The Corona pandemic has permanently changed the world of work and caused a digitalization push in many places - especially in the HR sector. This is shown in the study "Digitales Arbeiten 2030" (Digital Work 2030) by F.A.Z. Business Media | research and Cornerstone, for which a total of 238 executives were surveyed. In addition, Dr. Thomas Ogilvie (Chief Human Resources Officer and Labor Director at Deutsche Post DHL Group) and Ulrike Baumgartner-Foisner (Senior Vice President Group Organizational Development & HR, Wienerberger Group) also speak in the publication in an interview about their experiences with HR digitization and how their companies are dealing with Covid-19.

Home office will stay

While home office was the exception rather than the rule in the companies surveyed before the pandemic, things will look different in the future: Only 3 percent of the companies surveyed will bring all employees back to the office permanently. The majority (53 percent) are relying on hybrid working - i.e., alternating between office and home office days - in which employees will work predominantly in the office and only occasionally at a different location.

Corona accelerates the pace of HR digitization

To ensure that working from the home office runs smoothly, many companies have been working flat out on digital transformation in recent months. The pace of digitization in HR has also picked up considerably: almost three-quarters of the executives surveyed (73 percent) say that the Corona pandemic has provided a digitization boost in their own HR department.

Administrative service provider was yesterday

From the point of view of the HR and corporate decision-makers surveyed, the time of HR as a purely administrative service provider is definitely over. Administrative HR tasks can be completed more quickly thanks to new technologies. This enables HR professionals to devote more time to strategic and advisory tasks. The HR departments of 46 percent of respondents are strategic partners. In 45 percent of the companies surveyed, HR is also taking on the roles of advisor and crisis manager in the pandemic. This is hardly surprising, since HR is located directly at the interface with employees. This means that HR staff - in addition to their direct superiors - are the first point of contact for questions relating to the organization of work, which is subject to constant change, especially during the pandemic.

Mastering cultural challenges

Nevertheless, digitization alone is no guarantee of success. Companies and their HR departments are now faced with the challenge of adapting the management and corporate culture to the new circumstances so that smooth operations are also ensured within the framework of a hybrid working model. For 71 percent of the decision-makers surveyed, the biggest challenge for HR is therefore to bring employees along with them in the change process. 61 percent also consider it very challenging to establish a new mindset and accompany the change in corporate culture.

Interested parties can download the study here download free of charge.

With over 110,000 customers, Global Sana AG is one of Switzerland's leading insurance brokers in the field of health insurance, insurance and retirement planning for private customers. Since 2014, the insurance broker has been offering advice on optimizing insurance solutions. The signs point to further growth: in the current year, the workforce has grown by 30% to 130 employees despite pandemic challenges. Now the cooperation with Deutsche Vermögensberatung has been added. Global Sana thus aims to become one of the leading providers of bancassurance advice in Switzerland.

Insurance broker wants to become a bancassurance provider

The family-owned company DVAG is Germany's largest independent financial advisory firm with revenues of around two billion euros in 2020. Through this partnership, Global Sana has the opportunity to expand its business model and develop its bancassurance offering in Switzerland. At the same time, Deutsche Vermögensberatung, the leading bancassurance company in Germany, will support the further development and growth with its comprehensive expertise.

Private customers first, later also corporate customers

"We are very pleased to have found a strong partner in Deutsche Vermögensberatung for further expansion in Switzerland. Deutsche Vermögensberatung, with its multiple award-winning business model, has the expertise in bancassurance that we would like to make available to our customers," says Daniel Neumann, Managing Director of Global Sana AG. The gradual introduction of bancassurance services will focus on private customers in a first step and on corporate customers in a second. "Knowledge transfer in bancassurance is a key factor in our growth strategy," says Dani Kass, also Managing Director of Global Sana AG. "We support our clientele in securing or regaining their financial self-determination. Especially in times of crisis, it is important to have an independent and competent partner in order to maintain an overview and benefit from the best possible solutions."

Three questions for Daniel Neumann

Why does Global Sana choose a partner from Germany?
Daniel Neumann: Deutsche Vermögensberatung DVAG is by far Germany's largest independent financial advisor. With their expertise in bancassurance, we are in a position to gradually expand and further professionalize our service offering in Switzerland. We cannot imagine a better and more competent partner for our planned growth in Switzerland.

Did this cooperation come about as a result of an opportunity or did you deliberately look for a partner abroad because you couldn't find one in Switzerland?
We have been in contact with Deutsche Vermögensberatung for a long time. The initiative for a cooperation came from our side, because from our point of view a dynamic growth in Switzerland in the area of bancassurance is only possible with a strong partner like DVAG.

