How do you check whether your pension fund is safe? The managing director of pension fund pro shows how security works in occupational pension provision.

How can I tell if a pension fund is safe?

"A successful pension plan in the long term depends on many factors. The biggest challenge is not to rely on individual figures from the pension fund, but to get an overall picture and, in particular, to appreciate the future prospects. Those who decide solely on the basis of the funding ratio and the interest rate of the last few years may overlook important indicators. There are examples of funds with a coverage ratio of 112% or an additional interest on retirement assets, but an extraordinarily high technical interest rate of 3.5%. If only the coverage ratio or the interest rate is considered, these funds are in a good position. If the technical interest rate were reduced to a reasonable 2.00% or 1.75%, these funds might even be underfunded. A high funding ratio and a high interest rate on retirement assets are therefore no guarantee of greater security. The decisive factor is the interaction of age structure, risk/return ratio, conversion rate and technical interest rate. If you want the big picture, make sure your pension fund offers a low technical interest rate, a low conversion rate and a safe investment strategy. That may then lead to a lower funded ratio, and perhaps a lower interest rate - in favor of safety."

As an employee, what should I look out for if I want my pension fund assets to perform as positively as possible?

"As an employee, it is important that the redistribution in your own pension fund is as low as possible. In other words, active employees receive a similar interest rate as pensioners and the pension fund has a positive ratio between active employees and pensioners: the more active employees, the better. In addition, a low conversion rate is preferable. This may sound paradoxical at first: A high conversion rate guarantees a high pension at the time of retirement - but a 30-year-old still has around 35 years left in working life. And during this time, a high conversion rate means that the returns on assets earned with one's own money migrate to the prospective retirees. Did you know that, depending on the level of the conversion rate, many pension funds have to inject 20% of the capital required at retirement into the future pensioners from the returns on assets? This is a nice parting gift for the pensioners, because these are huge sums: We are talking here about 5 - 6-digit values that will be "given" to future pensioners when they retire. That's why I advise: the younger you are, the lower the conversion rate should be."

What should I look out for as an employer?

"The same applies for the employer as for the employee. In addition, one can pay attention to a low technical interest rate. Because that means that the existing pensioner capital is already very well endowed and the probability of additional contributions is smaller. In addition, an employer certainly has an interest in ensuring that the time-consuming administration is very effective and simple."

pension fund pro is considered to be extremely safe. What makes it better than others?

"pension fund pro dares to do the unpopular: high coverage ratios and high interest rates are not their priority, even though these key figures make a fund look good at first glance. The independent BVG collective foundation from central Switzerland focuses on a secure future, because a long-term view is central to them, especially in politically uncertain times such as we are currently experiencing. Accordingly, pension fund pro continues to follow the path that is still being discussed in the political arena. By the time it is implemented, it will already be one step ahead and thus in a good position. For many years, its strategy has been based on three main pillars:

1. Financial security, thanks to a good risk-return profile and a safe investment strategy,
2. the formation of fluctuation reserves before additional interest is granted, and
3. a structural security: The pension fund pro has invested in the future in recent years by reducing the technical interest rate and massively improving the ratio between active employees and pensioners. With these steps, it is ideally equipped for the future. And the problem of aging, which is common in the industry, hardly affects pension fund pro."

Do you have any further questions about your occupational pension plan? Our pension specialists gladly advise you.

Abdullah Redzepi, member of the patronage committee of the East Switzerland HR Day and lecturer at the University of Applied Sciences St.Gallen, made it clear right at the beginning what many in the room were probably thinking: "Flexible" in connection with work has become a "killer term" today. Much of what needs to become more "flexible" is already a reality today: people work on a mobile basis, they can sometimes arrive at work an hour later and continue working after the office closes. What is needed, however, are new forms of collaboration. This is a challenge for management, and many of the new challenges - artificial intelligence, automation, etc. - can also trigger fear.

Human First

So what is needed above all are changes in behavior. Behavioral economist Andreas Staub explored these in his presentation. Based on short surveys in the audience, he showed "classic" behaviors in everyday situations. Many people behave impulsively, and impulsive decisions are not always the right ones. This realization plays a role in change processes and must be taken into account accordingly. An important character of human behavior is also the willingness to give something. This must also be used in change processes. According to Andreas Staub, this leads to the principle of "human first" as the basis for functioning corporate cultures. If the culture is right, it is easier to implement any strategy, says Staub.

Management 4.0

Barbara Schaerer, the federal government's top human resources manager, has plenty to say about how difficult it can sometimes be to implement strategies. In her presentation, she explained what "Administration 4.0" could look like and the stumbling blocks that have to be overcome. In particular, the three-tier nature of our administration - federal, cantonal, municipal - proves to be a challenge time and again. The fact that the departments are politically managed also means that the sometimes desired flexibility - for example in personnel decisions - cannot be fully exploited everywhere. Nevertheless, Barbara Schaerer was able to show why the federal administration is an attractive employer in many respects, as many demands for modern forms of work can already be met.

