Do you want to improve your leadership skills? Then ask yourself the following question from time to time: "Why should someone want to be led by me?"

Leading and being led

I know that the answer is often not easy. And it doesn't only refer to formal managers, but to every human being: It should matter to you that people want to follow you (and horses and dogs, too, if that's your passion). Whether you like it or not, leadership is influencing toward positive outcomes.

I used to dance seriously for a long time. There it is the case that the men have the leadership responsibility on the floor (at least when I danced). I never met a dance partner who thought weak, unclear leadership was good - on the contrary. (Important: This is about not around gender roles!)

Three tips for the essence of good leadership

That's how we all feel: We are happier and achieve more when we lead ourselves and others well. So what does that mean exactly? Here are three important reminders that many people forget from time to time:

1. Self-Leadership. Leadership begins within yourself. You can never lead others better than you do for yourself. This includes, among other things, clarity about your own goals, consistency in implementation and recognition of success.
2. Clarity. The number one criterion for good leadership is clarity: clarity about goals, clarity about "why," clarity about first steps, clarity about decisions, clarity about values, clarity about everything. The quality of leadership is directly proportional to the clarity of the leader.
3. Consequence. This comes right after clarity: bad leadership is often characterized by a lack of consistency, by "egging on", by delays. Attention: Consistency starts with yourself (see point 1). If you are lax to yourself, you cannot expect consistency from others.

Extra tip: Rate yourself on each of the three points on a scale of 1-10. How good are you really at it? Then have others rate your leadership. Again, you don't have to be a formal manager to do this.

 Well then, let's increase the quality of leadership together! The world needs it more than ever.

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

Microsoft works with various implementation partners in Switzerland. One important business partner is also the Oftringen-based company GIA Informatik AG.

Marianne Janik, what are the reasons for the partnership between Microsoft Switzerland and GIA Informatik AG?
Microsoft is a technology platform provider and has worked closely with business partners since its inception. GIA Informatik is a long-standing partner and has the expertise and confidence to advise its customers on their technology decisions. Especially in today's era of digitalization, such partnerships are more important than ever to jointly innovate and transform the Swiss market for the future needs of our customers.

Why is this collaboration a benefit for you?
GIA Informatik has trained professionals and customer relationships that Microsoft Switzerland, as a sales company, could not build or maintain on its own. We work closely together to provide Swiss customers with the services and advice they expect and need to derive maximum benefit from the technologies available today.

Why is the reputation of the cadre crucial in a partnership?
Technology is taking on an increasingly important role in our society. For us, trends such as artificial intelligence and cloud services mean taking more responsibility for the intended use of these technologies and the data processed. The reputation of the cadre of both companies is elementary so that our customers continue to place their trust in us and our products and services. "Ethics & Compliance" are essential foundations for Microsoft and our partners.

How valuable are the IT services of GIA Informatik AG for your company to position itself on the market?
In terms of consulting, conception and integration of Microsoft technologies, they are indispensable. Only through a close customer relationship can we respond to specific needs and bring technology developments to advantage.

How important do you consider corporate strategy to be for IT companies to survive on the market?
A corporate strategy derived from the vision is an important basis for every successful company. It enables targeted operational planning of all activities. At the same time, it gives employees and business partners the opportunity to orient themselves to it and to implement all measures in a targeted manner.

GIA Informatik AG celebrated its 30th anniversary in the fall of 2018. Why are anniversaries important for companies?
They are proof of sustainable customer relationships, resulting from careful and future-oriented corporate planning. Such an anniversary is a testimony to success that any company can be proud of.

What are your partnership goals for the near and distant future?
Innovation cycles in IT are getting faster and faster and the digital (r)evolution requires the entire ecosystem to rethink the way we drive our business. At Microsoft, we want to walk this path together with our business partners by not only fulfilling our role as a technology company, but also by accompanying our partners in the development of the associated new business models.

More information: GIA Informatik AG, Microsoft

The basic prerequisite for the use of AI to become a success for companies is customer acceptance. The digital consultancy elaboratum suisse has therefore developed a Study on the acceptance of artificial intelligence using the example of AI-supported online services in the financial services and insurance industry. The survey of 633 Swiss citizens showed: Young, high-income Swiss are particularly open to artificial intelligence. To increase acceptance, companies should make the initial use of AI as simple as possible and provide customers with strategic support. After all, their positive attitude toward AI increases significantly once they have already used it.

