In 2018, Great Place to Work recognized the best employers in Switzerland for the 10th time. The ranking is based on a study with comprehensive employee surveys and culture analyses. These two tools form the basis for measuring and continuously improving workplace culture. The ranking is divided into small, medium and large organizations, as well as a category for the healthcare and social services sector.

Ranking "Best Employers in Switzerland 2018″ - Top 3 per category

Large companies (250+ employees)

1. 1st place: Cisco Systems (Switzerland) GmbH, Wallisellen
2. Place: IKEA AG, Spreitenbach
3. 1st place: McDonald's Suisse, Crissier

Medium-sized companies (50-249 employees)

1. Place: UMB AG, Volketswil
2. Place: AWK Group AG, Zurich
3. 1st place: Scout24 Schweiz AG, Flamatt

Small companies (20-49 employees)

1. Place: Rackspace International GmbH, Zurich
2. Place: Mundipharma Medical Company, Basel
3. Place: SAS Institute AG, Wallisellen

Health and social services

1. Place: mediX Group Practice, Zurich
2. Place: Swiss Mountain Aid, Adliswil
3. 1st place: Rehaklinik Dussnang AG, Dussnang

On the occasion of the 10th anniversary, multiple award-winning organizations were also honored. Not expected by everyone and impressive: McDonald's Suisse has faced the comparison with the best employers the most times and was awarded 9 times.

XING Switzerland also awarded a special prize on the topic of "Employability". This went to SAP (Switzerland) AG. Employability stands for concepts and activities that are designed to ensure the long-term employability of employees (for example, further training, flexible working hours, home office, and health promotion measures). The award criterion is the cultural analysis by Great Place to Work and further interviews by XING.

Compensation forms the basis - sense and trust make the difference

The results of the Great Place to Work 2018 study show what the foundations of a good workplace culture are: Credibility, respect and appreciation, fairness (including compensation) and team spirit. Also very important are pride in the job and the company. When it comes to the perception of an appropriate salary, there are large differences between the companies (79% positive perception at excellent vs. 38% at non-awarded organizations). What is striking here is that perceived fairness and perspective are more important than the absolute wage level. Here, even companies without high wages often achieve a better perception than industries with high, but unfairly perceived wages.

However, more is needed to awaken creativity, to be able to react quickly to changes, and to inspire employees to make a special commitment. The importance of a sense of purpose and trust in the company are often underestimated. Yet it is precisely these points that prove to be decisive for a special commitment on the part of employees. It is important to integrate employees in decision-making and to assume social responsibility together. Today, it is more important for employees to make a valuable contribution to society.

According to Michael Hermann, CEO of Great Place to Work in Switzerland, "Employees will only be particularly committed to their work if they see a purpose in it and have confidence that their efforts will be appreciated and not abused."

Award-winning companies offer sustainable employee satisfaction

The other study results show considerable differences between award-winning organizations and the rest. For example, approval of the promotion of work-life balance is significantly higher in award-winning organizations at 77% than in non-award-winning ones at only 44%. The best employers also manage to meet expectations of the company. After more than two years of service, satisfaction remains fairly stable at 81%, while non-award-winning employers are disappointing more and more employees (approval drops to 65%). With a good workplace culture, employees and managers also succeed in pulling together and experiencing their environment in a similarly positive way (with values for both groups above 80%). It is important for this that employees can contribute ideas and opinions without worrying about making mistakes. In non-award winning organizations, this often shows two groups working against each other with large differences in satisfaction (63% for employees vs. 82% for managers).

Matthias Keller from UMB AG confirms that a good workplace culture is essential for companies. "As an excellent employer, we find it easier to attract talent and inspire our team. This leads to the best possible service for our customers."

More information and rankings: www.greatplacetowork.ch/beste-arbeitgeber/schweiz/2018/

If positions remain unfilled for a longer period of time, the strain on other employees increases. First and foremost, employee morale suffers (25 %). In addition, a limitation of business growth (23 %) and productivity losses (20 %) are among the strongest consequences of long-term unfilled jobs. This was reported by 200 Swiss HR managers surveyed as part of the latest labor market study by personnel services provider Robert Half. "On the one hand, companies are having difficulty filling open positions quickly due to the shortage of skilled workers. In the meantime, tasks are being distributed among existing employees," says Sven Hennige, Senior Managing Director at Robert Half.