Work is an activity, not a place

Barbara Josef, a former Microsoft manager and now a blogger and independent consultant, brought the euphoria surrounding co-working and other so-called "new forms of work" back down to earth. On the one hand, of course, she does not deny that co-working has many advantages, for freelancers, for example, but also for larger companies, in order to grant their employees more flexibility in the choice of work locations in the sense of a culture of trust. On the other hand, coworking can also have a negative impact, for example by creating a dispersed workload and increasing coordination efforts. However: Work is first and foremost an activity, not a place. Against this backdrop, "boundary management," i.e., the conscious mixing of work and leisure, is becoming increasingly important. This calls for a willingness to experiment: Barbara Josef called substitution, augmentation, modification and redefinition the "magic words" in the interaction of work scenarios.

Amazing and heroic

Mental trainer Tobias Heinemann used amazing experiments to show how the human psyche works, for example when telling untruths. There are no clear signs of whether someone is lying, but changes in body language can give more or less clear indications. Finally, Nicole Brandes, entrepreneur and management coach, picked up the audience on the human ability to be a hero. "Robots can't be heroes," the speaker said. She appealed to be guided by four roles: Thinker, Fighter, Lover and Dreamer. To think the unthinkable, to look fear in the eye and still dare to take the step, to see feelings as a connection to life as well as to find the actual meaning in the fulfillment of dreams were some of Nicole Brandes' central messages. Here again: Human First.

As in the previous year, Matthias Wipf led through the very well attended event - the organizers spoke of a "record crowd". He was able to draw the speakers out of their shells with challenging questions. The president of the Free ERFA Group Personnel Eastern Switzerland, Karin Egle, concluded the afternoon with a reference to the next Eastern Switzerland Personnel Day, which will take place again in St.Gallen on June 6, 2019.

Information: www.personaltag.ch

Changes have a great strategic relevance for companies, as they can positively or negatively influence the long-term competitiveness of companies. However, when things are going well in the company, many find it difficult to recognize changes. At the same time, it is even more difficult to take strategic measures that are perceived as disruptive or even painful today, even if they are intended to ensure competitiveness in the long term. Change is a constant companion of companies. The KMU-Spiegel 2018 of the University of Applied Sciences St.Gallen (FHS) investigated which opportunities and risks changes mean for Swiss SMEs.

The Swiss SMEs surveyed in this study perceive their market and competitive environment to be more volatile than stable. However, Prof. Dr. Rigo Tietz of the Institute of Corporate Management IFU-FHS and head of the study believes that there is good news in this perception, as the SMEs are aware that there will be a lot of changes in their industry within the next year, and around one third of the respondents even expect strong changes. "Within the next ten years, more than two-thirds of survey participants believe there will be very strong changes," Tietz said. Respondents cite technological change and changes in customer needs as the main drivers of change.

Swiss SMEs are generally rather optimistic about the near future

Even if it has become more difficult to be successful on the market in the long term, the study nevertheless revealed that more than half of all respondents tend to see opportunities in the expected changes, while for only around 20 percent do the risks predominate. The risks cited include points such as price erosion, cost pressure and falling margins, globalization and increasing international competition, declining customer loyalty and new customer needs, and the lack of qualified personnel. In terms of opportunities, aspects such as digitization and the use of new technologies, the focus on specific market niches or Switzerland as a location in conjunction with the very positive external perception as synonymous with quality and reliability were cited. SMEs thus have predominantly positive expectations with regard to most of the success indicators, such as sales development, while only the profit margin is expected to decline in almost all sectors. Only in the ICT sector do the positive expectations slightly outweigh the negative ones.

Manufacturing industry also cautiously optimistic

Representatives from manufacturing, ICT and the service sector are more confident about the future than the overall average, while companies from the agricultural sector are much more cautious. The situation of companies from the manufacturing sector in particular has improved noticeably. While the currency situation with the strong Swiss franc and the high location costs in Switzerland compared with other countries have dominated the discussion in the sector in recent years, positive signals such as good order backlogs and slight growth impulses are increasingly being perceived again.

Rigo Tietz explains this by saying that automation is perhaps not so scary for the manufacturing industry because companies can generally only hold their own in Switzerland as a location if they already achieve a high level of automation in their processes and are always one step ahead of the competition from abroad in terms of their products. What is already there can no longer be scary in the future.

Changing demands of employees

The more pronounced the changes in the company's environment, the more the company must also change and implement new forms and models of work in whole or in part. Employees in all sectors, of all company sizes and of all generations want more flexibility in terms of time, space and, increasingly, content in the workplace than is currently made possible by companies. Managers are seen less as authoritarian authorities than as coaches who can offer both content-related and personal feedback and support. Strong changes can already be seen today in the ICT sector, in the manufacturing industry and in the services sector, while there is less freedom in the construction sector, in the hospitality industry and in agriculture.