Experienced users are more open-minded

Interestingly, more than half of the consumers do not even know whether they have ever had anything to do with artificial intelligence. It seems to be difficult for the test persons to even recognize artificial intelligence in customer service on websites. As the study shows, only 28 percent of all subjects who have not yet had any contact with AI have a positive attitude toward AI. The figure for experienced users is quite different: 49 percent of them said they were open to artificial intelligence. But who are these users who already use AI and have a positive attitude toward it? The study shows that those responsible for AI services should focus on younger, male or high-income customer segments.

Most important acceptance criteria for AI: quality and data protection

But what factors increase the acceptance of artificial intelligence? According to the study, quality and data protection are the most important acceptance criteria for online services with artificial intelligence. The respondents also attach great importance to ease of use and user-friendliness. In terms of implementation, companies can establish good user guidance for a chatbot, for example, by means of predefined response options so that users do not have to interact exclusively via more complex free-text entries. Also important: Since only a few users currently trust an AI rather than a human, companies should counter user skepticism with explanations and the combination of services with a human contact as a fallback solution. Nevertheless, AI is not to be considered absolutely defeated in the question of trust. Even though the majority of users clearly trust a human more, it is astonishing that more than a third already trust AI and humans equally. Study author Marco Schulz, Director elaboratum suisse GmbH, emphasizes: "There is huge potential here for meaningful and customer-centric AI services that meet with broader acceptance."

Artificial intelligence in customer service: five tips

 What can Swiss companies learn from the study results? And what should they consider if they want to introduce artificial intelligence? elaboratum gives five tipshow the introduction can succeed:

1. No use without use: Companies should not offer an AI service just for the sake of AI. The customer does not use a service just because AI is above it. The focus must therefore be on the benefit of the service for the customer! This can be a faster processing of his inquiry or the immediate, appropriate answer of a service chatbot at 11 p.m. at night.
2. Man and machine - things work better together: Customers trust a human contact person much more than artificial intelligence. E-commerce companies should therefore convey to the customer that there is an employee at the end of the service who will check a conspicuous result again or to whom the chatbot will divert a muddled dialog in time. Co-study author Claudia Brinkmann, Senior Consultant at elaboratum, advises: "The desire of many test persons to have the option of contacting an additional human contact person in addition to the interaction with the AI should already be taken into account by companies during the requirements analysis and planning of AI-supported services."
3. AI does not replace the user experience (UX): For services that integrate AI, the same applies as for other online services and functions: Design and implement in a customer-centric way. In order to develop high-quality AI services, a combination of meaningful AI integration, holistic thinking in customer journeys, and good user experience is crucial. This combination is often not trivial, as the disciplines are already sufficiently complex when considered individually.
4. Quality and data protection - dream team for more acceptance: As the study presented above shows, quality and data protection are the most important acceptance criteria for online services with AI for the customer. Although this is also the case for services without AI, companies should take their customers' concerns seriously: For example, customers tend to react with surprise and uncertainty when a chatbot in the customer portal refers to existing contracts or purchases already made. Even if this information about customers is available in the customer portal, companies should carefully check whether all technical implementation options regarding personal data are really mandatory in the first step.
5. This product may contain traces of AI: Am I actually dealing with AI now? Almost half of all respondents in the survey stated that they often do not know whether they have already used a service with AI or not. Therefore, when using a chatbot, for example, companies should inform the customer at the beginning of the communication that they are using AI with this tool. If the customer knows that the person they are talking to is merely a machine, they are more likely to look past it if an answer sounds a bit rude or unwieldy. They are also more likely to forgive a bot for a misunderstood question. But beware: the information alone does not entitle the e-commerce company to try the customer's patience. If a customer repeats his question, the chatbot should recognize the repetition and then either admit its limited knowledge or hand over the conversation to a service employee.

The study shows that customers often have a misconception about artificial intelligence and its potential applications. Those who educate their customers and accompany them during initial use can significantly increase acceptance of their AI services. This is an important first step toward being able to exploit the potential of AI in the future.