Worst case: dismissals of overworked employees

"Redistributing work may allow operations to continue seamlessly for a period of time, but managers often underestimate the strain it places on employees. Just a few weeks of extra work can result in frustration and overwhelm. In the worst-case scenario, there are resignations if the work-life balance becomes too imbalanced," explains Hennige. How the study "Secrets of the Happiest Companies and Employees" by Robert Half in 2017, a poor work-life balance is one of the strongest drivers when an employee decides to quit. Only a lack of team cohesion, the feeling of having to pretend at work, and a lack of pride in one's own work have a more negative effect.

Declining morale

The following table shows the consequences that longer unfilled positions can have on the working atmosphere and the economic situation of a company:

Source: Robert Half, Labor Market Study 2017, Respondents: 200 HR managers in Switzerland

Avoid permanent stress

To prevent a position from remaining unfilled in the long term, HR managers should analyze the so-called time-to-hire, i.e. the duration from the advertisement to the filling of a position. If the recruiting process regularly takes longer than planned, there is a need for action.

The reasons for a long time-to-hire are manifold: cumbersome recruiting processes, a lack of willingness to make decisions in the companies or too high demands on the candidates can be responsible. Sven Hennige recommends: "A significant change or shortening of the recruiting process can usually not be realized so quickly. Managers should involve the team, openly address the personnel bottleneck and try to find consensual solutions. Temporary employees can also help bridge the time until the open position is filled again."

Source: Robert Half 

The approximately 200-page book entitled "Reinventing Business. The St.Gallen Concept Practically Implemented" consists of a reading section and a work section. The two book covers contain fold-out cheat sheets to help the reader think. Working papers on deciding the question "Reinvent or optimize?" are available for download online.

Special attention is paid to the construction plan for a management house. The idea for this came about when the author, Dr. Christian Abegglen, heard about the dynamic space concept: erect an office building quickly, expand it at any time, downsize it, move it to another location or even return it. Nine room modules represent topics such as constitution, organization, understanding of leadership, processes and actions. Silos that cause stagnation are a thing of the past. Everything meshes smoothly here - like the gears of a Fidget Spinner with nine gears.

Having reached the end of the book, the reader has made decisions and worked out answers for himself about the development of his company or business unit. "The St. Gallen School is now definitely suitable for everyday use," says the publisher. The author reasons, "A lot has been written about it, what was missing was a book that gives readers a powerful result at the end." That's why he helps his readers identify goals from three perspectives (space, time, people) to get there. The book is aimed at executives who want to shape corporate strategy actively, rather than reactively. Suitable for companies of all sizes.

Information:
Company Reinvent
The thinking and working book against organized standstill
The St. Gallen concept put into practice
204 pages + digital working papers
ISBN: 978-3-96251-005-3
Publisher Frankfurter Allgemeine

"Internet users today are used to the customer experience of big brands. That's why their expectation of the customer experience online is now very different from what it was just a few years ago," said Jennie Hagen in her presentation at SOM on April 18 and 19 in Zurich. By constantly developing and using the customer data they collect, the Internet giants are able to predict customer needs more and more accurately. Keeping pace here is a key task for digital marketers, she said. According to Jennie Hagen, help is offered above all by the actual harnessing of various data sources, which in reality are often collected but rarely used to target and refine campaigns. But it is only through the use of correct data that machine learning and automation become truly relevant and create more efficiency and relevance for users, for example through personalized addresses.

Despite Machine Learning: Expert Knowledge Still Necessary

But even if the use of data and machine learning increases the degree of automation, this does not mean that the expertise of experts is no longer needed, emphasizes Jennie Hagen. This awareness is also widespread in the industry: In fact, "just nine percent of campaign managers were worried about their professional future." Especially in the analysis of data and the resulting consulting, specialists continue to be indispensable. In the future, they should broaden their expert knowledge in order to be prepared for closer collaboration with data scientists, for example, recommends Hagen.

From metapeople to Artefact

SOM is the trade fair for eBusiness, online marketing and direct marketing, which took place for the tenth time this year. Jennie Hagen is Head of Paid Media at the international digital performance agency Artefact. Until the beginning of the year, the agency operated under the name metapeople and was part of the Netbooster Group, which merged with the French digital agency Artefact in 2017.