Or was it the other way around that DVAG found a suitable partner in Switzerland through Global Sana in order to penetrate the local market?
The synergy effects of our partnership are very high indeed. With our strong market position, we are helping Deutsche Vermögensberatung in Switzerland to achieve sustainable growth in bancassurance.

Sources and further information: Global Sana / DVAG

Tuesday evening, November 2, 2021, and again in front of the TV: The second episode of DHDL Switzerland was on the program. Marcel Paa from Sins, author of the baking book "einfach backen" and known to regular viewers of the CH media channels as a jury member on the show "zuckersüss & bitterzart," is now also among the entrepreneurs. He presented "Hello Sweety," a sweetener that has all the properties of commercial sugar but 50 percent fewer calories. One of the lions is to help his venture along with an investment of 100,000 francs in exchange for a 5 percent stake, according to the idea. The special thing: Marcel Paa has not even founded a company for the production of "Hello sweety". This naturally led to some question marks among the lions. But Patrick Mollet got on board anyway at the conditions proposed by Marcel Paa. Jürg Schwarzenbach also offered 100,000 francs, but wanted a 10 percent share. Roland Brack went all out: 150,000 francs for a 10 percent stake. But Patrick Mollet won the bid. He probably made a bargain, because until the end the neo-entrepreneur concealed the fact that his product was already listed with a major distributor...

Million deal at DHDL Switzerland

Anna Windisch, Dominik Hollinger and Max Sieghold are behind the ETH spin-off "Sleepiz". They have developed a device that monitors sleep without contact, measuring pulse, breathing and body movements. This makes it comparatively easy to diagnose suspected sleep apnea without the patient having to visit a sleep lab. The device can be dispensed by general practitioners for home use. The attending physician then has access to the measurement data via software. The three young entrepreneurs appeared self-confident, professional and well-versed in their field: Their investment proposal was one million Swiss francs in exchange for a 5 percent stake in the company. All the lions were impressed by "Sleepiz" and its potential in the health sector. Jürg Schwarzenbach dropped out, the four others, Bettina Hein, Anja Graf, Roland Brack and Lukas Speiser then jointly offered the desired million, but demanded a share of 8 percent. The young entrepreneurs, however, only wanted to offer a maximum of 5.5 percent. The deal then came about in this way - "a big house number," as lioness Bettina Hein stated on behalf of the company.

So that was the biggest deal of this season so far. Back on the ground, or rather under the ground, was the startup "WormUp," a home composting system that works with real worms. The odorless conversion of organic waste into fertilizer - that's the product promise. But the whole thing comes at a price. The team led by Sarah Steiner and Nikolai Räber sells the thoroughly aesthetic composting systems for CHF 365, including the "worm starter set". According to the founders, they would have generated CHF 500,000 in sales with them in 2020. With an investment of 340,000 francs, they want to take off further. The five lions certainly saw the qualities of the product. But they thought it was still too early for such a high investment. A deal therefore did not materialize.

Entering a market niche with vegan fondue

Exciting for the TV viewers would have been some olfactory "augmented reality" with the next founders: Ornella Lo Giusto and Katarina Skybova from Zurich presented their vegan fondue "Samses." The two operators of the eponymous restaurant developed a lactose-free, nut-free and palm oil-free recipe for a cheese-free fondue. The fondue seemed to meet the taste of all the lions, the condition "chli stinke muess es" was fulfilled, noted Bettina Hein. Lion Tobias Reichmuth outed himself as a fan. Despite all the enthusiasm, however, the investors were bothered by the fact that the two founders could not quite make up their minds: To continue their restaurant or to focus fully on fondue production. Tobias Reichmuth then offered CHF 200,000 in exchange for a 10 percent stake on the condition that Ornella and Katarina go "all in". While Jürg Schwarzenbach, Patrick Mollet and Bettina Hein dropped out, Roland Brack also made an offer. The "bidding war" finally ended in the following deal: Tobias Reichmuth and Roland Brack got in together with a total of CHF 400,000, but wanted a 20 percent stake. So this is how "moitié-moitié" works, as the off-commentary noted.

A right product - but probably targeting the wrong customers

Polish-born engineer Dariusz Lewicki and his partner Elzbieta Taborek presented "WC Fresher," a toilet cleaner that is designed to tackle several unloved problems at once: The regular cleaning of the toilet bowl and the chronically too high doses of conventional cleaning agents used for this purpose. "We're retiring the WC duck," is the whimsical claim. The new thing about the "WC Fresher": it is installed directly in the cistern. With each flush, the toilet bowl is descaled, cleaned and disinfected. With 250,000 Swiss francs against a 25 percent stake in the company, Dariusz Lewicki now wants to market his product further. The reservations of the lions came immediately: The assembly is too complicated for "normal consumers". However, it could be interesting for hospitals or the hotel industry. But this would require other distribution channels. None of the lions wanted to invest, but Roland Brack promised to include the product in the range. Tears of disappointment gave way to joy, however, when Dariusz Lewicki and Elzbieta Taborek were presented with an appearance on "MediaShop" as a "consolation prize.