Meeting such employee wishes step by step can become an important criterion in the future for attracting qualified employees or retaining them in the company over the longer term. Exactly what a blueprint for a sustainable work and organizational model for companies can or should look like can hardly be answered across the board for all industries and types of companies. This is because the respective situations of companies often differ fundamentally from one another. Rather, a suitable form must be found that fits the respective company and the respective industry.

Nationwide online survey

The results presented in the SME Mirror 2018 are based on a nationwide online survey conducted between January and February 2018. The results were supplemented by expert interviews with representatives from professional and industry associations as well as various companies. The research also incorporated the findings and results of further studies and analyses by industry associations, institutions or companies. The result is a comprehensive, sector-specific and multi-faceted picture of changes in Swiss SMEs.

The special feature of the study is that different sectors, such as the dynamic information and communications technology sector, the manufacturing sector or the construction sector, which tends to be more stable, were scrutinized. This year, agricultural businesses from the primary sector were also surveyed for the first time. The SME Survey was supported financially and in terms of content by Helvetia Insurance and BDO Switzerland.

Source: University of Applied Sciences St.Gallen

Floor gossip determines communication, motivation in the team has reached its lowest point and a joint happy hour would be the last thing employees associate with a relaxing Friday evening? Many employers have problems finding qualified and talented employees - keeping their own team thus becomes a decisive competitive advantage. But keeping talent for the long term requires more than high salaries and fancy company cars. Inspiration and vision, intuition, self-reflection, and an authentic demeanor create a lasting emotional connection between employees and their own brand. It's time to turn the key screws of successful leadership. Here are four reasons why things can go wrong in employee communication and how managers can remedy the situation in the long term.

1. lack of empathy

Living an empathetic leadership style means recognizing the personality of individual employees and responding to it appropriately. In concrete terms, this means empathizing with the individual in certain situations and not questioning his or her character traits and personality. If the boss lacks empathy, this causes injuries and sometimes aggression, which makes cooperation almost impossible. To counteract these blockades from the outset, managers must do one thing above all: listen and show empathy. Because only what is exemplified "at the top" will quickly make the rounds among colleagues. The health app Clue, for example, has taken a close look at the idiosyncrasies of each individual employee and is using these stories for its own recruiting (video under: Clue):

2. lack of self-reflection

Everyone talks about "learnings" and how everyday work is becoming more and more efficient. Managers quickly tend to give priority to the development potential of their company and often demand that their employees continuously work on themselves. The look in the mirror to reflect on oneself often turns out to be rather poor. For employees, however, this harbors enormous potential for frustration. Particularly if the employer itself has been treading water for years. But if you continuously work on employee communication, question yourself and train your self-awareness, you will score points, especially with your colleagues. It is obvious that this cannot be achieved with one or two management training sessions. A small tip: weekly, anonymous employee surveys can quickly and easily capture the mood in the team. If there is a need for optimization, this can be done immediately.

3. lack of authenticity

A boss who receives compliments like "She's on fire for her job!" or "He means what he says! The secret recipe that generates such enthusiasm is authenticity. Being authentic is consistently rated higher by employees than professional competence, empathy or resilience. It's no secret that genuine people and unadulterated emotions are always better received by colleagues. A manager who is authentic possesses emotional intelligence. She knows how to deal with her own and unpleasant feelings and what of them is brought out into the open. A manager should know how to switch into certain "sub-roles": sometimes colleague, sometimes friend, sometimes father or daughter, and yet always employer, without acting.

4. missing stories

Scott Harrison spent ten years sleeping his way through New York nights as a club promoter. At first it might have been quite amusing, then it became rather sobering and led to his mental, emotional and moral breakdown. A new beginning was needed. So he spent two years in Africa, saw the effects of polluted water on the ground, and returned home with a mission: to bring clean drinking water to disadvantaged regions of the world with charity:water. So much vision inspires: The former startup has already supplied seven million people with safe drinking water.

Whether in the consumer sector or in the B2B segment, for marketing, communication or employer branding: Storytelling is on everyone's lips. But as Scott Harrison in the half-hour company portrait While the management of a company relies on storytelling, the concept is still largely unknown as a leadership skill. Yet it is precisely here that stories are suitable for creating motivation and meaning, so that employees are once again burning for their job. To captivate an audience with a well-told story in your own company, you only need a few simple parameters:

• Originality: What makes your own company special and sets it apart from the competition? The tools of brand storytelling help to find the common thread in the company story. Whether it's the founding story or a great vision, employees also need to be told about what makes the brand unique.
• Continuity: Internal and external communication must become one, because employees are naturally influenced not only by internal measures, but also by the external image. For example, if certain values are defined, these should run through all channels, media and platforms. In doing so, it is important to define a unique voice and a certain tonality. If a relaxed tone prevails in the office, stiff business language can also be dispensed with in the external language.
• Humor: Every good story deserves a good laugh. If a company doesn't take itself too seriously, it comes across very authentically to the audience. Here's how the founders of the Berlin social startup tell their story unicorn in funny videos in their very own way stories from the company and from the specially created values "fairstainable", "unicornique" and "fug: fight and hug". Humorous anecdotes from teambuilding trips or the Christmas party are sure to be found in every company.