Source: www.artefact.com

The ICT and online industries are moving ever closer together, and value chains and business models are overlapping. This convergence should also be reflected in the representation of interests in politics and business as well as in the services for companies in the industry. Against this background, the management bodies of the two relevant ICT and digital industry associations have decided to merge their activities: The boards of Simsa and Swico have signed a merger agreement, which is to be ratified by the members at extraordinary general meetings on June 18, 2018.

Synergies used for a long time

Simsa and Swico have been in close contact for several years, coordinate their political positions and exploit synergies in their range of services. In an assessment of the situation, the two boards came to the conclusion that a unified and powerful presence for the Internet and digital economy is becoming increasingly important. For this reason, the forces are to be bundled under one roof. The goal is to achieve greater member benefit as well as stronger influence in politics and business. Both organizations are financially well positioned, so synergies on the cost side are not a priority.

The name Simsa disappears

The new organization, legally still constituted as an association, will operate under the name Swico. It will take over and continue all activities of Simsa and Swico. On the Simsa side, the Code of Conduct Hosting and the Collaboration Framework in particular will be integrated, as well as the training courses such as the federally certified Web Project Manager. Swico will contribute, among other things, its comprehensive issue management, its start-up program and the industry solution for occupational health and safety.

A new specialist committee is to be created for the hosting sector under the leadership of Hostpoint CEO Claudius Röllin and one for the web agencies under the leadership of Imre Sinka, CEO of Dotpulse. Both expert committees will work on projects and issues of these two member segments independently and with their own budgets within the framework of Swico, as well as develop their own activities, as other Swico expert committees are already doing, according to the statement. The new Swico board will include the current president of Simsa, Andrej Vckovski, CEO of Netcetera, and another person from the web agency sector.

A strong voice for the ICT and online industry

With this step, Swico is becoming even more of a business association for the Swiss ICT and online industry. The boundaries between providers and users, as well as those between the ICT and creative industries, will continue to merge - bringing the various parties even closer together. For Andrej Vckovski, President of Simsa, it is clear: "With the planned merger, we are strengthening the industry quite decisively and ensuring that the online industry can participate more intensively in the political opinion-forming process and gain even more political weight." Says Swico President Andreas Knöpfli: "Today, the two associations have high-quality and complementary offerings. With the planned merger, all members will benefit from a broader range of cost-effective services."

Provided the approximately 100 Simsa and the 500 Swico members ratify the merger on June 18, the merger will be formally completed on June 30, 2018. Growing together on a day-to-day basis is expected to take until the end of 2018. The boards of Simsa and Swico are convinced that this merger will be an important step towards a more compact association landscape in the ICT and online sector and will thus equip the industry well for the future.

More information: www.swico.ch

How can you recognize really good leaders today in everyday working life and what does that have to do with security? Challenging leadership needs presence & essence at all levels of management (Presence Leadership!®). Only non-ordinary challenges and difficulties allow us to really grow in leadership.

Examples from more than 20 years of professional experience of the author Anton Dörig - he has been active for more than 20 years in a wide variety of industries and areas of private and public security at regional, national and international level in leading positions - in the environment of security, emergency and crisis management are combined with unconventional suggestions from everyday life. This stimulates to question one's own behavior. Focused, sometimes provocative and to the point, this results in a change of perspective for all those who really want to be good leaders and are looking for new inspiration.

The book is published in Springer Gabler Publishing House and is already available online as an eBook. The hardbook will be available in a few days.

Chief matter Presence Leadership. From Anton Dörig.
1st ed. 2018, XVIII, 197 p., Springer Gabler Verlag, eBook: ISBN 978-3-658-20465-5; Hardcover + eBook: ISBN 978-3-658-20464-8.

After the summer vacations, thousands of school leavers will once again start their basic vocational training. Not all training companies have yet been able to successfully fill their apprenticeship positions. Apprenticeships are having a particularly hard time in sectors where there is still a lot of demand for skilled trades. In the current print edition of ORGANISATOR, we report on "popular" and "less popular" apprenticeships and on measures that industry associations use to promote careers in the skilled trades and crafts.

