A total of 2,800 companies from 19 European countries took part in the competition to promote good and attractive workplace quality and voluntarily put themselves to the test. More than 1.6 million employees were surveyed by Great Place to Work on the quality and attractiveness of their company as an employer. The focus was on topics such as leadership, innovation, inclusion, organizational culture and trust. Company managers also answered questions on the quality, diversity and sustainability of the measures and instruments of their HR work.

Awards in four categories

The companies had qualified for the overall European competition via the national Great Place to Work competitions. Differentiation was made according to four different categories: international companies, small, medium-sized and large national companies. The awards for special quality and attractiveness as an employer have been presented annually since 2003. The 36 best employers in Switzerland were already honored in Zurich in May of this year. Of these Swiss winners, 11 companies have now been chosen as "Best Workplaces in Europe 2018″.

The winners from Switzerland

In the category "Europe's Best Employers - Multinationals", the following companies are currently also awarded in Switzerland:

• Cisco in 5th place,
• AbbVie in 6th place,
• SAS Institute in 7th place,
• Amgen in 12th place,
• Bristol-Myers Squibb in 14th place,
• DHL Express in 18th place,
• Novo Nordisk in first place
• SC Johnson in 22nd place
• and Phoenix Contact in 25th place.

The following companies based in Switzerland were also successfully placed:

• in the size category "Europe's Best Employers - Companies up to 50 Employees" The winning company from Switzerland, Rackspace came in 5th for Europe.
• In the size category "Europe's Best Employers - Companies between 50 and 500 Employees", the winning company from Switzerland, UMB AG, came in 6th place among all companies in Europe.

This makes UMB AG the best Swiss employer in Europe. "The fact that we, as the triple best Swiss employer, have now also reached the sensational 6th place in Europe out of more than 2800 evaluated companies, is another highlight of our success story", Matthias Keller, CEO & owner of UMB AG, is pleased to say.

You can find the complete list here

Let's assume that in the course of your life you encounter a product again and again and know its advantages: Would you then use it in your own company? He didn't hesitate for a second: Pietro Pignatiello, owner and CEO Pi2Process AG. The SME with 20 employees in Freienbach, which emerged from a succession arrangement in September 2016, manufactures mechanical components mainly from aluminum, non-ferrous metal, plastic and assembles subassemblies up to entire devices. These are delivered to Switzerland, overseas and Asia. It is also the only supplier in Switzerland to specialize in 3D hybrid additive manufacturing - a new dimension of 3D printing. "On my long career path, I have already led five different ERP-systems. For my own company, I chose SAP because it's the only solution that guarantees proven standard processes and a small company doesn't have time to question them," says Pietro Pignatiello. Only with standardized processes is there fast and efficient processing. As a man of action, he also immediately renamed his newly acquired company, consistently aligned it with processes and decided on a new location in order to better implement the process idea in the material flow as well as in the way of working with the machinery.

Project management and an SAP template

Just a few days after taking over the company, Pietro Pignatiello started working with the IT service provider GIA Informatik AG from Oftringen. Why didn't he perform an actual ERP evaluation? "My evaluation was my career path. GIA and I had been in contact several times in the past. The open communication, the mutual trust, the competent project manager and the people behind it convinced me. In addition, I knew that with 'gia//fertigung' the company had a proven SME template with best-practice processes from SAP."

The 75 Days Project

In just 75 days, GIA was to complete the implementation of SAP ERP on HANA "from the socket". Is this even possible? In such a small company? "Supported by Pietro Pignatiello, we paid attention to rigorous compliance with the SAP standard and lean SME project management in precisely defined phases right from the start," says Thomas Burkhardt, Account Manager GIA Informatik AG. "In September 2016, we set up the system in our data center and imported our template." In parallel, GIA created the delta functional concept, in which the deviation from the SAP standard processes is recorded. Then it was off to the implementation phase with user training and data transfer. The go-live took place at the end of December 2016 - just within the set deadline.

New processes as unknowns

One difficulty was the requirement that employees master the new SAP processes within a short period of time. What to do? From the very beginning, Pietro Pignatiello inspired his employees with enthusiasm for the chosen path. He always stood by their side, continuously trained them, and thus took away their fear of the unknown. "Whereas improvisation and a hectic pace were the order of the day in my company before, the standardization and structure of SAP now came into play," explains Pietro Pignatiello.

Big benefit for small company

The example shows that SAP also works in small companies. Pietro Pignatiello: "Our customers, SMEs with 200 to 1000 employees, often work with SAP themselves. That's why they really appreciate the exchange at eye level. They know that SAP guarantees expertise, is standardized, transparent and traceable. The trust in these qualities is palpable." Investors such as banks are also happy to have a partner with an up-to-date ERP system, as the reported key company figures can be presented transparently at any time.