(Video at: Unicorn)

• Emotionality: If you want to inspire your audience, you have to arouse emotions. A good story is not only written with highlights and successes; it is precisely the defeats and conflicts that make it authentic and emotionally connect one's own team with the company. Managers who also provide transparent insights into milestones reached and hurdles encountered in the company's history, which is being written every day, can be sure that they are really being listened to.

Conclusion

Today's managers need a wide range of leadership skills that are far removed from performance, pressure to succeed and professional competence. A boss or manager who listens to his or her employees, opens up and shows that he or she is pulling in the same direction as his or her colleagues, makes his or her voice heard and thus ensures long-term success for the company. And you're sure to be invited for an after-work beer by your colleagues.

About the author: Nora Feist is, together with Miriam Rupp, managing director of Mashup Communications (www.mashup-communications.de), a PR and brand storytelling agency in Berlin.

An end to the traditional 8-hour day? You have to ask yourself that after reading a recently published global study. People are working less and less in the office and more and more from somewhere else. According to IWG, the parent company of leading workspace providers such as Regus and Spaces, the emergence of this "mobile workforce" has been triggered by technological change, globalization and changing employee expectations. IWG published the aforementioned study on the subject, based on insights from more than 18,000 business professionals in 96 countries. According to this study, 70 % of employees work at least one day per week away from the office. More than one in two (53 %) work remotely at least half the week, and more than one in ten (11 %) work outside their company's main office five times a week.

Has the 8-hour day had its day?

The survey also highlights how companies view the benefits of flexible working strategies on a global scale:

• Business growth (89% - 2016: 67%)
• Competitiveness (87% - 2014: only 59%)
• Productivity (82% - 2013: 75%)
• Attracting and retaining top talent (80% - 2016: 64%).
• Increase profitability (83%)

For generations, office work around the world has been based on a fixed location and an 8-hour day. But more and more companies are now adopting a very different work model that benefits both them and their employees.

Happier and more productive workers

More than half of the Swiss (56%) agreed that flexible working increases job satisfaction, showing that companies need to provide work environments that suit today's worker if they want to retain top-notch employees. The study also showed that it's no longer just startup companies that are embracing flexible working and shared workspaces. The world's most successful companies - including the likes of Etihad Airways, Diesel, GSK, Mastercard, Microsoft, Oracle and Uber - are already using flexible workplaces.

Cost efficiency as the most important reason for using flexible workplaces

The shift to flexible workplaces reflects the changing demands and expectations of the workforce. At 84%, the majority of the Swiss find that fast and reliable Wi-Fi is the main feature of a productive work environment. Similarly, 69% of Swiss respondents appreciate that you only pay for the space you effectively use. Savings can also be made on real estate (49%) and office staff (59%). The advantages are obvious: an overwhelming 93% Swiss said that flexible workplaces lead to greater productivity.

Source: IWG

Free? Occupied? By whom? For how long? These questions come to mind when standing in front of a lecture hall or meeting room. Paper signs or displays that rely on radio infrastructure or cabling were out of the question in the landmarked ETH building in the heart of Zurich. The historic building allows no drilling, no cables and no installations for the signage of the premises. However, there was no attractive solution available on the market that met ETH's requirements in terms of scalability, design and price.

Dynamic e-paper instead of static doorplates

That's when ROOMZ hit the "tablet," recalls Armin Brunner, Head of Multimedia Services at ETH, who is responsible for the project: "The problem of mixed use of the course rooms had existed for some time. However, a wired system was never an option for us due to the protection of historical monuments and the structural conditions." The idea of the startup ROOMZ SA from Fribourg with its CEO Roger Meier for a battery-powered reservation and management tool, which can be easily integrated into Exchange, Office 365, Google Calendar and other reservation systems and gets by 100% without cables, arrived: Armin Brunner took on the role of pilot customer. Together, the parameters for the ePaper-based reservation system were defined. After only six months, the first prototypes were installed in the rector's office and at the Institute of Mathematics. "It became apparent very quickly that ROOMZ was exactly what we were looking for. That's why we decided to equip all reservable rooms with ROOMZ. That's 600 rooms that we can use better and more efficiently thanks to ROOMZ," explains Armin Brunner.

Space utilization digitized

Distributing paper printouts throughout the building and exchanging them several times a day is a thing of the past with ROOMZ displays. "With ROOMZ, we not only better utilize our rooms, but also optimize the offer for our students and the comfort for our guests," reports the rectorate of ETH Zurich.

