they present, obtaining and processing feedback on one's own impact, acting with an eye to the future, developing a pioneering spirit, nurturing talent and developing employees by being tolerant of mistakes, providing support in the event of difficulties (coaching), but being consistent when performance is lacking.

The challenge is to continuously develop these leadership qualities - especially in a time characterized by rapid change and decreasing predictability.

To the author: Hans-Peter Machwürth is Managing Director of the internationally operating training and consulting company Machwürth Team International (MTI Consultancy), Visselhövede (D). www.mticonsultancy.com

It would have been well worth a resolution for this year: frustrate others less! Especially if you are a leader! That may come across as a bit negative, but it's meant in a positive way. Because we all frustrate others - and often without realizing it. This manifests itself in the fact that others avoid us, do not listen to us properly, do things differently than we imagine, and so on. By the way, you behave in the same way when you are frustrated by others.

This topic is as relevant in your family (or have you never frustrated your teenagers, if you have any?) as it is for your leadership in the professional environment. For the purists of psychology, here's a clarification: you can't frustrate others directly, but you can work hard to frustrate them. However, the crucial question remains:

How can you frustrate others less and thereby increase your positive influence? Here are three often overlooked levers:

1. Still know something better.
   Do you actually know how frustrating it is for others when you still add something to their ideas and their results and know something better? You think that's your job as a leader? No, unfortunately that's a red herring: every time you improve someone, you may have done it 10% better, but at the same time lost 50% of the person's commitment. My tip: be very aware of where improvement is really needed and where it is not. And then just don't do it.
2. Respond directly to questions.
   This is also something that most people don't think about. Because every time you answer a question directly, you deprive the other person of the opportunity to come up with the best solution themselves. In the long run, this is extremely frustrating. What should you do instead? Quite simply, ask open and motivating counter-questions that lead the other person to a solution themselves. Is that always possible? No, of course not. But more often than you think!
3. Too much tolerance.
   This may be as surprising to you as the previous two points. At the same time, it can be very frustrating for others if you do not show a "clear edge", but always tolerate exceptions to the demands of behavior. The reason: you then don't know where you stand. This is frustrating.

If you're thinking, phew, I'm going to have to change my behavior, you're not alone. It's actually extremely difficult, because you're going against behavioral patterns that have often been in place for decades.

But it can be done. Just start every day with a small improvement.

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

In its recent assessment of 40 companies and 250 mine sites, the Responsible Mining Foundation (RMF) finds a striking disconnect between company commitments and mine site actions on key ESG issues. Self-commitments are now commonplace, but basic measures at mine sites - such as informing and engaging communities and workers on safety issues or environmental impacts, for example - are rarely observed. According to the 2022 RMI report, approximately 94 % of mine sites score less than 20 % on average across the fifteen basic ESG issues assessed. The risk of harm is notoriously high at mine sites; from that perspective, mining companies should be expected to protect those most exposed to these risks. And without evidence that company commitments and protocols are being implemented at the mine site level, the credibility of these measures will be limited. The RMI authors' call is clear, then: "At a time when many companies are announcing record profits and ambitious plans on technical issues such as emissions reductions or efficiency improvements, there is an urgent need for a similar level of effort and leadership to ensure responsible practices across the business."

Mine sites fall short of corporate standards

The vast majority of the 250 mine sites assessed in 53 countries cannot demonstrate that they inform and engage site communities and workers on key ESG risk factors, despite the fact that many companies require these basic measures from their mine sites. For example, most companies have a number of corporate protocols for their operations to communicate with other water users about water management and with worker representatives about occupational health and safety. But only a minority of the 250 mining sites assessed can demonstrate that they have implemented these requirements. Hélène Piaget, executive director of RMF, says: "We have seen examples of good corporate practice in many areas - companies are proving that it can be done. What we need is much faster adoption of these best practices so that the industry, especially at the mine site level, can prevent harm, limit risk and build trust."