Source: www.elaboratum.ch

The Internet of Things (IoT) is of particular interest for the further development of facility services at ISS. For example, individual rooms or entire properties can be equipped with intelligent sensors. The data collected can be used to analyze and optimize building management more comprehensively.

Sparring partner in the IoT sector

In order to intensify the development in the area of smart facility services, Hivemind and ISS Switzerland have entered into a partnership as of the beginning of February 2019. From this, the service provider for facility management expects a continuous dialog with a strong, specialized sparring partner in order to develop digital solution concepts in the facility management sector in collaboration and to launch them for customers in the future. "Thanks to the experience of Hivemind's technology specialists and our Digital Transformation team, coupled with our expertise in facility management, we have the best prerequisites for implementing smart solutions for our customers. Our headquarters in Zurich serves as a real environment to test and implement the solutions developed," says Giuseppe Cristofaro, Managing Director Sales and Business Development at ISS Switzerland. And he adds: "Thanks to this cooperation and our internal set-up, we, as market leader, make an important contribution to the further development and customer-oriented improvement of facility management on a national and international level."

Service Champion meets Tech Champion

Hivemind is a Swiss technology company that develops IoT services and supports companies and cities in their digital transformation. For the simple and secure management of smart devices, connectivity and sensor data, the technology company offers an IoT platform that enables the rapid market introduction of innovative and digital technologies. Developed in Switzerland, the Hivemind solution meets the highest data protection standards and works with state-of-the-art security mechanisms. The fact that the developers work in Switzerland is particularly valuable for the collaboration. "Hivemind gains an important strategic partner through the cooperation with ISS Switzerland. We are pleased to be able to support ISS Switzerland in the implementation of new smart business models. As part of the further development and continuous improvement of our smart facility solution, we benefit from ISS Switzerland's many years of experience. Through the close cooperation, we gain important insights into the needs and requirements in facility management," says Vikram Bhatnagar, CEO Hivemind AG.

Source: www.iss.ch. More information about Hivemind is available in this article from ORGANISATOR 1-2/2019

Continuum AG has been advising and supporting medium-sized and larger companies in their long-term development and helping families to solve their challenges in the succession process for 16 years. In addition to Zurich, the company has existed in St.Gallen since 2013 with Partner & Location Manager Rolf Brunner and Senior Manager Stefan Schneider. Starting in February, Matt Moser will join the team as Associate Partner and expand the network into the region of Northwestern Switzerland. Matt Moser has broad experience in management consulting, with a focus on, among other things, financing structuring as well as supporting boards of directors. In addition, he already brings a broad range of experience to his consulting work.

Growing up in Lenzburg and Wynental, Matt Moser first completed an apprenticeship as a bank clerk followed by various international further education courses in the fields of
Finance and Risk Management. He has many years of experience in corporate finance, especially in the mortgage and credit area. From 1984 to 2012, he worked for Credit Suisse in Switzerland and abroad. His profound knowledge in the creation and implementation of financial models and scenario analyses for corporate succession will beneficially complement Continuum AG's range of services for our clients.

Rolf Brunner, who has been assisting companies in development and succession processes as a partner in St.Gallen for six years, is pleased about the reinforcement: "The already wide
Continuum AG's field of expertise is ideally complemented by the addition of Matt Moser."

www.continuum.ch

A strong and open corporate culture is one of the most important topics for boards of directors to have dealt with in the last 12 months - and will be prioritized even more in the future. This is shown by the swissVR Monitor I/2019, compiled by the swissVR association together with the consulting firm Deloitte and the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts.

Topics are constantly changing

While topics such as talent and compliance have lost importance, the topic of corporate culture, which was surveyed for the first time, makes it straight into the top 10 - displacing risk management. Strategic topics such as digitalization, competitive behavior and transactions have also gained in importance among Swiss boards of directors over the past 12 months. "The issues that boards of directors have to deal with are changing rapidly. Strategies are now being adjusted at ever shorter intervals. Such strategic changes in direction require an equally rapid alignment of corporate culture. Today, boards of directors need to place issues such as culture even higher on their agenda," said Reto Savoia, designated CEO of Deloitte Switzerland. "The swissVR Monitor shows that the role model function of management is absolutely central to the culture and thus the success of a company. I see it as one of the most urgent tasks of the board of directors to keep a close eye on culture and compliance and to take corrective action, even if the numbers are right."