The digital doorplates, which dynamically display the room reservations, can be managed centrally or used by students, staff and professors for a spontaneous booking. The ROOMZ server connects to ETH's 10 different reservation tools, demonstrating ROOMZ's high degree of flexibility and openness. The result: "The rooms are better utilized, the students are satisfied, and room planning is many times more efficient," summarizes Armin Brunner. ROOMZ was able to solve a major problem for ETH: The battery-operated door sign now serves as a shining example of modern spatial planning for other universities, companies and public institutions. "The fact that we were able to win ETH as our first customer is an extraordinary pleasure and honor for us. ETH is the birthplace of many world-changing innovations - and also the birthplace of ROOMZ. The interest on the part of ETH and the realization that the need for modern spatial planning has not yet been met on the market encouraged us to take off with ROOMZ. The collaboration with Armin Brunner and the ETH team was very constructive for us and trend-setting for our company," explains Roger Meier.

Spatial planning of the future

For the future, Armin Brunner can imagine using presence sensors to further optimize room occupancy at ETH. "Student workstations are popular, but rare. There is a great need to manage them optimally. A presence sensor can help to release the room if someone does not show up for their reservation. It also allows reliable information on effective utilization in conjunction with ROOMZ."

More information about the product: https://roomz.io/

Half a year ago, Peter Keil placed a job ad in the weekend edition of the local daily newspaper, in which he also gave his e-mail address - "unfortunately". Because when the owner of an engineering firm came into his office at 10 o'clock on a Saturday morning, there were already a dozen applications in his mail account - even though the weekend edition of the newspaper had been distributed to households just three or four hours earlier.

A lot of junk in online applications

The quality of the applications was correspondingly high. "All junk," Keil sums it up. "You could see it in the applications right away: They just quickly changed the address in the standard cover letter and then sent the application just before the weekend shopping."

It was a similar story with most of the applications that landed "en masse" in Keil's mail account over the next few days. Not only that almost all occupational groups - from pedicurists to warehouse workers - applied for the advertised position of "office specialist (m/f)". Keil also clearly registered a lower quality in the online applications than in the written applications that arrived a few days later.

"Maybe I'm lucky"

Keil's impression: "With written applications, people think twice before applying." After all, printing out application documents and sending them costs time - and money. It's different with online applications. Many job seekers quickly sit down at their PC and change the address data in their standard application. Then they press the "send" button on their e-mail program and the application is gone. True to the maxim: Maybe I'll get lucky.

Many company representatives confirm this impression. Time and again, they discover "real stylistic blossoms" in online applications. Keil was amused, for example, by the following sentence in the cover letter of a hotel manageress: "I look forward to lively contact with your guests. With this, the applicant immediately catapulted herself out of the running. Because according to Keil: "We have a customer drop by every two weeks. And with him I immediately disappear into the meeting room." After reading the aforementioned sentence, it was clear to Keil that the woman had only added a new form of address to an application she had written for a hotel.

When he included his e-mail address in the ad, Keil also underestimated the extra work he was saddling himself with. In the days following the publication of the ad, he repeatedly received e-mails with the following tenor: "Before I apply, can you give me more information about the position?" With the first two or three e-mails, Keil thought: Great, someone is seriously interested in the job. So he took a lot of time answering them. But at some point he got fed up - because he had other things to do.

File salad produces extra work

In other respects, too, the online applications made Keil more work than the written ones. Printing out the applications that did not immediately fall through the cracks proved to be time-consuming. This was because most of the applications had the cover letter, resume and (work) references attached as individual documents - often in different file formats. Only two or three applicants had packed the documents into a pdf file, so Keil only had to open one file and had a sorted application folder in front of him. At some point, Keil decided, "I'm not going to look at the applications with "exotic file attachments. "Because it's not my job to first convert the stuff and then sort through the printed pages."

Personnel consultant Alexander Walz, Stuttgart, confirms that applicants often put little effort into creating online applications. "Many send their applications in 'scatter mail' without asking themselves in advance: do I have a realistic chance at the job?" Many applicants also don't ask themselves enough: What effect does it have on the recipient if the attached data has any cryptic names, so that you can't see what's hidden inside until you open it?

08/15 applications provoke standard rejections

That's why Walz understands that some companies only respond to 08/15 online applications with standard rejections, if at all. "If you don't put much effort into your application, you shouldn't complain if the recipient behaves the same way." Because small and medium-sized companies in particular would otherwise no longer be able to cope with the flood of applications that pours in after some job ads.

What experiences have you had with online applications? Write it to us in the comment field!

To the author: Bernhard Kuntz is a business and PR editor and owner of the agency Die PRofilBerater GmbH in Darmstadt.

With the roadshow "succession bus", the company placement portal companymarket draws attention to the topic of "succession planning". "On board" the succession bus are in each case different experts, who make themselves available at six stations as interlocutors and advisors. On May 31, the succession bus was a guest in Zurich.

Rather start a company than take one over?

The regulation of company succession is "an important topic," said Zurich Cantonal Councilor Carmen Walker Späh in her opening address. Succession planning is of enormous economic importance. After all, it is always about preserving know-how and jobs. The regulation of a company succession deserves more attention. "It's just cooler to say you founded a startup than: I have taken over a company," said Carmen Walker Späh. She pointed to interesting statistical facts: After five years, 50 percent of newly founded companies no longer exist, while the failure rate for company takeovers is only 5 percent...