Some companies and mine sites are catching up

However, the report also notes that although scores on corporate policies and practices remain low in many areas, overall it is encouraging that companies have improved by an average of 11 % since the last assessment in 2020. However, this average would still hide significant differences between companies at opposite ends of the performance spectrum. Companies in the first tier - those with the best overall scores - show an average improvement in their scores of only 8 %. This contrasts with the average improvement of 41 % for tier three companies, which are beginning to catch up by adopting policies and practices across a range of ESG issues while increasing their transparency.

Responsible mining must become the norm

RMI's 2022 report notes that formal ESG commitments are increasingly becoming the norm. It is clearly within the realm of possibility for any company to meet society's expectations of ESG commitments. But implementation and performance tracking are still lagging. If companies are serious about ESG and sustainability, management must ensure that these departments have sufficient budget, staff, representation and respect within the organization.

There is much scope for companies to improve their responsible policies and practices by adopting the good examples of their peers, which are highlighted as leading practices in the report. As the energy transition continues to drive demand for minerals and metals, it is more important than ever for companies to accelerate their continuous improvement efforts and make responsible mining the norm.

Source: Responsible Mining Foundation

SMEs in the MEM sector report a good business climate. The high pace of incoming orders and sales continued among companies in the fourth quarter of 2021, the industry association Swissmechanic announced after the latest quarterly survey. Around two-thirds of the companies surveyed recorded higher incoming orders compared to the same quarter last year, 69 percent were able to increase their sales, and half of the companies achieved better margins.

The export figures confirm this positive trend, even if the peak values from the summer half-year 2021 were not reached. Capacity utilization is high and, at 94 percent, is above the level seen before the Corona crisis. The upturn has also reached the labor market after a prolonged lean period; the trend toward staff expansion is continuing according to the survey at the beginning of the year.

Business climate expected to remain good in 2022

The Swissmechanic Business Climate Index was in positive territory for the third time in a row in January 2022 and has reached a new high. "Around 80 percent of the SMEs surveyed assessed the business climate as positive. That is more businesses than in October 2021. Order backlogs have also remained at a persistently high level," says Jürg Marti, Director of Swissmechanic Switzerland.

However, the tense supply chains continue to be a brake on momentum and are at the top of the list of the biggest challenges for 62 percent of companies, according to Swissmechanic. Depending on how the pandemic progresses, the problem could even be temporarily exacerbated by China's zero-covid policy. In addition to the supply chain problem, SMEs are also increasingly concerned about labor shortages and exchange rate developments.

For a secure and climate-neutral energy supply in Switzerland

Despite supply chain problems, a shortage of skilled workers and the strong Swiss franc, the MEM sector is looking to the future with confidence. But for how much longer? From the point of view of Swissmechanic Switzerland, the looming electricity shortage is jeopardizing the security of supply in Switzerland. However, a reliable power supply that meets demand at all times of the year and at competitive prices is a key competitive factor for Switzerland as a manufacturing location. The industry association fears that electricity prices, which are already rising sharply, will put a strain on the entire production and supply chain and drive up inflation.

It would therefore be wrong to rely on imported electricity: "We need domestic production capacities. But gas-fired power plants are not compatible with climate protection; we need alternatives," writes Swissmechanic in a media release. For this reason, the association is calling for an energy policy that is open to new technologies, one that does not exclude nuclear power and creates the conditions for permitting new-generation nuclear power plants.

In the whole climate and energy discussion, the MEM industries are an important part of the solution, it continues. In order to play this key role, it needs an economic policy environment that is conducive to research, development and innovation. For this reason, Swissmechanic is committed to the dismantling of regulatory and bureaucratic barriers and to attractive framework conditions for Switzerland as a business location.

Source: Swissmechanic

To kick off 2022, the global plastics and rubber industry is demonstrating unity and relying on K in Düsseldorf as the world's most important meeting place and showcase for the entire industry. The intention is to actively set the course for the future together with the visitors. And these will clearly lead in the direction of climate protection, the circular economy and digitalization. Accordingly, the three main themes of K 2022 are, according to a statement to the media.