In this broadcast of DHDL Switzerland, too, the lions showed their rather "comfortable" side; there were one or two critical questions for the young entrepreneurs, but they didn't really have to show their teeth. This was probably due in no small part to the very well prepared candidates, who all made a professional impression in their pitches. In this respect, one can wish them all entrepreneurial success from the TV chair with a clear conscience.

Interviews with two investors on "Die Höhle der Löwen Schweiz" can be found at here, there is a review of the program from October 26, 2021 here.

Information about the next shipments: https://www.3plus.tv/die-hoehle-der-loewen-schweiz

The latest Global Interconnection Index (GXI Vol. 5), an annual market study published by Equinix, a global digital infrastructure company, shows that the pandemic has forced business into the fast lane. Companies that already had a digital-first strategy were four times faster than before the pandemic. Companies have reduced the time it takes to deploy their digital infrastructure across multiple geographies, expand to multiple edge locations or integrate multiple clouds - what would have taken two years in the past can now be done in six months.

Digitally leading companies continue to drive development

This accelerated pace of digital transformation is forecast to continue driving rapid growth in interconnection bandwidth. According to the GXI Vol. 5, total interconnection bandwidth, the measure of private connectivity used to transfer data between organizations, is expected to reach 21,485+ terabits per second (Tbps) or 85 zettabytes per year by 2024, representing a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 44 %. The Zurich metropolitan area is forecast to grow at a CAGR of 50 % by 2024. This growth is in line with the increasing demand for the digital infrastructure needed to bring more businesses online, facilitate electronic integration with partners and supply chains, and reach more people in distributed, hybrid work environments. By industry in EMEA, Zurich already ranks as the 3rd largest metropolitan area per industry in Securities and Trading and 4th in Industrial Services.

Interconnection bandwidth higher than Internet traffic

For digitally leading companies, business and technology must be connected in order to be successful. Digitization of the back office (core), marketplaces (ecosystem), front office, and physical world (edge) is essential. Measuring digital revenue growth versus cost of sales is a key element of this strategy. Digital leading enterprises and network service providers have been following IOA (Interconnection Oriented Architecture) principles in building and scaling the Internet for 20 years. Today, digitally leading enterprises across all industries are leveraging this architecture and embracing interconnection. This is happening to such an extent that the total interconnection bandwidth is already nine times higher than the total Internet traffic.

Roger Semprini, Managing Director, Equinix, Switzerland, summarizes: "If there is a time to move to digital-first, it is now. You have to act now, or you may not be ready for what's coming. In case any further fundamental proof is needed: Interconnection bandwidth is expected to be 15 times greater than the Internet. Digital leaders here in Switzerland and around the world are using that bandwidth to accelerate transformation and reshape their businesses."

Source: Equinix

A study by Accenture Interactive entitled "The Great Marketing Declutter" demonstrates how certain marketing organizations are outperforming their competitors in terms of revenue growth, profitability and customer satisfaction. These marketing leaders - just 17 percent of more than 1,000 respondents - and their departments are doing well, despite all the changes, uncertainties and complexities of the past 18 months. This group, called "Thrivers" in the study, notes: the vast majority (86 percent) of their employees are even motivated by the task of adapting to their customers' rapidly changing buying motivations.

What makes successful marketing leaders

According to the Accenture study, thrivers stand out because they are decluttering their marketing to cope with increasing complexity. Fifty-nine percent of them said their organization is in a much stronger position today than it was a year ago because it has been forced to look at marketing in a completely different way. Successful companies recognize that their customers' motivations have changed. And they know what it takes to provide them with smarter and better offerings. They've focused on the essentials, weeded out anything unimportant, and recombined the rest. The result: teams find more meaning in their work. That's critical when it comes to supporting their own business and customers, as well as attracting and retaining employees.

"Striver" as a counterpart

The study divides the remaining respondents into two further categories related to specific aspects of their customer relationships. Two-thirds (66 percent) of the marketing executives surveyed are "Strivers": they have some autonomy in meeting customer needs, but limited knowledge of how customers are changing. The remaining 17 percent are "survivors." They are burned out and don't have their finger on the pulse of customer change because they assume that change is temporary.

"Marketing leaders who make it their mission to redefine their function, how they work and the role of marketing in the organization as a whole will be more successful and grow your business in the future," said Benjamin Tück, Lead Accenture Interactive Switzerland. "Thrivers will find their purpose in addressing the real needs of their customers while aligning their organization in an agile and data-driven way."