Fewer and fewer family-internal company successions

Natalie Spross Döbeli shared her experience of succession within the family (see our Interview with her in ORGANISATOR 9/2017). Today, she is CEO of Spross Holding AG and has taken on a not easy legacy, but always voluntarily and out of a sense of duty to the family. Today, she is already thinking about her own succession. This is also right, as Franziska Müller Tiberini, owner of Familienunternehmen.ch AG, confirms. Because people often wait too long before thinking about their own succession. In addition, succession within the family is on the decline. Müller Tiberini sees the reason for this in today's much broader educational palette, which offers children many more options. Taking over the parental company tends to stand in the way of flexible life plans.

De-industrialization due to unresolved company successions?

The topic of company succession is complex. It is about the valuation of a company when it has to be sold, about the financing of the company purchase and also about the role change from buyer to successor or from seller to "retiree". This sometimes requires a lot of psychology, as an expert in company sales confirmed. In any case, the role of a company successor should not be underestimated, also from a macroeconomic point of view. This was pointed out in the two presentations by Reto Rüttimann (Head of SME Corporate Succession at the ZKB) and Hans-Ulrich Bigler, President of the Swiss Trade Association and Member of the National Council. They warned against the de-industrialization of Switzerland due to unresolved successions.

The next follow-up bus event will be held in Basel on June 14. Information: www.nachfolgebus.ch

The figures presented by Data Migration Services AG at a recent media conference are impressive: the company has repeatedly been able to increase its sales by double-digit percentages in recent years. In 2017 alone, growth amounted to around 40 percent. JiVS software generated sales of 25 million Swiss francs last year, both directly and via partners. In 2017, for example, one of the largest energy materials groups and Lafarge Holcim opted for JiVS. The building materials giant will use it to historicize dozens of legacy systems. But one of the world's 20 largest corporations from the USA is also a prominent customer of the Kreuzlingen-based software manufacturer. The conglomerate has been using JiVS for all business lines since 2017. However, Data Migration Services still has the big growth spurt ahead of it. By 2030, founder and owner Thomas Failer expects a potential of at least two billion Swiss francs. With the goal of becoming the global market leader for historization of legacy systems and complementary solutions, Failer returned to the company on May 1, 2018. In order to tap into this potential as much as possible, the existing global partner network is to be expanded at full speed. Failer: "Customers see up to 80 percent savings potential for IT operations in the future in the historization of legacy systems. That's why the discipline must also be an integral part of migration strategies and the means of choice to provide the resources that are often lacking for urgently needed investments in innovative business models."

Challenges data protection

The reasons that market researchers see such great potential for companies in JiVS' core business are extremely pragmatic: Capgemini, for example, says that half of the largest companies could take 50 percent of their software systems out of operation. However, since the requirements of data protection laws, for example, cannot be met without historization functionalities such as those provided by JiVS, the topic has been treated rather stepmotherly in the past. Now, against the background of the new European General Data Protection Regulation, attention to this topic is likely to increase. This is because companies must be able to provide information about personal data on request, even if this data is stored in old databases that have not been migrated to new applications. The JiVS software solution ensures that access to "ancient" data is still possible; the origin of data and its further processing along the value chain can still be traced. This is also relevant in the project business and plant engineering, for example, where long runtimes often prevail. When modernizing a power plant, for example, it is of utmost importance to know exactly which parts or materials were originally installed in order to avoid errors and delays in planning and, above all, execution. The various views can be placed next to each other in the JiVS interface so that, for example, a specialist user can understand the material flow from ordering to delivery and assembly at a glance.

Migration to SAP S/4 Hana

In addition, there are the consequences that companies will face as a result of migration to the new SAP world if they do not consistently retire legacy systems. By 2025 at the latest, many companies will be confronted with the inevitable migration to S4/Hana and a proprietary database policy whose costs can no longer be justified. In the meantime, a change in thinking has therefore also set in, says Failer: "Customers, partners and market researchers assess the need for consolidation and historization of software systems as more urgent than ever." In addition to data protection compliance and SAP S/4 Hana, however, megatrends such as cloud computing or new digital business models are also the drivers, he says. "Processes and systems are changing, but data must remain available. We will use these challenges faced by companies to expand our market leadership for historization of legacy systems with JiVS."