Corporate culture as a competitive advantage

For almost two-thirds of the board members surveyed (64%), a good, open corporate culture is an important competitive advantage and driver of corporate success. However, more than one-third of the respondents (36%) tend not to adapt the corporate culture at all or not at all in the case of strategic realignments. This may also be due to the fact that boards of directors see the responsibility for corporate culture clearly with the CEO and management: For the vast majority (88%) of respondents, it is clear that corporate culture is predominantly shaped by management. They should do this - according to around 67% of respondents - by exemplifying the values of the company ("Tone at the Top").

"Digital transformation and innovation are a critically important competitive advantage today. For sustainable corporate success, it is important that the board of directors shapes a corporate culture that not only promotes change but also demands it from employees. In addition to shared values and an open culture of discussion, this includes empowering and motivating employees to explore new paths - and this across all levels of the company," explains Cornelia Ritz Bossicard, President swissVR.

Internal and external observations important

Board members want to assess the corporate culture. They particularly like to rely on employee surveys (74%) or on impressions gained from company visits and interactions with employees (65%). They have great confidence in being able to make a good personal assessment of the corporate culture without themselves being active in day-to-day operations. In some cases, external assessments are also consulted: The company's reputation in the media and among the general public (41%) and impressions from feedback from customers and suppliers (31%).

Economic outlook clouds over

The board members surveyed see clouds gathering in the economic sky. In the last swissVR Monitor (summer 2018), fewer respondents had already given a positive assessment of the outlook than a year ago today. This time, their share has almost halved again from 54% to 28%. At the same time, the proportion of neutral and negative assessments has increased. The significantly more pessimistic picture overall is therefore relatively close to the economic outlook in the swissVR Monitor from the beginning of 2017. The mood of uncertainty worldwide seems to have reached the boards of directors.

However, respondents are somewhat more confident about the prospects for their own industry and, above all, their own business. Still 42% instead of 46% assess their respective industry prospects positively. 14% (six months ago: 10%) believe that worse times lie ahead for their industry. Overall, therefore, there is a slight but clear negative trend. When it comes to assessing their own business, however, the picture is quite different: surveyed board members continue to be predominantly optimistic about the prospects for their business (59% compared with 60% in the last survey). This has hardly changed in the last four editions of the swissVR Monitor.

Prof. Dr. Christoph Lengwiler, lecturer at the Institute of Financial Services Zug IFZ of the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts and Vice President of swissVR: "The more pessimistic assessment of future economic development that has become apparent within six months makes one sit up and take notice. Apparently, geopolitical tensions and negative reports from companies are leading to serious concerns. An economic downturn would increase the pressure on companies and further accelerate the digital transformation. Those organizations that also take cultural aspects into account in strategic realignments would score points. Boards of directors would therefore do well to think more deeply about the current corporate culture and possible changes to be introduced for the future success of the company."

Source: Deloitte

Matthias Rebellius is the new CEO of Siemens Switzerland. He is also Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Smart Infrastructure (SI), the new operating company of Siemens AG. From April 2019, SI's global headquarters in Zug will manage the company's 70,000 employees worldwide who work in building services and power distribution. With a business volume of around €14 billion (pro forma figures), SI is one of the world's largest industrial headquarters based in Switzerland.

"Siemens has already been active in Switzerland for 125 years," says Matthias Rebellius. "Thanks to our broad portfolio and our expertise in digitalization, we will continue to play a formative role here in the decades to come. In addition, the fact that we manage Smart Infrastructure's global business from Zug is of course very positive for our country."

Matthias Rebellius has headed the globally active Siemens Building Technologies Division (BT) for the past four years. Under his leadership, the building technology activities have developed into one of the most important earnings drivers of Siemens AG. Rebellius, who has a degree in engineering, had already worked in Switzerland for almost ten years. Rebellius then worked in the U.S. from 2012 to 2015, where he was responsible for BT's business in the Americas region as a whole.