Thrivers are much more powerful than Survivor. They achieve ...

• more than 1.4 x more frequently a far better performance in sales growth and profitability.
• more than 1.8 x more frequently a far better performance in customer satisfaction.
• more than 2 x more frequently a far better performance in Customer Lifetime Value.
• more than 2.5 x more frequently a far better performance in customer awareness.

The strategies of successful marketing leaders

The study also found that Thrivers align their marketing organization around three key guiding principles: Alignment with [company] Purpose, Support for Customers, and Optimized Way of Working. Thrivers are pointing the way to the future with their thinking and actions. Their strategy can be defined by the following five guiding principles:

1. Getting to know customers anew: Thrivers accept that the customers they once knew have changed. They've jettisoned their old beliefs about their customers' preferences and understand the danger of making mere assumptions. They listen, align their marketing with who their customers are at any given time, and make customer satisfaction their primary measure of success.
2. Find differentiator: Thrivers know that a differentiating customer experience requires internal unity and collaboration. That's why they are 60 percent more likely than Survivors to say that customer input is very important to them in making key business decisions in this area. They recognize that all functions - product development, commerce, sales, service and marketing - must run in sync to stand out from the competition.
3. Keeping pace with rapid change: The overwhelming majority of Thrivers (91 percent) believe that customer behavior is changing faster than ever. That's why they strive to deliver messages, content and experiences that are relevant to customers in the moment. They are also 50 percent more likely than Survivors to increase their investments to scale appropriately quickly (95 percent vs. 65 percent).
4. Figure out what better NOT to do: The marketing ecosystem has become exponentially more complex due to the explosion of touchpoints, technologies, legal issues, and partners. Thrivers are mastering this complexity by automating and industrializing their processes. They also invest in better collaboration with ecosystem partners significantly more often than Survivor (91 percent vs. 56 percent). They are just as careful to discard superfluous tasks as to complete necessary ones. This gives their marketing organizations the decisive edge.
5. Standing up for your own values: Thrivers have their own brand purpose, approach customers empathetically and authentically, and provide what they value. Thrivers are five times more likely than survivors to see pandemic changes in customer attitudes as an opportunity to rethink the role of marketing and redefine their brand purpose.

Source: Accenture

Software solutions such as bexio have set themselves the goal of simplifying the everyday office life of SMEs. But access to relevant data from their customers is not always easy to manage. A new interface now solves this central problem: With the connection to bLink, SMEs can now easily connect their digital accounting with their house bank and automatically integrate corresponding account and transaction data. Approval for data exchange by the SME is given in just a few minutes via the house bank's e-banking and can be revoked at any time. bLink, operated by SIX, is an open-finance solution developed for the Swiss financial center. Financial institutions and third-party providers can link easily and securely via this central platform.

Total expense reduced

Because bank transactions make up a significant part of the accounting, this decisively reduces the overall effort for SME administration. In addition, accounting is constantly kept up to date. This also creates opportunities for new features for software providers. Matthias Paulus, Product Owner of bexio, is pleased: "The connection to bLink allows us to standardize and further stabilize the data exchange with banks. This will allow us to focus on our core competencies, the processing of this data, in the future and provide our customers with even greater automation in payment transactions."

In addition to bexio, new additions to the platform include the payroll tool SwissSalary, the all-in-one collaboration platform for fiduciaries Counteo, and Limmobi, a tool that enables efficient real estate management for both private and professional administrators.

Open Finance: A Win-Win-Win Situation

The customers of the business software are always also customers of a bank. The added value of direct data integration for SMEs is therefore also transferred to the brand of the bank offering the interface. Through the service, banks thus reinforce the value proposition to their SME customers. Furthermore, cooperation with software providers also offers banks the potential for additional offerings, e.g. in the area of expense management in combination with card data. The interface thus generates added value for all participants involved in the data exchange.

Source and further information: SIX

The Bank Council of Zürcher Kantonalbank has appointed Urs Baumann as the new CEO of Zürcher Kantonalbank as of September 1, 2022. To ensure a smooth transition in the operational management of the bank, Urs Baumann will join as a member of the General Management as of June 1, 2022. The Swiss national has been CEO of Blue Earth Capital AG in Zug since 2015 and has more than 20 years of professional and leadership experience with global, regional and national financial companies. He started his career in 1993 as a consultant with McKinsey & Company in Zurich. From 1998, he gained professional experience in the finance and banking sector at Swisscard in Horgen, Barclays Bank PLC in London, Lindorff Group in Oslo and Bellevue Group AG in Küsnacht. In 2015, Urs Baumann became co-founder of Blue Earth Capital AG in Zug (formerly PG Impact Investments AG), which he still manages today. Urs Baumann holds a Master of Arts degree from the University of St. Gallen and an MBA degree from the University of Chicago Booth School. Together with his partner, Urs Baumann lives in Schindellegi, Canton Schwyz. He will change his place of residence to the Canton of Zurich.

