PDF, 1,9 MB

Changing Leadership Symposium
"Smart Working - The Revolution of Work" highlights the challenges the working
world faces in the future
Munich, 27 February 2014 - For the third time, the HVB Women's Council invited participants to
the Changing Leadership Symposium in the HVB Forum. Entitled "Smart Working – The
Revolution of Work", the evening event featuring high-calibre speakers dealt with key issues
about the future of the working world, and comprised a keynote speech from Professor Isabell
Welpe (Chair for Strategy and Organization at the Technische Universität München School of
Management) followed by a panel discussion with participants Dr Theodor Weimer (Board
Spokesman of HypoVereinsbank – UniCredit Bank AG), Dr Marita Kraemer (Member of the
Supervisory Board of HypoVereinsbank and President of the HVB Women's Council; Member of
the Holding Board of Zurich Group in Germany), Frank H. Lutz (former member of the
Coordination Council of the ALDI SÜD group), Andrea Pfundmeier (Managing Director of
Secomba GmbH), Peter Rampling (Member of the Board, Telefónica Germany) and Annette
Roeckl (Managing Director of Roeckl Handschuhe und Accessoires GmbH & Co. KG). The
event was presented by well-known TV journalist Nina Ruge, who also has her finger on the
pulse topically, with her current TV programme Forum Manager.
Improvised time travel – Roland Trescher from the Improvationstheather isar 148
A journey through time to 2030
The event started with a surprise. The Munich Impro-Theater isar 148 got the nearly 300 guests
comprising HVB customers and famous faces from the worlds of business, politics and
academia in the mood for the theme of the evening. The two actors involved the audience as
they dealt with key topics of the future of the working world and of leadership. For this purpose,
1
they sent the audience on a journey through time, starting in the rigidly industrialised world of the
1960s office and ending in the fully-digitalised year 2030.
Dr Marita Kraemer, President of the Women's Council and hostess, opened the evening
Everyone must face the new challenges
In her opening speech "Demographic change, migration and the resulting more heterogeneous
workforce, together with the increasing digitalisation and globalisation of the working world,
represent irreversible mega-trends that will thoroughly shake up our working world", Dr Marita
Kraemer, hostess and President of the Women's Council, emphasised that it is high time to
consider new management models. Dr Kraemer believes that in times where teams cooperate
only virtually, new project teams have to be constantly motivated and intercultural cooperation
will become a decisive factor for success, the traditional form of top-down leadership has
outlived its purpose. She is convinced that everybody will have to face up to the new challenges
– and the sooner we do this, the greater the possibilities we have for shaping working life.
2
Working trends of the future – Prof. Isabell Welpe and presenter Nina Ruge
Managing in tomorrow's world is like white-water kayaking
In her keynote speech "Leadership in 2030 – possible strategies for a new working and
management style", Professor Isabell Welpe (Chair for Strategy and Organization at the
Technische Universität München School of Management) highlighted the new working and
management styles that will be necessary in the future. To ensure success in the future too, the
leaders of tomorrow would have to, above all, take a less direct path and break out of the
common mould. According to the study, which was conducted by Professor Welpe together with
TUM, complexity, democratisation and openness are particular challenges that will bring about
significant changes to the working world. Firstly, managers would have to learn how to deal with
the requirements associated with these challenges. These include models such as
democratically-elected bosses or freely determinable salaries and working hours. "Tomorrow's
management style can be compared with white-water kayaking. By adjusting continuously to the
different flows, managers can become flexibility managers."
3
High-level discussion – presenter Nina Ruge and speakers (from left) Dr Marita Kraemer, Frank
H. Lutz, Peter Rampling, Dr Theodor Weimer, Annette Roeckl and Andrea Pfundmeier
Classic boundaries become blurred
In times when entire companies can be managed from a smart phone, permanent jobs such as
those at company headquarters or in offices become less important. This flexibility will also
revolutionise the conventional concept of the "permanent employee". Professor Welpe referred
to the "Liquid" programme of the IT company IBM, where the classic company boundaries have
become blurred and the core workforce is made up of a pool of "permanent freelance staff" that
can be used for various projects, depending on their area of expertise. Smart working models
such as these meet the growing demand among workers for independent and autonomous work
and flexible working hours, for example. Nonetheless, despite all the new challenges, two
requirements of the manager in 2030 remain the same; as Professor Welpe summarised, "Both
now and in the future, employees will want to be treated fairly and with mutual trust".