Tips for other companies

What advice does Pietro Pignatiello give to other SMEs who are thinking about ERP?

• Even as an SME, invest in a professional ERP system. If you make the calculation including process benefits over the entire service life, almost every price is put into perspective.
• Take a pragmatic approach right from the start. Invest your money in a standardized and, above all, end-to-end ERP solution such as SAP. Because the as-is state is a non-goal; the way is the goal. This eliminates the need for a costly and time-consuming formal evaluation.
• SAP has high-level integrated standard processes across the entire value creation process and cash flow. Build on it.
• Rely on a partner with professional and human competencies. Only when you speak the same language can such a plan work.

Distinction with the Quality Award

This SAP project set new standards. For this reason, the Schwyz-based company won the SAP Quality Award in the "Fast Delivery" category in spring 2017. "Together, we have proven that we are able to implement such a project leanly and successfully due to the right attitude," Thomas Burkhardt explains.

Pi2Process is currently refining and training the standard processes so that it can, for example, carry out capacity planning even more precisely. In addition, many other automations are in the pipeline. "In this way, we ensure even better internal transparency and even faster processing," emphasizes Pietro Pignatiello.

Facts - the most important in brief

• Objectives:
  • Ensure maximum process reliability as well as logistical and financial transparency at Pi2Process
  • No server landscape at Pi2 Process AG; "delivery ex socket".
  • Prove that the approach with the "gia//fertigung" template works even for very small companies
  • Carry out reference project with SAP at a company with 20 employees
• Effort:
  • 46 consultant days until go-live, another 19 consultant days for additional processes as well as optimizations in phase two
  • Pi2Process: Three people (CEO, Finance, Operations)
  • GIA: Six people (project managers, consultants: order processing, purchasing/materials management/production, finance/controlling, forms/labels, technology).
• Project flow:
  • Set up SAP system and import the template "gia//production": September 2016
  • Delta subject concept: Parallel in September 2016, completed in October 2016.
  • Realization: Set up process deltas, train users, transfer data in November and December 2016
  • Go-Live: End of December 2016
  • Lead time: 75 working days
• Infrastructure/Software/Hosting/Operations:
  • Use of "SAP from the socket" from the SAP Cloud@GIA in the GIA Datacenter, operated on shared SAP HANA system
• Total cost:
  • All-in fee for infrastructure, hosting, operation, licenses, maintenance, solution and project: cost per user and per month is equivalent to leasing a mid-range car

• Achieved goals:
  • Project was implemented to the previously defined extent, at the pre-calculated cost, in the agreed time and quality
  • Customer and consultant proved that an SAP project can be implemented very leanly even for small companies
  • IT and ERP lay the foundation for a business that can grow
  • Winning SAP Quality Award in the category "Fast Delivery" at SAP Forum 2017

More information: GIA Informatics

The advantages of the latest technological developments are obvious: Never before have we had such extensive information at our disposal to make decisions. Given this starting position, the first priority for many companies is to expand their own business model. In this context, it is important to "think outside the box" in order to generate real potential for a company through networking.

The digital transformation of a company aims to use digital technologies and business models to adapt to the changing market and further increase the company's performance. It is important to understand that the basis for success is the corporate culture and the involvement of employees. Employees need to understand why these changes are coming and what their role is in the future.

Business Agility

Customer orientation will also be the starting point for all activities in the digital world. Customers today are better informed than ever before - long before they make a purchase. They are also becoming increasingly involved in the value chain, with the result of increasing customization and higher expectations of delivery service. Digital business agility is thus becoming a key competitive advantage, which according to Michael Wade's model (IMD, June 2015) is based on the following three pillars:

• Hyperawareness (availability data and information)
• Informed Decision Making
• Fast Execution

Decentralized decisions

Digitizing processes and networking systems only makes sense if they are up-to-date, optimized, efficient and lean - free of waste. In order to constantly adapt and improve corporate agility to market conditions, it is necessary to map and analyze overarching processes with value stream mapping and to eliminate waste. However, the flow of information will enable new, direct paths between intelligent actors in the course of networking, and decisions can increasingly be made decentrally. In the future, improvements will be suggested by intelligent machines in addition to humans, and lean production will thus become a self-learning system.

Use lean approach

Lean, with its approach to lean and waste-free processes, is the basis and prerequisite for Industry 4.0 and targeted digitization. The digitization of production promises new opportunities to make production more efficient or even revolutionize it. However, only a few companies can plan production from scratch and take all the possibilities of Industrie 4.0 into account. Especially for companies that want to digitally upgrade an existing production, it is important to demonstrate an approach that uses the proven lean approach and at the same time integrates the possibilities of digitization.