Campaign for apprenticeships in the dairy industry

The Swiss dairy industry is also struggling to recruit young professionals. Over the past two years, it has therefore significantly stepped up its efforts to recruit young people for the professions of dairy technologist and dairy trainee. Not only is the entire image with logo, website, social media and career fairs new. Increasingly, the products are also being used as advertising media for the profession. After Schwyzer Milchhuus and Migros had already equipped 100,000 milk bottles with junior advertising in November 2016, Switzerland's largest milk processor Emmi equipped its milk packaging with advertising space for the profession of milk technologist in the fall of 2017. 1.8 million packages thus went on sale, motivating people to "Mix nature with technology and a little magic." The advertising referred to an online competition: anyone who answered a few questions here could, with a bit of luck, win a Swiss cheese knife from Victorinox.

Picking up" young people in their everyday lives

The idea behind the campaign is that "the most important career decisions are made by young people in their personal environment, as a career choice study of 1,000 people has shown," explains Hans Aschwanden, president of the Swiss Dairy Association, which manages the promotion of young talent in the dairy industry for 500 cheese dairies and 20 industrial companies. "When parents and young people learn about the profession of dairy technologist through the products, they make the connection to the pleasure they often experience every day - whether they consume milk, cheese, yogurt, ice cream, milkshake or caffè latte."

The campaign seemed to have an effect: According to the association, eight percent more new apprentices were registered after a short time. But President Hans Aschwanden is aware that it will take a long time to have a lasting effect. "We have set the ambitious target of 500 apprentices. However, we are aware that demographic developments run counter to this. More and more industries are having to accept a loss of 20% to 40% fewer learners, even though more and more money is being invested in recruiting young talent. We are therefore all the more pleased that in the dairy industry the combined efforts of the cheese dairies and the industry are beginning to bear fruit and we are seeing an upward trend."

Digitization also affects dairy apprenticeships

And you can certainly go far as a trained dairy technologist. Isidor Lauber, for example. The site manager at Emmi Ostermundigen started at Emmi 30 years ago as a dairy foreman and has managed the Ostermundigen site with 600 employees and 35 apprentices since 2003. And just recently, 24 young talents from the cantons of St. Gallen, Zurich, Thurgau, Schaffhausen, Appenzell-Ausserrhoden and Graubünden proved at the third Eastern Switzerland Professional Championship for Dairy Technologists at the BZWU in Flawil that they can produce enjoyment from milk. For the first time, two female apprentices made it to the winning positions. They show that in cheese dairies and dairy industry companies, women perform just as well as their male colleagues. Thanks to increasing digitalization, physical strength is becoming less important than motivation, precise work and knowledge of microbiology and chemistry.

More information: www.milchtechnologe.ch

The requirements of large companies and SMEs regarding a modern and mobile workplace are increasing: More and more employees are working on the road or remotely in their home offices. Applications and data must be secure and easily accessible worldwide. That is why the Cloud-Specialist GIA Informatik AG from Oftringen has set up its own Citrix Cloud in its data centers in Switzerland. With Citrix Netscaler as a load balancer, it ensures the high availability of the infrastructure.

Graphics-supported desktop for CAD applications

Companies can use standardized desktops. Or they strive for a virtual desktop solution (VDI), in which each user receives a dedicated, virtual workstation. Graphics-supported desktops for CAD applications are special here, with data enabled by graphics cards with Nvidia Grid technology: In the conventional form, the graphics power is located directly in the client - but this requires relatively expensive workstations. Citrix now also offers this power in a shared environment, where the graphics-intensive applications run.

Interesting billing model

SMEs interested in Citrix should first consider whether expanding their IT infrastructure is their core competence. If this is not the case, it is advisable to look for a partner who offers flexible IT services and modular billing models with a price per month and user. The services can be scaled up or down at any time.

• Another advantage is GIA's membership in the "Qualified Multitenant Hoster Program": Those who already have laptops and pay for Office and Windows licenses for them do not have to pay for them a second time - for the VDI machines.
• Citrix also extends the usage time of the existing hardware. A three- to four-year-old, slow laptop no longer has an impact on performance, since the server is responsible for this.
• In addition, there are two USB sticks, the "Hedgehog Thin Stick" and the "UD Pocket Stick", which companies can plug into any device, start the Citrix applications, and they are already on their company desktop. Since the performance comes from the stick or the Citrix environment, it is independent of the available hardware.