"Urs Baumann will take over a strong Zürcher Kantonalbank," says Martin Scholl, CEO of Zürcher Kantonalbank, who will hand over operational management next year after 15 years of service. "The bank is in excellent shape and solidly positioned due to its successful diversification strategy. We will continue to pursue the bank's strategic projects at full speed in order to achieve another good annual result next year. I would like to extend a warm welcome to Urs Baumann at Zürcher Kantonalbank and look forward to working with him. We will ensure a smooth handover of the baton." The appointment of Urs Baumann as Martin Scholl's successor results from a careful and multi-stage selection process that demonstrates the bank's commitment to strong corporate governance, the statement to the media said. "I would like to thank the Bank Council for the trust they have placed in me. It is an honor for me to be able to lead the leading bank in the Zurich economic region," Urs Baumann is quoted as saying.

Source: ZKB

The 9th edition of ConferenceArena was presented by the host country Italy, adding an international perspective. Represented by the Italian National Tourist Board (ENIT), the Convention Bureau Italia and the two MICE cities of Milan and Rome, the host country showed how rapidly Italy has developed in terms of MICE in recent years. Furthermore, more than 70 renowned exhibitors from Italy and abroad presented themselves, among them also the Hilton Group Austria. But also inspired show acts such as ice carving with European champion Toni Steininger or top-class lectures - for example by Olympia Caterer Ernst Seidl. "This year's ConferenceArena was incredibly diverse and it's great to see that the MICE industry is back so strongly again" explain Martina Müller and Roger Schaer from the exhibition management.

Wolfgang Walter Wulle triumphs at the second Speakers Excellence Slam Swiss

The second Speakers Excellence Slam Swiss, which was held at the ConferenceArena together with Europe's largest speaker agency "Speakers Excellence", promised to be highly exciting. 11 top speakers competed against each other with 7-minute impulses to convince a jury of experts and the audience. At the end Wolfang Walter Wulle triumphed and secured itself with its impulse ?conflicts are growth engines? the jury Ward. The audience award was won by Yannick Zionel with his presentation "Control of your emotions = action".

Councillor Ernst Stocker discusses the future of the event industry

Old normality or new opportunities? The event industry after the pandemic." On this topic, moderated by Sven Epiney, a top-class panel discussed the central future issues of the MICE world. Christoph Kamber, President of EXPO EVENT, and Martin von Moos, President of HotellerieSuisse Zurich and Regions, provided fascinating insights into the machine room of the event industry during the pandemic. Ernst Stocker, member of the cantonal government and head of the Zurich Finance Department, made it clear what enormous financial efforts the canton has already made to support the industry. Furthermore, Christoph Lang, FRZ Airport Region Zurich, enriched the panel with his local perspective as Managing Director of the largest business network in Zurich. Conclusion: The MICE industry is getting back on its feet, but it is not out of the woods yet. This also requires courage and further support.

ConferenceArena now under the management of Bianca Markwalder

Furthermore, Bianca Markwalder, 28, most recently Head of MICE & Sales at Arosa Tourism, was introduced as the successor to Exhibition Director Roger Schaer, who had been responsible for the ConferenceArena as Managing Director since 2018. "I am very much looking forward to the great challenge and to leading the trade fair into its 10th anniversary in 2022 and developing it further," said Markwalder.

More information

Few things are as critical to your long-term team success as deciding who belongs on your team and who doesn't. Although this fact is common knowledge, too few of the questions asked in most recruiting decisions are those that will bring you closer to a winning team in the long term.

How winning teams work

What do I mean by that? Well, winning teams function by different rules than mediocre teams. The demands on team members are sometimes quite different from the demands on people who function well in average environments.

This becomes very clear in a comparison with team sports: the players on a team in the Champions League can not only play football better on average than others (that goes without saying), but above all they have different demands on themselves and the environment in which they operate. This encompasses much more than just the activity (in the example of soccer) itself.