Strong European plastics and rubber industry

The open exchange and dialog on solution-oriented innovations and sustainable developments across national borders and continents will also be the focus of this year's K in Düsseldorf, it continues. Nowhere else is the plastics and rubber industry gathered in one place with such a high degree of internationality and thus has the ideal conditions for intensive global networking and jointly advancing projects.

Suppliers from Europe, especially Germany, Italy, Austria, Turkey, the Netherlands, Switzerland and France, will again be particularly strongly represented this year, but also from the USA. At the same time, K clearly reflects the changes in the world market: the number and presentation area of companies from Asia have been at a consistently high level for several years. Strong appearances are expected above all from exhibitors from China, Taiwan, India, South Korea and Japan.

The approximately 3,000 exhibitors from 61 countries will occupy the entire Düsseldorf exhibition center. The exhibitor database for K 2022 is available at www.k-online.com/1410 retrievable.

Various informational events in the run-up to the trade fair

Interested parties can already get in the mood for the trade fair. For example, the K-Talka digital live talk in English, offers exciting discussion rounds once a month with changing international participants on a variety of topics. The focus is always on the three key topics of climate protection, the circular economy and digitization. The first K-Talk, which already took place on January 20 under the motto "Climate protection and plastics - do they go together?" is still now, as all subsequent K-Talks, available on-demand. The K-Talk in February is all about plastics in medicine, while the discussion in March is dedicated to mechanical engineering. In addition, the online magazine K-MAG to all industries associated with K and delivers facts, news, stories and trends from the international plastics and rubber industry in German and English all year round. And with K-monthly a new newsletter is available, which not only delivers the most interesting news and stories from the K-MAG via e-mail, but also current information about the K in Düsseldorf and the international trade fairs of the K-Global Gate product family. Subscription is possible via the K homepage or the K-MAG. And last but not least: The Ticket store for K 2022 starts in April 2022.

Employees of telecoms service provider Swisscom can look forward to wage increases. The wage increase of 0.9% will benefit around 10,000 Swisscom employees covered by the collective employment agreement from April 1, 2022. To take account of inflation, most employees will generally receive more pay. The wage increases will vary depending on the position in the wage band. For employees whose salary is above the salary band, no salary increase is planned.

Swisscom and the social partners have been able to reach agreement on these wage increases. "Swisscom employees have shown great commitment to our customers and to Swisscom in a challenging environment in 2021. We have achieved very good results. With this year's pay settlement, we would like to express our sincere thanks for this. As a good employer, it is important for us to pay salaries in line with the market as well as attractive fringe benefits. In this sense, I am delighted with the agreement reached with the social partners," says Klementina Pejic, CPO of Swisscom. Daniel Hügli, Head of ICT sector syndicom comments on the agreement as follows: "In 2021, employees have again made a significant contribution to a high-performance infrastructure and high service quality as part of the public service. The result of the negotiations takes this into account." And Robert Métrailler, Sector Manager Communication of the social partner transfair, adds: "For transfair, it was important to take into account the increased inflation, Swisscom's solid financial result and, above all, the extraordinary commitment of the staff in an extremely difficult working environment. These aspects contributed to a very positive salary result."

Source: Swisscom

CM Informatik AG (CMI) takes over the business activities of its long-time market companion, which previously belonged to Graphax AG, as of March 1, 2022. Through this acquisition of the business activities of BrainCONNECT, CMI consolidates its leading role in the Swiss software market for municipalities and accompanies its customers into a secure and sustainable future. The acquired software solution "BrainCONNECT GEVER" is almost identical to the solutions offered by CM Informatik in the GEVER area. Therefore, the CMI solution platform is the best possible successor software for the newly acquired customers and at the same time offers a wealth of additional specialist solutions and modules, it says. As of February 28, 2022, BrainCONNECT AG will cease its business activities. However, the BrainCONNECT system will continue to run as usual and support will be seamlessly ensured. The existing customer contracts will continue unchanged. "We are sure that we have taken the right and optimal step by handing over the business to CMI in order to offer both customers and employees a solid perspective for the future," comments Silvia Stäubli, Managing Director of BrainCONNECT AG on this step. The software solution "BrainCONNECT GEVER Standard" is a cloud-based GEVER solution with specialist applications (contract and meeting management) and interfaces to peripheral systems. In 2015, the company was sold to Graphax AG in Dietikon ZH.