Easy switch to the Citrix Cloud

What is the process for an SMB to move to the Citrix Cloud? There are usually two approaches to the requirements:

1. Employees should be able to work on a mobile basis.
2. There are special applications that the company wants to install on the devices only for certain employees.

To satisfy the need, GIA's four-person Citrix team establishes a VPN connection to the customer and requires access to its identity management - usually AD services (Windows). The remaining tasks run in a standardized manner:

• Terminal servers (virtual machines) are installed in the customer environment.
• Access to the infrastructure, login and ensuring availability are already in place.
• After that, GIA's cloud specialists define the groups of users.
• Two-factor authentication is recommended for these.
• Finally, they log in to the cloud and work with their desktop as usual.

Author: Andreas Siegrist is Lead ICT Architect and Leader of the Solution Architecture Team at GIA Informatik AG. His activities range from strategic IT planning to innovation management, project management and presales. www.gia.ch

Technologies such as AI (artificial intelligence) and machine learning (ML) are currently spreading rapidly and are also finding their way into IT security products. In particular, new players, so-called NextGen vendors (NGs), which rely exclusively on AI and ML for detection, are directing their marketing strategies against established manufacturers. This leads to uncertainty among security managers and users who have already been very satisfied with the level of protection provided by solutions from experienced vendors for many years.

Criticism of "NextGen Security

It therefore seems necessary to provide factual information about the differences between NextGen and "traditional" security products - and to clear up the half-truths of marketing strategists. "With the self-chosen designation NextGen, new manufacturers primarily want to distinguish themselves from established providers," explains Thomas Uhlemann, security expert at ESET. This European company, headquartered in Bratislava, is one such "established" security software manufacturer. Uhlemann is correspondingly aggressive in defending himself against NextGen providers. "The focus here is on criticism of a supposedly purely reactive approach, for example via signature databases," the expert continues. "While the new market entrants supposedly use many new technologies, they actually make use of many mechanisms and technologies that have been developed, refined and deployed by the established manufacturers over many years. "

The (allegedly) latest technologies

Some of the technologies cited by NGs, such as whitelisting and machine learning, have been integrated for years into security solutions from providers with many years of experience. For example, findings from research into neural networks have been incorporated into the protection products and technologies of providers such as ESET since as early as 1997, and behavior recognition has been integrated since 2002.

False claim: Established manufacturers rely only on signatures

No single vendor in the security market relies solely on signatures. ESET, for example, has not relied solely on signatures since the late 1990s, but pursues a multi-layered security approach that combines various mechanisms.

False alarms are unavoidable, but also not bad - but!

A 100 percent detection rate must be the goal of every IT security solution. Every false alarm, in turn, causes high additional efforts for the IT admin. By using a solution that relies on several interlocking technologies, the false positive rate can be reduced to zero, which ESET, for example, has repeatedly proven in various independent tests (such as those conducted by AV-Comparatives).

Machine learning replaces updates - but not

NGs argue that updates to incumbent signature databases are untimely and biannual vulnerability fixes of self-learning software are sufficient. However, a database that learns only from its users and its own network without receiving external matching data will inevitably make mistakes sooner or later. Regular updates are imperative to continuously integrate threat intelligence to avoid non-detections and false positives.

Sandboxing: Smarter than algorithms

NGs claim that sandboxing is an outdated technology made obsolete by algorithms. However, it is true that the insights gained from sandboxing are important to learn more about threats and to keep optimizing detection. Because AI is still far from being superior to human intelligence. Malicious code is being encrypted and obfuscated in increasingly sophisticated ways. If you can't see behind the facade, you won't understand it and won't be able to build defenses against it.

Source and further information: ESET

Open innovation instead of closed software development - that will be the motto in the future. An EU-initiated Study confirmed that open source software is an innovation driver and promises economic success. Microsoft, Facebook, Google and Amazon have also recognized the trend and released parts of their source code. Success stories such as Firefox or OpenOffice.org have already shown in the past that open source projects can prevail.