Author: Christoph Lustenberger, Dr. sc. techn., dipl. Lebensmittel-Ing. ETH, is Senior Consultant at Wertfabrik AG. www.wertfabrik.ch / www.wertblog.ch

While the metropolitan areas of Zurich, Bern and the Lake Geneva region are well supplied with infrastructure for the digital economy, the Espace Mittelland region, and Biel in particular, have been shortchanged until now. Since mid-June, this gap has been closed. "With the hub:biel, companies will find the optimal IT infrastructure to digitally conquer Switzerland and the entire world from here," said a delighted Erich Fehr, Mayor of Biel. Adrian Roth, CEO of the DataHub Group, added: "The Biel region is known for precision work. We're keeping it the same way with our new data center, not only offering our customers the highest security for their data, but also operating our facility in an extremely environmentally friendly way." Due to its advanced technical design, the hub:biel was nominated for the prestigious British DCS Award in April in the category for new projects.

Working at "Amazon of Biel

As a managed service provider and cloud specialist, netrics AG offers a wide range of services for the digital age and is therefore dependent on the know-how of specialists. These specialists are sometimes rare. "To attract talent from the youngest generation, financial incentives alone are no longer enough," explained Pascal Schmid, CEO netrics AG: "The right working atmosphere is also needed, as well as the opportunity to engage with the latest technologies." netrics has seized the opportunity and offers its 60 employees a contrasting and relaxed ambience in the new headquarters. netrics serves many customers with high regulatory requirements. Here, the new data center offers strategic advantages: "For customers with high demands on compliance or specific security requirements, the hub:biel - combined with the offerings of netrics - is the ideal solution," Schmid added.

Highest energy efficiency - PUE* value below 1.25 and energy densities up to 20kW per rack

The hub:biel's power supply, fiber optic connection, cooling systems and air conditioning are redundant across the entire 3000 square meters of floor space (2N infrastructure). They meet the highest security standards. For high-performance computing, energy densities of 15 - 20 kW per rack are possible in the hub:biel. For comparison: in a conventional data center, 2kW per rack is common. In this way, a lot of space can be saved, which is particularly important in Switzerland. The very high energy efficiency results from a combination of precision cooling, a new type of uninterruptible power supply (UPS) and systematic energy management. For the first time in Switzerland - and one of the first times in Europe - a UPS system from Schneider Electric with lithium-ion batteries is used in the hub:biel, which allows an efficiency of over 98 percent. The overall energy efficiency in the hub:biel is below 1.25 PUE*, which means customers save a lot of money on their electricity bills.

* PUE (Power Usage Efficiency) is the ratio of the total electrical energy consumption of a data center (IT equipment plus infrastructure components) to the electrical energy consumption of the IT equipment alone.

More information: www.data-hub.ch

On June 12, the Swiss Venture Club (SVC) honored exemplary small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the region for the seventh time with the Prix SVC Central Switzerland 2018. The event offered the more than 1,300 invited guests from business, science, politics and the media insights into the impressive and diverse entrepreneurship of Central Switzerland. The award ceremony in the KKL Luzern was hosted by Nik Hartmann. The sponsor and initiator of the Prix SVC is the Swiss Venture Club, an independent, non-profit association for the promotion and support of SMEs in Switzerland. Christoph Baggenstos, SVC Regional Manager Central Switzerland, emphasizes: "We award companies that belong to the SME elite in Switzerland. Our focus is on exemplary companies that create jobs and help shape the Swiss economy. With the Prix SVC, we offer these companies a platform to showcase their success to the outside world. Last but not least, the attention that our award winners receive through the Prix SVC should also be an incentive for other companies."

First place for Seven-Air Gebr. Meyer AG from Lucerne

Founded in 1971 and managed in the second generation by the brothers Christoph and Tobias Meyer, Seven-Air Gebr. Meyer AG specializes in the manufacture and sale of air conditioners and air conditioning systems worldwide. The company focuses on high quality and optimized energy use with heat recovery and high insulation values in its products and solutions. The units are robust, easy to maintain and simple to operate. Jury President Urban Camenzind, Director of Economic Affairs for the Canton of Uri, praised the winner in his laudation: "Seven-Air convinces with high quality and environmental awareness, combined with competence, continuity and reliability. The jury is impressed by the high depth of consolidation as well as the countless innovations in the production process." He also praised the exemplary corporate culture: "The many years of service of many employees is no coincidence. Seven-Air's company music and its own soccer team manifest this exemplary corporate culture." Seven-Air, with its headquarters in Lucerne and production site in Hitzkirch, is today the market leader in Switzerland with its approximately 400 employees. Numerous reference projects - from the Gotthard Base Tunnel and the Monte Rosa Hut to office buildings in the USA, Japan, Russia and Indonesia - attest to Seven-Air's leading position. According to its own figures, Seven-Air Gebr. Meyer AG has a market share of 60 percent in Switzerland.