Siemens employs more than 5700 people at over 20 locations in Switzerland, making it one of the country's largest industrial employers. The company has a strong market position in this country, particularly in the areas of building and energy technology, industrial automation and drive technology, rail automation, and road traffic and medical technology.

www.siemens.ch

After the end of World War I, the procurement of chemical raw materials was very expensive and inconvenient. This led to the fact that in 1919 some textile companies founded an import company under the name IMPAG. Now, after 100 years, the small importer has become a specialized trader and service provider, distinguished by the opening of new markets and the differentiation and further development of traded products. Over the years, the company has developed into an international supplier of raw materials with national companies in Germany, France, Poland, Austria and Switzerland, focusing on the Chemicals, Nutrition & Health, Personal Care and Pharma sectors.

IMPAG relies on reliable partnerships that are characterized by fairness and openness, according to a statement on the anniversary. Remo Bernardi, CEO of IMPAG Group, sees further reasons for the company's success in its management culture, which allows a great deal of flexibility and freedom: "Our culture thrives on the entrepreneurship of our employees, the associated implementation of ideas and visions, and the simultaneous exemplification of corporate values and clarification of expectations". The broad base with its own companies in Europe gives the company strength and flexibility. The teams of the individual national companies are in close contact, use synergies and benefit from the existing know-how.

Throughout the year, IMPAG celebrates the past 100 years through a variety of events and activities, looking back, but above all looking forward, to a dynamic and digital future in which the company intends to assert and develop itself.

More information

How widespread is artificial intelligence in companies? And what does this mean for corporate culture, managers and employees? These questions were recently addressed in a study published jointly by EY and Microsoft. For this purpose, members of management boards as well as top and middle management in companies from 15 European countries were surveyed. In Switzerland, 20 companies, including AMAG, SBB, Credit Suisse, Jansen, Lonza, Swisscom and Visana, took part in the study. The conclusion of the study: All of these companies position themselves as advanced in terms of AI maturity, but do not occupy top positions in comparison with other European companies.

Data-driven industries leading the way

PwC comes to of a similar CEO survey come to the same conclusion: around 40 percent of the Swiss CEOs surveyed say they are not currently planning any AI applications. Less than ten percent say they have already implemented AI in their business. According to PwC, the reasons for this are complex. In some cases, Swiss companies have had other priorities in recent years. In addition, some companies have reservations about the performance of the technology or are critical of automation. An important building block is the handling or availability of data. The more comprehensive and complete data is available, the better AI systems can learn from it. Therefore, it is not surprising that the telecommunications (TMT) sector is the most advanced in terms of AI. "TMT and financial services sectors benefit from the fact that both industries are data-driven and already largely have the data quality and analytics tools needed for AI applications," analyzes the EY/Microsoft study in this regard. Accordingly, it is less costly for companies in these industries to launch pilot projects and develop further projects with more advanced AI applications.

SMEs as pacesetters?

Is AI not a big issue in SMEs either? This impression is deceptive. Among the top 100 startups listed by Startupticker, for example, a large proportion of IT-savvy companies are involved in some form of artificial intelligence, neural networks, data analysis or machine learning. And the SMEs surveyed opposite are also working on or with specific AI solutions. In other words, artificial intelligence is about to arrive in companies - and at an ever faster pace. In fact, it seems that it is smaller companies that are stepping on the gas when it comes to artificial intelligence. They develop the AI tools that are then used by large companies. This fits with the findings of the EY/Microsoft study, which found that the use of AI in the Swiss companies surveyed tends to proceed from the bottom up compared to their European peers. The PwC study, however, found no clear AI strategy in the companies it surveyed.

More EQ thanks to AI

The study by EY and Microsoft finds a correlation between the maturity of AI implementations and an organization's emotional intelligence (EQ). EQ is the ability to recognize other people's emotions and deal empathically with relationships. In business, this means: Openness, collaboration and customer focus. 80 percent of the most advanced companies in terms of AI describe themselves as emotionally intelligent. Conversely, only 16 percent of respondents who were rated least mature in AI considered themselves more than moderately competent in terms of emotional intelligence. "Our study shows that 61 percent of companies expect AI to help empower employees. Democratizing AI in a company frees up time for employees to be creative and innovative. Companies want exactly that because that's where the value is," said Dr. Marianne Janik, CEO of Microsoft Switzerland. Some companies also emphasize establishing a culture and leadership that embraces AI and is ready to face the challenges it brings.

Asked: Artificial intelligence not an issue for SMEs?

Here are some comments from companies for whom AI already plays a role in their business:

How high do you estimate the usage potential of AI for your company?