Sources: cmiag.ch, brainconnect.ch, graphax.ch

Company transformations are reported in the business news on an almost daily basis. Digital transformation is currently on everyone's lips. But other megatrends such as climate change, demographic and social change, or rapid urbanization also require companies to change their previous business processes and models, in some cases radically. Company takeovers or a generational change in management can also be the trigger for far-reaching upheavals in the company.

Many business transformations fail

International studies report that over 70% of such business transformations fail. However, the extent to which companies in Switzerland are affected by such business transformations and, above all, how successfully they carry them out, is not well understood. This is exactly what the HSLU Wirtschaft is now investigating in more detail together with the Swiss Society for Organizational Development and Management SGO. As part of a survey, companies in Switzerland are asked to self-assess how well prepared they are for such business transformations, how successful the actual transformation is, and what critical transformation competencies they can draw on in the process.

Factors that must be met

Three factors play a decisive role if business change is to succeed: readiness, the basic organizational prerequisites, and the organization's capabilities for transformation. Readiness is determined by the ability and willingness of employees and managers. Organizational prerequisites are created by making the entire process of a business transformation part of the corporate DNA (from recognizing to sustainably anchoring identified changes). A company's capabilities for implementing transformations primarily relate to competencies such as strategic, project, people or change management. The HSLU study covers these central factors and provides information on how companies are positioned overall for mastering transformations.

Participate in the survey until March 20

Interested companies can participate in this survey until March 20, 2022. The survey can be accessed directly at this Link to find, or also about these Landing page. Participants are offered to receive a more detailed results report free of charge after completion of the survey, which summarizes the results of the Business Transformation Survey 2022 across companies and industries. Companies wishing to conduct a more detailed assessment of their own transformation capabilities in order to gain more in-depth insights into the subject matter can contact Jan Schlüchter, project manager of the Business Transformation Survey 2022.

As of today, February 17, 2022, the home office recommendation is officially a thing of the past in Switzerland, following the abolition of the home office obligation. Only the rules for the protection of particularly vulnerable employees remain in place. So companies are now free to decide whether they continue to accept home office, offer flexible working models or require their employees to be present in the office again. This could now give rise to different expectations, and this harbors potential for conflict. How should companies or managers now proceed?

Giving employees confidence

Many employees are likely to have acquired a taste for the freedom to work at home and will no longer let themselves be taken for granted. Many HRM experts are convinced of this, including Joachim Pawlik, CEO of Pawlik Consultants in Hamburg. He warns against simply returning to a comprehensive obligation to be present. Rather, he says, it is now the order of the day for managers to trust their employees. "They pay it back twice over," says Pawlik. Swiss employers say they are aware of their responsibilities in this regard. "Employers will continue to exercise caution and avoid contagions in the workplace and staff absences as far as possible with adapted protective measures. As usual, they will also be concerned about protecting the health of their employees as part of their legal duty of care," says a statement from the Swiss Employers' Association.

When it comes to recruitment, the question of mobile working is likely to become a decisive one. Talents and potential candidates will probably no longer simply approve of too strict an obligation to be present and overregulation. Companies that are open and flexible when it comes to hybrid working are likely to receive significantly more applications.