Three questions for job candidates

So if you want to take your team to a higher level in a sustainable way, you should ask yourself these three crucial questions before accepting candidates into your team:

1. Will the person help us get closer to the vision? Too often, people look only at professional and human qualities, rather than primarily at the extent to which this person will help us get closer to our vision. To do this, of course, you must have a strong and clear vision and be clear about how the team will contribute to achieving it. True winning teams have that. If your vision is too fuzzy, you should work on it first.
2. Does the person have the highest standards for things that are important to us? Our standards (and what you don't tolerate) define our identity. As a winning team, you only want people around you who can exemplify the defined high standards. Tolerance of low standards is one of the sure guarantees of mediocre performance at best.
3. Does the person bring positive spirit and joy to the team? This is much more than simply a soft factor. A positive attitude is always extremely important when it comes to achieving outstanding results. And: negative and positive behaviors are contagious.

Bottom line: ask yourself these three questions with every potential new hire to your team and look closely at your answers. And maybe you need to work with your team on vision, aspirations, and positive spirit first so that you attract the best job candidates. After all, that would be a good effect in itself.

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

A global study by Oracle and Workplace Intelligence, a human resources research and consulting firm, surveyed 14,639 executives, HR leaders, managers and full-time employees about the impact of Covid-19 on the workplace, AI and career development, and the use of AI at work. The survey was conducted between July 27 and August 18, 2021, in the U.S., U.K., UAE, France, Netherlands, Germany, Brazil, India, Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Australia. The study targeted full-time employees aged 22 to 74.

Workers suffer from loneliness, isolation and loss of control

The study now found that people around the world feel constrained in their personal and professional lives. However, they are ready to take back control of their future. Yet they are also increasingly turning to robots to support their career development after the COVID-19 pandemic left them feeling lonely. "The last year and a half has changed the way people work, where they work and, for many people, who they work for. While there have been many challenges for employees and employers, it has also been an opportunity to change the workplace for the better," said Dan Schawbel, managing partner of Workplace Intelligence, commenting on the findings.

According to the study, 80 percent of people have had negative experiences in the past year. Many experienced financial problems (29 percent), increased mental health issues (28 percent), suffered from a lack of professional motivation (25 percent) and felt disconnected from their own lives (23 percent). Sixty-two percent found 2021 to be the most stressful year yet at work. Nearly half (52 percent) struggled more with mental health issues at work in 2021 than in 2020, and the number of people who feel they have little or no control over their personal and professional lives has nearly doubled since the pandemic began (up 93 %). Respondents said they have lost control over their future (43 percent), personal life (46 percent), career (41 percent), and relationships (39 percent). Seventy-six percent feel constricted in their personal lives, worry about their future (20 percent), are trapped in the same routine over and over (31 percent) and feel more loneliness than ever before (26 percent).

People are motivated to make changes, but face major challenges

Despite the adversity of the past year, people around the world are eager to make changes in their professional lives. 93 percent of the population worldwide used the past year to reflect on their lives. 88 percent said the importance of success has changed for them since the pandemic, with work-life balance (42 percent), mental health (37 percent) and workplace flexibility (33 percent) now top priorities. Seventy-five percent feel constrained professionally because they don't see opportunities for career development (25 percent) and are too overwhelmed to make changes (22 percent).

70 percent of respondents also said that feeling stuck at work also has a negative impact on their personal lives. It leads to additional stress and anxiety (40 percent), contributes to them feeling personally constricted (29 percent) and limits them in their private lives (27 percent). Indes: 83 percent of respondents are willing to make a change. However, 76 percent said they face major obstacles in doing so. The biggest hurdles include financial instability (22 percent), uncertainty about what career change makes sense for them (20 percent), lack of confidence to make a change (20 percent) and lack of growth opportunities in their company (20 percent).

Looking ahead to 2022, career development is at the top of the priority list. Many are willing to give up key benefits such as vacation (52 percent), cash bonuses (51 percent) and even a portion of their salary (43 percent) for better career opportunities. However, 85 percent of employees are not satisfied with the support they receive from their employer. They would like companies to provide better career support with more training opportunities (34 percent), higher salaries (31 percent) and opportunities for new roles within the company (30 percent). "The past year has set a new course for the future of work. Amid the stress, anxiety and loneliness of the global pandemic, employees have surprisingly found their voice, become more confident and are now advocating for what they want," said Yvette Cameron, senior vice president, Oracle Cloud HCM.

Workers want better career support and rely on technology to deliver it

To retain and develop top talent, employers need to pay more attention than ever to the needs of their employees and better support them with technology. Eighty-five percent of respondents want technology to help them define their future by identifying skills they need to develop (36 percent), recommending new learning opportunities (36 percent) and identifying next steps toward their career goals (32 percent). As many as 75 percent of respondents would change their lives based on robot recommendations. A full 82 percent believe robots can support their careers better than a human by providing unbiased recommendations (37 percent), quickly answering questions about their careers (33 percent) or finding new jobs that match their current skills (32 percent).