We see enormous potential primarily in demand-driven resource management and in the service desk. It is a major planning challenge to ensure that employees with the necessary knowledge are available on time for support, mandates and projects. This is precisely where AI can relieve employees with generated expert knowledge and support recruitment, training and deployment planning in a timely manner.

Where is AI already used in your company or your products?

The first interesting AI approaches are built into our software offerings from SAP, Thing Worx and Microsoft in the form of machine learning scenarios. They support our customers and us in recognizing recurring data patterns to trigger preventive actions, relieve employees and thus reduce risks.

What influence does the increased use of AI have on corporate culture? Does it need more emotional intelligence, for example?

When people are relieved of complex routine tasks, they can turn their attention more intensively to customer, supplier and internal relationships. In addition to specialist knowledge, social skills and emotional intelligence play a decisive role as success factors. The corporate culture benefits and becomes even more human.

AI also stirs up fears, for example of job losses. How can these fears be allayed?

Employees must first be shown the opportunities and limitations of AI. The intelligent helpers should relieve them of time-consuming routine tasks. The aim is to make complex tasks easier. Humans can invest their freed-up creative capacity in other tasks. This does not necessarily require better or different training, but an appropriately adapted work environment and good coaching.

 

How high do you estimate the usage potential of AI for your company?

In fact, we value the potential of AI so highly that our company's purpose is primarily to optimize and make our customers' processes and data more efficient using AI.

Where is AI already used in your company or your products?

We already implemented numerous models for data prediction and analysis based on Machine and Deep Learning for our SME customers. Our focus is on text and image analysis as well as customer churn prediction (churn analysis).

What influence does the increased use of AI have on corporate culture? Does it need more emotional intelligence, for example?

Open and honest communication with employees forms the basis for successful integration of AI. Training and education are important, as is demonstrating the benefits to employees.

AI also stirs up fears, for example of job losses. How can these fears be allayed?

The use of AI will not replace employees in the short term, but will complement teams by automating monotonous work. In the long term, there will certainly be a structural change.

The digitization of the business and working world requires new skills on the labor market. If average life expectancy increases with improved health, the number of working years is also likely to increase in the long term. Under this premise, employees must continuously adapt, retrain, and continue their education in order to keep pace. Lifelong learning has become essential.

Lifelong learning is a must

Myriam Denk, Head of Future of Work at Deloitte Switzerland, says: "Jobs are becoming more varied, interactive and complex. Accordingly, the competence requirements on the labor market are also changing. The demand for employees with distinctive competencies in the areas of creativity, social intelligence, and the use of digital technologies is increasing. This requires adjustments in the education and training of today's and tomorrow's workforce - and also poses challenges for companies. We're already seeing companies - in the healthcare or ICT sectors, for example - having trouble finding enough workers with the right skills." Lifelong learning is more important than ever, Myriam Denk adds. "It's not an option, it's a must." The skills required on the labor market today could already be obsolete in a few years. Employees and employers alike must now realize that careers will rarely be lifelong and linear, but dynamic, multi-level and multi-dimensional.

One-third of the workforce does not undergo continuing education

However, the reality paints a different picture: According to the Deloitte study "Motivated, optimistic and oblivious", 30% of the Swiss employees surveyed have not taken part in any further training in the past year - a high figure that even puts Switzerland above the European average. Even more alarming: more than half (53%) of those who have not attended any further training see no need for it.

The study reveals a correlation with the level of education: Employed persons with a higher level of education tend to be more likely to undergo further training. Only 17% of employees with a university degree have not undergone any further training in the past 12 months - compared with 40% of those with a compulsory school leaving certificate and 39% with vocational training. 58% of respondents with a low or medium level of education see no need to participate in any form of education or training - again, a much higher number than the more highly educated workers (45%).

Barriers to lifelong learning: lack of time, lack of personal responsibility?

The majority (53%) of employed persons who have not taken continuing education in the past year cite "no need" as the main reason. Another third give no time (20%) or too high cost (13%) reason (see figure above). When asked in detail about barriers to learning (see figure below), lack of time is again cited most often. Overall, however, external factors - such as the lack of a supportive work environment, lack of guidance or unattractive learning methods - are generally perceived as a greater barrier than factors that lie within the individual's own area of responsibility.