Nine reasons for open source

Decision-makers should be aware of the following nine reasons for free source code:

1. Motivation and productivityWith open source, direct contact with the community is particularly motivating. Developers receive direct feedback from other developers. This in turn increases the motivation to design and develop an optimal product in the end.
2. QualitySince the lines of code are visible to everyone, open source developers must meet high quality standards. Before the community gets to see the code, it must go through extensive review processes, especially for updates or bug fixes. In this way, the code is cleaner and easier to understand. In addition, the documentation of open source projects is a great advantage. For the further development of a software, this retrievable change hierarchy helps to maintain the quality standard.
3. Safety: Once the source code is released, external developers are given the opportunity to commit to the code. Often, IT professionals focus on the issue of data protection and security. For example, if source code backdoors and other potential security vulnerabilities are identified, they can be noted and fixed. In addition, the software can be quickly and easily made available for independent audits, which in turn increases trust in the software.
4. Transparency: One point that the community should be aware of at all times is data processing. In open source projects, they are informed about what happens to their own transmitted data - whether interfaces for third parties were deliberately implemented, for example. On the other hand, users can see whether their own, sensitive data is protected by means of encryption mechanisms. This, too, significantly increases trust in the software.
5. Flexibility: The areas of Big Data, Internet of Things and Co. are characterized by ongoing changes and provide new impetus in IT. Based on current developments in the technology scene and feedback from the community, software manufacturers can react accordingly and make changes to the code. The advantage of this is that continuous updates improve the software and take user interests into account.
6. Democratization: Open source code is deliberately intended to provide a basis for discussion, so that existing functionalities are questioned or product updates are encouraged. This is because the software can be optimized on the basis of requested additional functions or comments on programming languages used. IT professionals are free to comment on, share and edit the source code. The democratization of source code means passing on knowledge on the one hand and debating technologies on the other. In this respect, experience and feedback have far more influence on the digital scene than just for a single software project.
7. Cost Efficiency: Open source software is more powerful and scalable than its proprietary counterpart. Another advantage is that there are no licensing fees when implementing additional open source software, such as the Apache HTTP Server. In addition, external developers from the community can easily contribute code to a project, often free of charge. By the way: Some IT professionals use their involvement in open source projects in their CVs and in this way underline their attractiveness for employers.
8. Durability: Since the code is available online on platforms such as GitHub, GitLab or Launchpad is available, it can be viewed over a long period of time. In this way, even deleted lines of code are preserved and fully documented.
9. IndependenceA major advantage is that companies employ their own team of developers and are not dependent on software providers. The company's own specialist know-how is also expanded to include that of the expert network. Online services that publish their source code consequently benefit from a symbiosis of internal and external knowledge and are thus independent.

Conclusion: Free source code for competitive advantage

Before the software project is made available to the public, many internal reviews are necessary and the code should be checked for security. In addition, the community should be given the opportunity to provide feedback - whether positive or negative. But besides transparency, there are of course other reasons to rely on open source. Many companies share the success of other software developers in this way, because other companies face the same challenges. Collaboration always enables source code optimization, adaptation based on user interests, bug reporting, or even completely new product features. Community interaction and technical exchange are therefore the biggest advantages of open source projects. In a world in which services with similar feature portfolios compete for user favor, transparency, trust, and the ability to innovate are crucial above all in order to survive the competition.

About the Author: Alan Duric is CTO/COO and board member of the Messenger Wire, and is responsible for the fortunes of an ambitious, international team in Berlin. In addition, he acts as a consultant for a number of technology startups, contributing his years of experience in the areas of open source, VoIP, IT security and software architecture.

Regular feedback meetings between supervisors and their employees have a positive effect on employee performance. Studies have shown this. When conducted correctly, they also increase employee satisfaction and motivation. Nevertheless, in many companies, feedback meetings tend to take place sporadically.

A practical example: A department head notices that some of his employees have again failed to achieve the agreed targets. However, he does not express his displeasure about this. So the employees continue to muddle along as before. Because their manager does not address them about the unachieved goals, they are convinced: Our manager is satisfied with our performance. And the unachieved goals are not that important to him. So, over time, the manager's annoyance increases to such an extent that at some point she "explodes". And as a result of her pent-up anger, she takes the wrong tone. This in turn hurts the employees emotionally, creating a conflict that is almost impossible to resolve.

Such escalation can be avoided through regular feedback and employee discussions - among other things, because in them the parties involved articulate their mutual expectations of (their) work together. This is why regular feedback discussions are part of the standard management repertoire in most larger companies - even if it is only as part of the annual target agreement discussions. The situation is different in small and medium-sized companies. There, regular feedback discussions tend to be the exception.