Gartner sees JiVS as "ideal" for decommissioning software systems

Data Migration Services' growth is also astonishing in light of its organization. The company with its 20 employees has a very lean structure. Even for large international groups, sales were handled by correspondence, as it were, as Thomas Failer recounts. While other companies have an extensive sales network for global activities, Data Migration Systems can rely on well-known partners, first and foremost the system integrators from SAP. This also explains the enormous potential. But users of other ERP solutions that are reaching the end of their life cycle can also use JiVS to archive their old data stocks with reasonable effort and make them available for the new solution. Market researcher Gartner recognizes the Swiss software JiVS in its SDAAR Magic Quadrant (Structured Data Archiving and Application Retirement), saying, "If you are looking for a legacy retirement solution, we belive JiVS is ideal." and "The JiVS Approach to switch to SAP S/4HANA is game-changing." If that doesn't equate to a knighthood....

www.dms-ag.ch

The European Union's new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has been in force since May 25, 2018. It not only includes organizational requirements for the processing of personal data, but also strengthens the rights of private individuals in particular. Companies and institutions based in Switzerland must also comply with the GDPR if they process personal data of individuals from the EU area. Regardless of whether they employ two employees or 5000 - to ensure compliance with the GDPR and to protect data from these individuals, companies and institutions are forced to take technical and organizational measures. From now on, transmitting confidential information unprotected is not only negligent, but punishable by law, with heavy fines of up to 20 million euros. Add to this the fact that parliament is currently drafting a Swiss equivalent to the GDPR. Companies and institutions that have already adapted to the GDPR should have less trouble implementing the new Federal Data Protection Act (DPA).

Protect sensitive data verifiably

The new EU regulation covers any type of information that could, at least theoretically, allow conclusions to be drawn about a specific person. Not only the name, address, date of birth, telephone number, e-mail address or, for example, individual travel plans of customers are protected. Tax identification numbers, account numbers and employee references may also no longer be sent unprotected by e-mail. In addition, data subjects now have a right to information about the personal data collected, processed and transferred by companies and organizations.

Easy-to-implement email solution for businesses and institutions

A user-friendly and cost-effective solution for sending e-mails in accordance with the new guidelines is offered by the RMail complete package from Frama Communications AG, Lauperswil (BE). The system is easy to install via download. Software installations at the recipient or a registration on web platforms are not necessary. The solution is therefore specifically suitable for people with no previous knowledge of IT and companies without internal IT specialists. Users send their e-mails in encrypted form and, thanks to a delivery and receipt receipt, have legally valid proof at all times that their e-mails and attachments have reached the recipient securely. Frama RMail^TM has proven itself internationally over many years and is continuously adapted to legal and technical developments as well as the general conditions of the market, the company further states.

More information: www.frama-rmail.com

In the meantime, there are many awards for startups in Switzerland. The oldest and the most highly endowed is the W.A. de Vigier Promotion Prize: every year, it distributes CHF 500,000 in prize money (5 times CHF 100,000) to young entrepreneurs in Switzerland. Since its 29-year existence, the W.A. de Vigier Foundation has distributed a total of over CHF 11 million in start-up capital. To date, this has resulted in around 84 successful startups, several IPOs, profitable company sales and, above all, numerous new jobs. The foundation is the legacy of William A. de Vigier, a Solothurn native who died in 2003 and whose private initiative laid the foundation for this form of startup promotion.

Promotional award also gives strong weighting to personality of CEO

From over 220 projects submitted, the jury selected its top 16 in February. These went through an assessment and presented their ideas to the Foundation Board, which then selected the top 10. In addition to groundbreaking products, the personality of the CEO played a major role in choosing the winners. "We don't just want to support groundbreaking products, we also want to invest in outstanding people who will play a decisive role in shaping a new generation of Swiss entrepreneurs," explains Regula Buob, Managing Director of the W.A. de Vigier Foundation. The Top 16 undergo an assessment and put their own leadership style under the microscope in a confidential validation interview. With this approach, the W.A. de Vigier Foundation is one of the few sponsors that systematically consider the human factor.

The five award winners (alphabetical order)

• AUDATIC GmbH from Zurich (ZH) - Better performance of hearing aids in noisy environments: Hearing aids often let their wearers down in noisy situations. AUDATIC uses the latest artificial intelligence methods to filter out distracting background noise and significantly improve the listening experience. Whether in a restaurant, on the road or at a business meeting: Hearing aid users can once again take part in conversations with more pleasure and confidence thanks to AUDATIC's technology.
• inVoli from Renens (VD) - Safe integration of drones into air traffic: Collisions between drones and aircraft are increasingly becoming a hazard. inVoli provides the infrastructure for safely integrating unmanned aerial objects into existing air traffic. The Vaud-based startup's technology aims to make air traffic situation data accessible and equip stakeholders as well as the flying objects themselves with the necessary tools to use the skies more safely and efficiently.
• Myoswiss AG from Zurich (ZH) - Wearable muscles for people with movement restrictions: Myoswiss develops the Myosuit: A layer of clothing made of wearable muscles that supports everyday activities. The solution combines robotics and functional textiles in a comfortable product that weighs less than five kilograms. Novel algorithms coupled with sensors and actuators control the supporting forces during the user's movements.
• nanoleq GmbH from Zurich (ZH) - A new generation of cables: Cables are vulnerable. This is a problem with medical devices or factory robots, for example. nanoleq developed a fundamentally new type of cable technology. Under mechanical stress, the Zurich-based startup's FlexOne cable has a service life up to a hundred times longer than a standard cable and retains its high flexibility. nanoleq's target markets are in medical technology, high-end audio applications and robotics.
• SUN bioscience from Lausanne (VD) - 3D cell cultures for more effective treatment decisions: SUN bioscience launches a platform for standardized organoid 3D cell cultures that allow patient-specific testing for direct efficacy of treatments. Current methods based on biomarkers are often insufficiently reliable. SUN bioscience's solution optimizes medication decisions and avoids ineffective therapies. This enables billions of dollars in healthcare savings.

