“Having the right person at the right workplace at the right time”

At this time, every second company is on the lookout for suitable personnel. Add to that that on average open positions are vacant for five months. How does this development affect the performance of a company?

The shortage of qualified specialists often means that internal process chains are disrupted and may need to be rescheduled. What may happen is that the qualifications and experience of the remaining workforce do not meet the requirements to the extent that would be necessary to continue having the internal process chains run in the accustomed quality and time. In turn, this can impact order fulfillment and the success of the company.

In this context, how important is strategic human resources planning and where do companies stand in this respect today?

Strategic HR planning is an essential element of an actively practiced “Employee Life Cycle”. On the basis of the actual situation, it helps to identify both quantitative and qualitative deficits in the workforce in the medium and long term. Obviously, we must also take demographic change and new job profiles into account. The goal is to have the right person in the right job at the right time so that the corporate strategy can be implemented. Important here: This also includes having the courage to part ways with employees, despite the shortage of qualified staff. Personally, I think that management and HR departments still make insufficient use of strategic HR planning as a control element.

For instance, to attract external talent to their company?

As a matter of fact, it is a mistake for companies to look outside their corporate boundaries for skilled workers without taking a look inside their own ranks. So the question is: What can they do to retain their own employees, especially those in key positions and high performers, with active knowledge management before they have to bring in new people from outside? As I see it, employee reviews – embedded in the “Employee Life Cycle” – are the be-all and end-all in this respect. Executives need to be well trained for this. Discussions on personnel development reveal which employees want to pursue career opportunities within the company and should be encouraged to do so. But they also show which employees may need to be retrained through various measures.

Let’s look at the other side of the age spectrum. How important is it to get more young people interested in cooperative education?

The integrated degree program appeals to high school graduates for whom a purely academic education would be too theoretical and a traditional apprenticeship not enough. In an integrated degree program, practical experience is gained right from the start, and work experience is already gained during the academic year. For companies offering vocational training, students are therefore considered a part of their internal talent pool. So students have a good chance of being hired right after graduation. In my opinion, the possibility of offering an integrated degree program should be introduced at schools as early as possible.

The requirements of specific job profiles are in a state of flux. What can be done to ensure that employees see continuing education not only as an unpleasant transition, but also as an opportunity to improve their own personal performance?

Initially, it is always up to the individual to decide whether or not to acquire new skills. Employees are enormously motivated, especially if there is a generally positive culture of innovation in a company. Generally speaking, organizations that are fundamentally eager to learn and develop always respond positively and appreciatively to an individual’s desire to expand qualifications and skills. Statements such as “We don’t have a budget for that” or “What do you want that for” are an absolute no-no.

Yet continuing education and qualification also make employees
interesting for the competition. How do companies manage to retain high performers in the long term?

Qualified specialists are quite aware of their value these days. While a few years ago companies were willing to let them go, now they are depending on them to stay. They do this by responding to their needs as personally as possible, offering interesting career and development opportunities, and guaranteeing a good work-life balance by means of flexible working time models.