After the removal of the home office obligation and recommendation: Five tips

1. Safety first. Hygiene concepts are the norm. But especially when more people are coming together in the office again, they should be consistently adhered to. The manager is the role model here. They should not allow any peer pressure to arise in which "at last we are together again" results in too lax an approach.
2. Giving psychological security. Not everyone has the courage to come out with their worries. Especially when people say things like, "Oh, it's all right now. The central role of the manager will be to pay attention to the very different interpretations of the current situation and to do justice to them - as far as the operational requirements allow.
3. Test new solutions. Managers should have the courage to first try out new models with remote and presence and to gather experience before laying down rules. It's better to take a pragmatic approach: try things out, reflect together and learn. Only then should a rule be laid down.
4. Rethinking the office. People no longer come to the office to work alone. If you want to lure them out of the home office, you have to offer them a sense of community. This can be achieved through zoom-free zones and days of new office design - without having to remodel right away, shared lunches...
5. Trust instead of obligation. Mandatory rules are the last resort. It is better to discuss and decide together that "it would be good if everyone was there together on Wednesday" than to oblige employees to do so "from above". Trust is the most important commandment; employees pay it back twice.

You can find more information about hybrid working here (Source: Pawlik Group, Hamburg)

Cheap money makes company acquisitions and sales by SMEs attractive. Accordingly, M&A activity has recovered impressively despite an environment still dominated by the Covid 19 pandemic, according to the latest Deloitte MidCap M&A Study. Since it was first published in 2013, never before have so many transactions taken place as in 2021, according to the report. Globally, the value of company acquisitions and disposals rose to 5.8 trillion US dollars in 2021, clearly eclipsing even the previous record year of 2007 (4.55 trillion US dollars). Compared to 2020, this development corresponds to an increase of 64 percent, and the number of transactions increased by 24 percent. M&A performance for Switzerland saw similar growth to 233 transactions (+24.6%). Private equity investors also showed greater confidence in the market again and were involved in a total of 94 transactions. According to Deloitte, this is more than a doubling and also a record figure.

Swiss SMEs see opportunities abroad again

60 Swiss SMEs made an acquisition abroad in the past calendar year (+30.4%). Confidence in opportunities outside Switzerland's borders is thus at a historically high level. Almost half of the acquisitions took place in the immediate neighboring countries, with Germany remaining the preferred target country with 30 percent of the transactions. Swiss SMEs were most interested in the TMT (technology, media and telecommunications) and healthcare sectors. Both sectors have been instrumental in coping with the ongoing digitalization during the global pandemic last year. By contrast, the manufacturing industry, which dominated the rankings in the past, dropped to fifth place in 2021.

In contrast, a total of 173 Swiss SMEs were acquired. The number of domestic buyers rose moderately to 76 (+10.1%), while inbound transactions increased by over a third to 97 deals. "The surge in cross-border transactions confirms the general regained confidence in the international macroeconomic situation. The easing of uncertainty around COVID-19 has also certainly further supported this development," explains Anthony West, Head Corporate Finance at Deloitte Switzerland.

Swiss SMEs show resilience and remain attractive

Just under three quarters of the foreign buyers are European companies. More than a third of these (36%) come from neighboring countries, with Germany the largest investor in Switzerland at 26 percent. Also on the podium are the U.S. and the U.K., which were the buyers in 18 percent of acquisitions each. Transactions were again mainly made in German-speaking Switzerland, and the canton of Zurich remains the most dynamic region with 55 deals.

"Swiss SMEs have demonstrated resilience, global leadership and unwavering innovative strength during the pandemic. This makes them attractive to foreign investors today and will continue to do so in the future. In addition, we have observed an increase in local transactions since the beginning of the pandemic. So the stable political and regulatory environment remains attractive," says Anthony West.

Economic growth likely to further boost boom for company acquisitions and sales

After the turbulent 2020, 2021 will go down in history as a peak year both globally and from a Swiss perspective. It is unlikely that this growth trend in corporate acquisitions and disposals will slow down in 2022. The abundance of capital, the current favorable financing opportunities and the high company valuations should continue to boost the M&A market. The TMT and healthcare industries will also be in focus in 2022 as they continue to ride the wave of digitization and innovation triggered by the pandemic.

However, the global rise in infection rates from the Omikron variant of the virus highlights the fragility of the global recovery. "We also see potential impediments to current growth," said Anthony West. "These include potential travel restrictions, shutdowns and the risk of inflation, as well as geopolitical risks in certain parts of the world."

Source: Deloitte