Communicate about goals and expectations

Generally speaking, most managers talk too little with their employees about their work and the expectations and goals associated with it. This is why employees often lack the necessary orientation in their day-to-day work. This is what the employee and feedback meetings are supposed to give them. The following topics can be discussed in them:

• Quality of the (collaborative) work,
• Satisfaction with the work situation,
• Corporate and divisional goals, strategies and plans,
• Duties and responsibilities of the employee,
• Strengths and weaknesses of the employee,
• possible qualification, support measures,
• possible improvements,
• Health Promotion,
• Target and bonus agreement.

Feedback and target-setting meetings are not primarily intended to discuss current problems. Rather, the behavior of the employee (and his or her manager) over a period of time is to be considered in summary in order to clarify how the (joint) work can be improved. Therefore, feedback meetings without preparation make little sense.

Conduct the conversations with conviction

In many larger companies, it is mandatory to conduct regular employee appraisals. That is good in itself! Sometimes, however, this leads to managers only conducting these discussions so that they can report "completion" to the HR department, for example. The quality of the discussions is correspondingly poor.

In order to ensure a minimum level of discussion, it is useful for the manager and employee to independently complete a questionnaire after each appraisal interview and send it to the HR department, for example. The questionnaire may contain questions such as:

• How satisfied are you with the interview process?
• How satisfied were you with the atmosphere?
• How long did the conversation last?
• Were development issues and goals also addressed/agreed upon?
• What could/should change so that you and your conversation partner benefit even more from the next conversation?

Take enough time

One indicator of the quality of an employee or feedback meeting is its duration. Managers should plan at least one hour per employee for this. This is because a relaxed atmosphere is necessary so that sensitive issues can be addressed. The first step is to create this atmosphere.

Feedback meetings are all the more important the more independently and responsibly employees are expected to work. This is because independent work requires adjustment from time to time. This means that managers and employees must agree on tasks and procedures, quality requirements and mutual expectations, among other things.

A well-structured feedback and appraisal interview consists of the following phases:

• Reflection of the past time unit (for example, the past quarter),
• Assessment of the current situation and
• Looking ahead.
• It is particularly important that the employee receives feedback on his "strengths" and "weaknesses". What does he do/can he do well or less well? Because without feedback on this, there is no learning.

The time invested pays off

Research shows that regular employee and feedback discussions positively influence the following factors, among others:

• the relationship between the employees and the supervisor,
• the cooperation and performance,
• the quality thinking
• the independence and responsibility of employees,
• identification with the work and the given goals.

That's why managers should conduct feedback and target-setting meetings with their employees out of inner conviction. Because this is worthwhile - for them, their employees and the company.

To the author: Dr. Albrecht Müllerschön is the owner of Müllerschön Managementberatung, Starzeln in Baden-Württemberg. The business psychologist is the author of several personnel books and was a teaching coach at the University of Tübingen (www.muellerschoen-beratung.de).

It is not unusual that in the final editing of extensive works of law there are still one or two things that need to be clarified. That is why the publication of a 386-page Supplement and clarification on the General Data Protection Regulation no surprise. In addition to various "normal" corrections, such as corrected page references, clarification of ambiguous formulations and the like, there is also a passage in the new version that - from a legal point of view - changes the situation. Article 25, Paragraph 2, Sentence 1 originally stated: "The responsible party shall take appropriate technical and organizational measures to ensure that, through default settings basically only personal data whose processing is necessary for the specific processing purpose in question are processed". In the revised version, the word "in principle" is now missing. The key point: "In principle" in case law means that there are also exceptions that may deviate from a principle.

Specifically, the new wording without "in principle" means the following: Anyone who sends customer e-mails or newsletters only needs an e-mail address for this purpose. For an individual salutation such as "Dear Mr. ..." or "Dear Ms. ...", personal data such as surname and first name is required. This would have just been permissible in the original wording. However, the new wording now goes so far that in future only the e-mail address itself may be requested. In the original version, other data could have been requested on a voluntary basis. The omitted "in principle" now also causes operators of e-commerce platforms in Switzerland, but also other companies that want to regularly contact customers in the EU by email, additional work in the adaptation of contact forms, etc. The short-term change of the GDPR is grist to the mill of all those who criticize the increasing regulatory pressure - not only from the EU - not to mention additional legal fodder...

More information including a link to an EU GDPR guide is available in this article.