But survey respondents nevertheless believe that people still play a crucial role in career development and are better able to provide support by giving advice based on personal experience (46 percent), identifying strengths and weaknesses (44 percent), and recommending roles according to personality rather than just looking at a resume (32 percent). Demands are made of employers, however: 87 percent of respondents believe their company should do more to address their needs, and 55 percent are more willing to stay with a company that uses advanced technologies like AI to promote career development.

"If companies want to attract and retain talent, they need to place more emphasis on helping their employees identify and develop new skills, and provide personalized career paths so they can regain a sense of ownership over their careers," says Oracle's Yvette Cameron on the topic of better career support.

Source: Oracle 

The third season of "Die Höhle der Löwen Schweiz" (The Lion's Den Switzerland), which has been broadcast on Tuesdays on 3+ since October 26, 2021, started with the Zurich-based company UMAMI. Without chemicals, the startup grows so-called "microgreens". These are growing vegetable seedlings, which are said to have a much stronger aroma than the adult plant. The trick: For the cultivation, founder Denis Weinberg and his team rely on an aquaponic ecosystem that houses fish, shrimp, plants and many other organisms. The whole forms a vital nutrient cycle and is the heart of production. Indeed, UMAMI's products met with enthusiasm from the lions in terms of taste. They wanted 300,000 Swiss francs from the investors for a 3 percent stake in the company. The founders put the low production costs and the large market potential, which generally applies to the food industry, on the line. Lion Lukas Speiser was initially very enthusiastic, but then found the valuation too high and dropped out. Anja Graf and Jürg Schwarzenbach also found the business model exciting, while Bettina Hein expressed skepticism and also dropped out. Anja Graf and Jürg Schwarzenbach then finally offered the 300000 francs, but wanted 10 percent of the company. But the two founders did not go for it.

A project of the heart and a "product the world doesn't need".

The lions appreciated the professional impression the first founders had made on them. It was then more about a project of the heart with "Edelwhite Gin" with Canadian-born owner Barb Grossenbacher. She had founded the company with her best friend Sandra, who passed away two years ago. In any case, the product she has now further developed on her own, which reflects the Entlebuch UNESCO Biosphere with 27 herbs ("botanicals" in gin lingo), has it all. The tasting was also well received by the lions. Barb Grossenbacher sold 5000 bottles of her gin last year. She now wants an investment of 75,000 francs so that she no longer has to go it alone. Both Jürg Schwarzenbach and Roland Brack offered a deal. In the end, Roland Brack won the bid because he demanded "only" 10 percent of the company and not 15 percent like Schwarzenbach.

The "Grass FlipFlops" by founder Reto Schaufelberger are made of artificial turf and feature country flags. Although the lionesses and lions put question marks behind the sustainability and meaningfulness of this product, they still found the idea quite creative after a "trial run". Jürg Schwarzenbach, in particular, was open to the idea of artificial turf, as he had once campaigned for such a pitch at the local soccer club. It was he who wanted to contribute 30,000 Swiss francs in exchange for a 20 percent share in the company. After a brief telephone consultation with his wife, Reto Schaufelberger agreed to the deal.

When a lioness extends her claws...

So far, there has been little evidence of "tough" questions from investors to the founders, or they could be answered professionally. In this respect, Anja Graf then shifted up a gear in her assessment of the family calendar app "SHUBiDU". With this app, founder Sonia Eterno wants to fight against the paper and appointment chaos of family organization. However, Anja Graf, herself a mother of four children and thus actually part of the core target group, was not at all enthusiastic about the product. She criticized above all the lack of synchronizability with already existing apps, e.g. Whatsapp. "I don't know if I want something additional," she said with a visible frown. And that it should be up to women or mothers alone to manage family schedules, she eloquently resisted. "I told my children early on: look for yourself, because I don't have time for everything!" She doesn't need a solution like SHUBiDU for that. Sonia Eterno, on the other hand, wants to see her solution as a hub that pulls in information from all the other tools, so to speak, and also actively involves the working husbands. The further explanations of the functionalities, however, were not able to convince Anja Graf. It was also not always clear to the TV viewer how and by whom the whole thing should be operated and at what point it would become chargeable... Lukas Speiser felt that the heated discussion was too much of a "mental overload" and took his leave. Since, in addition to Anja Graf, who also did not want to join for the reasons mentioned, Jürg Schwarzenbach also left, Bettina Hein and Roland Brack remained. They saw great market potential behind SHUBiDU and were prepared to invest 300,000 Swiss francs in exchange for a 20 percent share in the company. Then it got exciting: Sonia Eterno once again calculated the potential and made a counter-offer for a 12 percent share in the company. In the end, the two lions agreed with her on 15 percent.

Was it arrogance?