Other startups in the top 10

Five more startups made it into the top 10 in the "final selection" for the funding award. These are (alphabetically):

• ACUBE Technology AG from Nidau (BE) - access via smartphone instead of tickets and badges: The handling of tickets, badges and garage door hand-held transmitters is tedious and time-consuming for both the user and the technical service. ACUBE uses the smartphone for easier access and automatic payment. Thanks to the combination of a patented location system with an app, misplaced tickets and embarrassing arm-extension maneuvers in front of the parking garage barrier will soon be a thing of the past.
• AgroSustain GmbH (VD) - Organic fungicides for sustainable agriculture: Producers of agricultural products are under pressure. To avoid harvest and storage losses, chemical fungicides are used, which have a negative impact on biodiversity as well as our health. AgroSustain develops ecological prevention and treatment products against a wide range of fungal pathogens. These are interesting for storage, for the timber industry, gardeners and farmers.
• hemotune AG from Zurich (ZH) - Revolutionary blood purification process for sepsis: hemotune's process can remove hard-to-reach toxins from the blood. Specially developed magnetic nanoparticles bind to the toxins and can then be magnetically separated. In an add-on device to the dialysis machine, these nanoparticles are mixed with the blood and removed along with the toxins. The first application is being developed for the removal of endotoxins in acute blood poisoning.
• Sensoryx AG from Zurich (ZH) - Sensory immersion in the virtual world: Until now, users have had to hold distracting controls in their hands instead of being able to interact directly with the virtual world. VRfree is a mobile 3D tracking system that fully maps hands and fingers in cyberspace and enables a literally tangible immersion in the virtual world. This solution combines different sensor types and provides reality-identical mobile motion capture without delay.
• Touchless Automation GmbH from Biel (BE) - Contactless handling of micro components: Touchless Automation offers innovative solutions for any industry that processes microcomponents. As soon as the sensitive microcomponents are touched, there is a risk of scratching, contamination or other damage. The Biel-based startup's solution can move components of all materials - completely contact-free.

Vibrant entrepreneurial spirit in Switzerland

There is no lack of entrepreneurial spirit in Switzerland - and the W.A. de Vigier Foundation is suitably pleased about it. "Last year, 43,000 new companies were founded in Switzerland. As the W.A. Foundation, we are allowed to take a closer look at a fraction of the best companies. It is a real privilege and at the same time almost impossible to select the top 10 or five winners, because there are simply more than ten of them on Mount Olympus," says Alain Nicod, member of the Board of Trustees of the W.A. de Vigier Foundation.

Source and further information

The Swiss Ethics Award, organized by the School of Engineering and Business Vaud Canton (HEIG-VD) and launched for the first time in 2005, is an independent prize to promote ethics, sustainable development and social responsibility strategies of companies or public organizations. The aim is that such measures become natural and obvious to everyone. For this purpose, concrete projects are awarded, which encourage others to further develop or imitate them. This year, the following organizations were awarded:

PX Précinox - PX Impact

The gold value chain is a very sensitive topic. Many cases of lack of environmental protection, lack of compliance with working conditions and corruption are regularly reported by the press. To respond to this problem, PX Précinox SA, active in gold mining and trading, has implemented the PX Impact project. Its goal to provide responsibly mined gold by offering total transparency to its customers through traceability and the supply chain of its products. It also guarantees the extraction of mercury-free ore. Price increases charged to customers are used as a bonus system to fund local projects. The aim is to make a tangible contribution to the welfare and development of local communities.

ETHZ - Sustainability Report

ETH Zurich is the first university in Switzerland to publish a sustainability report. This report not only promotes a broad internal dialogue about the university's contribution to sustainable development, but also addresses staff and students with an interest in sustainability issues and gives them the appropriate visibility for their commitment. Fully transparent and self-critical, it provides insight into project developments, successes and challenges. This report helps to strengthen the mutual appreciation of academic service providers, non-academic staff and students and to promote ethical cooperation.

Association Ecoparc - Ecoparc

The Ecoparc association aims to promote sustainable development in the built environment. As an information hub, it organizes tools, methods and best practices for the public, private actors and public authorities. One of the association's great strengths is the quality and richness of its information, which is made available directly on the Internet. The Swiss National Library has also selected its website for web archives. The association acts as a mediator between the different actors of a project and is always ready to intervene to promote and facilitate the definition of standards for sustainable development.

Source: www.heig-vd.ch