"Our study shows that employees perceive learning barriers strongly on the side of employers and less on their own," says Michael Grampp, chief economist at Deloitte Switzerland and author of the study. "Surprisingly, older workers tend to see fewer barriers to learning or reasons not to learn than younger workers. What causes the most trouble for the 55+ generation is the lack of advice on which area they should further their education."

Who should finance continuing education: State, employer or employee?

However, once the missing skills have been identified and the barriers to learning have been overcome, the question arises as to who should finance the continuing education. Half (50%) of the respondents stated that the employer currently has the main responsibility, with the state (26%) and the employees (24%) each having a quarter of the responsibility. The distribution of the desired ideal state looks quite different: 42% would see the greatest responsibility with the state, almost the same number with the employer (46%), and only 11% with themselves. "The call for the state and employers to take care of the issue of continuing education is very strong in Switzerland - more so than in other European countries. In this context, it is therefore no longer possible to speak of employees actually taking personal responsibility for their own careers, which is a very thought-provoking result," says Michael Grampp. "It is therefore all the more important that employers also raise awareness and support employees."

Myriam Denk adds: "Increasing employee awareness of the importance of lifelong learning is one thing. In addition, Swiss companies should provide even more support for their employees in their training efforts - for example, by integrating learning into everyday working life or by helping their employees to create and follow a personal development plan. The state education system also plays a crucial role in preparing the workforce for future trends. Ultimately, the interplay between government, employers and employees is central - but so is each of these groups taking responsibility themselves."

Source: Deloitte

Some compare Industrie 4.0 projects to a marathon, while for other companies digitization is more of an obstacle course. Each company assesses the requirements very differently. The analyst firm PAC surveyed to this end in summer 2018 over 100 IT, production, manufacturing and purchasing managers in Germany. The consultants wanted to know which topics the SMEs consider to be particularly major challenges and which ones they consider to be rather minor.

With SOA against silos

68 percent of the study participants consider the integration of many different systems and data to be a particularly big hurdle. This is hardly surprising, since IT systems and sensor data from networked machines and plants often have to be integrated on the way to the smart factory. In order to overcome this hurdle, modern ERP systems provide numerous starting points - first and foremost the integration options via an enterprise service bus. This eliminates the high maintenance effort and operating risk associated with a confusing network of numerous one-to-one interfaces. Such a service-oriented architecture (SOA) makes cross-client, cross-system and even cross-company data exchange noticeably more efficient.

From hand to hand to hand

Manual operations are often still the norm in both production and commercial areas. The end-to-end digitization of processes is therefore a major challenge for 67 percent of companies. Workflow management can help here: Companies pass information from one instance to the next smoothly, as if in a perfectly harmonized relay. The checking and approval of invoices or the transmission of service hours for invoicing are typical examples that promise a quick return on investment.

Old iron made smart

Even if there is a European or even worldwide standard for the Industrial Internet of Things at some point in the future: It will come too late for machines that have already been purchased. Many IT managers are therefore racking their brains as to how they can network older machines and plants with the ERP system as the control center. Just under half of the participants in the PAC study saw this as a major challenge for themselves. The first promising pilot solutions have already been developed, for example, by connecting a mini-computer between the machine and the ERP system. A Raspberry Pi then receives production commands, processes them and forwards them to the machine. Conversely, machine data is also transferred to the ERP system in the same way. In this way, even older plants can be made fit for the future.

A rolling stone gathers no moss

Every manager knows that they have to constantly develop their area, and thus the processes. For 42 percent of companies, however, reconfiguring existing processes or developing new ones is a gauntlet. Industry-specific ERP solutions and easily configurable applications provide a remedy. Power users, for example, are able to customize their variants without having to write a line of code.

Turning employees into top performers

According to PAC, the top 5 challenges for one in three companies include the ERP expertise of their employees. They have recognized: The most modern and powerful ERP system is only as good as the team that works with it. Poor ERP knowledge is slowing down their digitization. Extensive training for a wide range of needs, from power users to management reporting, only leads to limited success. This is where ERP manufacturers are called upon: Especially for small adjustments or optimizations, they must create offerings, for example, through remote consulting, that quickly help users move forward. The result: greater efficiency, optimized processes and satisfied employees.

Source and further information: proALPHA