The pitch of the start-up "Tilbago" began with an impressive performance. A dance performance with light show was supposed to motivate the lionesses and lions to invest. "Tilbago" is an artificial intelligence-based cloud solution that enables companies to efficiently collect payments - one of the many new FinTech startups, in other words. During the subsequent discussion with the founders David Fuss, Oliver Wolf, Tom Studer and Harley Krohmer, however, incomprehension soon spread among the investors. The Lucerne entrepreneurs hid behind a great deal of "confidentiality" and were unwilling to provide any key figures. Had a major investor who had already bought into the company tightened the reins here? Or were the four gentlemen convinced that they could convince the lions with a lot of marketing talk? And last but not least, the request for an investment of 500,000 Swiss francs in exchange for a 3.5 percent stake was not immodest either. In short: The investors did not make an offer. Lion Tobias Reichmuth put it this way: "This is a no-fun topic for me. I prefer to invest in companies that I enjoy."

Giving startups a platform

And how much fun was it for the viewer? After the first episode of the third season, we can say this: The format provides an insight into the diversity of Swiss companies and also shows the innovative strength of many entrepreneurial people who, thank goodness, still exist in our country. Much of it remains somewhat superficial, and one could wish for one or two additional questions from investors to the startups - but ultimately it's all about the show, and the negotiations are probably even tougher behind the scenes. Using the account app "Neon" from the first season of "Die Höhle der Löwen Schweiz" (The Lion's Den Switzerland) as an example, it was shown that sustainable corporate successes can indeed be celebrated behind the scenes of the start-up show. We'll stay tuned and look forward to the next show.

Interviews with two investors on "Die Höhle der Löwen Schweiz" can be found at here. Information about the next shipments: https://www.3plus.tv/die-hoehle-der-loewen-schweiz

Supervisors often still favor manageability, order and control for their management style and way of working. In complex situations, however, patterns of order can rarely be maintained - this will be seen even more strongly in the coming months and years as we move more and more into hybrid forms of work. All of these increasing demands can no longer be shouldered by one supervisor alone: what is needed are committed and resilient teams that are moving in the same direction at eye level and in constant open exchange with one another.

The time of the lone wolf leader is over - the collective knowledge of teams is needed

To do this, we need the knowledge, inventiveness and implementation power of everyone: managers and employees alike. Together, we create meaningful options for action and are thus better equipped to find a solution even when the environment once again "turns upside down" and innovative next steps need to be defined.

In order to use this potential and know-how effectively, dialogic leadership is needed: a principle of effective collaboration that enables individuals to act independently in the interests of the whole. This does not mean "Jekami" (everyone can have a say): If everyone contributes their view of things and their feelings, this usually leads to endless discussions. Most of the time, some of them simply give up in frustration and submit to the majority. A sustainable result is never found.

Dialogical leadership as a principle for sustainable joint goal and decision making

However, there are targeted and fast ways to achieve meaningful and viable solutions. For example, if a concrete solution proposal is available, an effective and at the same time efficient solution can be found in the "consenT" process with the help of the integrative objection process, which integrates the existing knowledge as well as concerns and opportunities.

With the Dynamic Facilitation method, very complex issues can be solved: the different backgrounds of experience and ideas for action are put together like individual pieces of a puzzle until finally the "whole solution picture" becomes recognizable. This makes it increasingly clear which interrelationships and dependencies play into each other, where there are resistances and for what there is strong implementation energy. Finally, "the right solution" emerges or - depending on the issue - a set of viable solution approaches.

These are two of the seminars at the BWI consulting and training institute that help organizations, teams and leaders move forward strongly, collaboratively and purposefully in today's world.

You can find more impulses here: www.bwi.ch

BWI offer

• Self-management: stress management, time management
• Dealing with one's own limits, self-care, burn-out prevention, dealing with energy
• Dealing with conflicting challenges
• Project management: methodology and tools, leadership and team management, agile and hybrid project management
• "CAS Project Management Change and Transformation - Agile, Classic and Hybrid" with the University of Applied Sciences Graubünden in Zurich
• Leadership: basics of leadership, structure for experienced leaders, dialogical leadership and methods for viable, sustainable solution finding in challenging situations
• Leading Organizations: Agile Leadership, Making Decisions Differently, Innovation Methods
• Team coaching and team development
• Team coaching in conflict situations
• Mediations
• work-related coaching for further development

Why BWI

• Further training and support at eye level from practice for practice
• Authenticity and respect, coupled with humor
• Knowledge becomes skill - immediately applied and rehearsed
• Scientific concepts combined with real cases from working life
• Company seminars co-created with the organizations - suitable in topics and design
• human focus on exchange and learning from each other

BWI AG Consulting and Training Institute
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info@bwi.ch