4
New technologies facilitate flexible working – Peter Rampling from Telefónica Germany
Virtual meetings and flexible working
Following up on this, presenter Nina Ruge opened the hour-long panel discussion with the
question as to what the participants imagine the future will hold for working patterns at their
companies. Digitalisation plays a particularly important role here. For Peter Rampling, Managing
Director of Telefónica Digital Germany, many of the smart working concepts have already
become a reality: "I don't have my own desk in the office. I take care of most things with my
smart phone or laptop while travelling, or in my home office. Business meetings with my team or
customers from around the world are held virtually. I believe this trend will reinforce itself
further." Owing to rapidly progressing globalisation, the latest translation technology allows us to
easily conduct meetings with employees of various nationalities. "I speak Chinese, without being
able to speak Chinese," Rampling confirmed with a smile. Dr Marita Kramer warned against
losing sight of one's employees amid all the euphoria surrounding the digital age: "Although the
digital revolution makes many work processes easier, with its new communication opportunities,
such as e-rooms, video conferencing and social media, we should keep in mind that the work
that has to be carried out by people will become more demanding."
5
Sophisticated thinking but straightforward communication – HVB Board Spokesman, Dr Theodor
Weimer, on new types of leadership
Work-life balance and individual freedom
The younger generation in particular is increasingly facing the challenge of reconciling family
and career. Annette Roeckl, Managing Director of the long-established Munich-based company
Roeckl Handschuhe und Accessoires GmbH & Co., ascertained that "Companies must adjust
their culture more towards meeting the growing demand for a well-adjusted work-life balance.
Working from home, sabbaticals and part-time work will therefore increasingly become the
norm." Andrea Pfundmeier, Managing Director of the start-up Secomba GmbH and winner of the
HVB women start-up entrepreneurs mentoring programme in 2012, also saw this as an
important trend. However, she warned against stipulating flexibility to employees: "The company
will only benefit if flexibility comes from below; in other words, if it is really the way that
employees live. A home office for everybody and in all cases does not make any sense." Frank
H. Lutz, former member of the Coordination Council of the ALDI SÜD group, also knows that the
associated individual freedom and personal responsibility for employees can represent a high
degree of responsibility for companies. "Having learnt differently for many decades, employees
are often unable to deal with the new freedom offered to them." It is particularly important here
for companies to address the needs of their employees for support and orientation. "Employees
need "crash barriers" to go their own way in an authentic manner and with ever greater
independence. Some have less freedom while others have more". According to Lutz, it is the
duty of a responsibly-minded manager to adjust this freedom to meet the individual needs of the
employee.
6
Ever-increasing demand for independence – Andrea Pfundmeier from Secomba GmbH on the
employees of the future
Flat hierarchies and empowerment
The desire to work as part of a team while maintaining the highest degree of independence and
personal responsibility is top of the list for Generation Y graduates. Hierarchies play an
increasingly marginal role. "We know that the "command and control" style of management is
finally over," Dr Weimer confirmed. "We are in the middle of a "war for talent". We have to adjust
to the new requirements so as to continue to be an attractive employer for the talent of the
future". Nonetheless, strong leadership will be essential in the future too. The HVB Board
Spokesman believes that the main task of tomorrow's leaders will above all be to empower their
employees. Promoting entrepreneurial reasoning is just as important as transmitting values.
"Only those employees who know why and what they are doing, do so with the necessary
efficiency," Dr Weimer added.
7
After two hours of debate and discussion – a group photo of the participants
At the end of the event, everybody agreed: It is down to the lateral thinkers
The main question at the end of the debate was what qualities the leaders of the future would
have to bring on board. Soft skills, such as authenticity, enthusiasm, power of persuasion,
empathy and a sense of responsibility were stated in particular. Managers still have to act as
role models. This is the only way to motivate employees and to create innovation through
inspiration. Trust should not be underestimated either. Peter Rampling got to the heart of the
matter with regard to management through trust, with his statement "Hard to win and easy to
lose". The plenary session largely agreed on how the leaders of the future should present
themselves. Managers are expected to foster confidence in taking a new approach and not to
fear lateral thinkers - at best, they are ones themselves.
Alternatively, as Dr Theodor Weimer summarised at the end: "We need leaders who are able to
think through complicated matters but communicate them simply."
Daniel Rowe 8.4.14 12:48
Kommentar [1]: nur einmal "O"! (vgl. dt. Text)
8