Veriset AG and Rigitrac Traktorenbau AG in second and third place, respectively

Second place goes to the market leader in Swiss kitchen construction, Veriset AG. Founded in 1999, the company now employs 270 people and, thanks to new production facilities, has state-of-the-art production technology, high flexibility in production and cost leadership in Swiss kitchen construction. With its "Design to Cost" model, the company, led by owner Ueli Jost, manages to develop cost-optimized kitchens according to a predefined target price and, with its "Digital Kitchen", networks all kitchen appliances on a single platform, thus opening up new cooking experiences with great added value for its customers. Bronze is awarded to Rigitrac Traktorenbau AG, whose company foundation began with the vision of building its own tractor. Since then, the family business founded by Marlis and Sepp Knüsel has been setting new standards in slope mechanization and in the tractor market in general with ongoing innovations, including the center pivot joint. Quality and perfection are the top priorities in development and production. In addition to all four Knüsel daughters, the company now employs 40 people.

Awards for Bergkäserei Aschwanden, Bruno's Best AG and Stanserhorn-Bahn AG

Also honored were the Aschwanden mountain cheese dairy from Seelisberg, with its mountain cheese made from hay milk, Bruno's Best AG from Sarnen, known for its popular Bruno's Best salad sauces, and Stanserhorn-Bahn AG from Stans, which created a tourism attraction and world first with its CabriO-Bahn. Overall, the awarding of the Prix SVC Central Switzerland 2018 - like the award ceremonies in the other regions, by the way - once again demonstrated the undisputed innovative strength of Swiss companies, some of which are hardly known to the general public.

www.swiss-venture-club.ch

This year's winner of the Startfeld Diamant is OnlineDoctor AG. Thanks to OnlineDoctor's platform, dermatologists can work more efficiently and patients receive a specialist assessment quickly and easily. 80 percent of all skin diseases can be quickly assessed online using cell phone photos - a visit to the practice is only necessary in a few cases. The OnlineDoctor skin check is fast, location-independent and cost-effective, serving patients and dermatologists alike.

High market potential attested

Roland Ledergerber, jury president and CEO of SGKB: "OnlineDoctor addresses two highly topical issues: the shortage of specialists and rising healthcare costs. The telemedicine platform for dermatologists is a real innovation that enables more efficient, cost-effective and faster diagnosis and treatment." The jury was convinced by the platform, which was consistently built along customer needs, and the high market potential.

Further innovations from Eastern Switzerland awarded

In addition to the winner OnlineDoctor, four other finalists were awarded 5,000 Swiss francs each. Their names are Surp, Master- ColdBrewer, ServiceOcean and Mivital. Surp offers surprise trips, Mastercoldbrewer has developed a new coffee processing method, ServiceOcean relieves call centers with its software and MiVital has developed a process for using active ingredients from food. The prize for young and innovative companies supports and promotes five companies each year with advice, training and prize money totaling 50,000 Swiss francs from the St.Galler Kantonalbank. In addition, the young companies are given access to a broad network of knowledge and contacts throughout eastern Switzerland. A total of 26 young companies applied this year.

More information: www.sgkb.ch/startfeld-diamant

The Risk:Value Report is produced annually by the market research company Vanson Bourne on behalf of NTT Security. Executives around the world - 1,800 this year - are surveyed on topics related to IT and IT security.

Low investment in IT security

The current survey shows that with 40%, less than half of the decision-makers surveyed in Swiss companies classify all business-critical data as "completely secure". Compared to last year's survey, this represents a drop of 15 percentage points. One reason for this is the continuing low level of investment in IT security. In Switzerland, only a good 15% of the IT budget is invested in information security. The investment volume is significantly lower than in quite a few other corporate areas. With regard to the segments in which higher investments are made than in information and data security, the following were named

• 46% Operation and manufacturing
• 46% Marketing
• 41% Distribution
• 41% Accounting and Controlling
• 32% Research and development
• 25% Human Resources

Ransomware attacks: Better to pay...

The lack of willingness to invest corresponds with another key finding of the study. 23% of the Swiss companies surveyed would rather pay a ransom in the event of a ransomware attack than invest more heavily in information security, as they consider such an approach to be more cost-effective. On a global level, an average of as many as 33% of the companies are prepared to accept demands for payment.

"This result is more than alarming, especially given the unabating threat of ransomware attacks. Our recently unveiled Global Threat Intelligence Report revealed that ransomware accounts for a high 29% of all malware attacks in EMEA," said Kai Grunwitz, Senior Vice President EMEA at NTT Security. "If companies now expect cost benefits from paying ransom, this is more than deceptive in our eyes. And the rude awakening will come sooner or later for many."

The low level of willingness to invest is all the more surprising given that 96% of the companies surveyed in Switzerland were of the opinion that a security incident involving data theft would have serious negative consequences. Loss of customer confidence (52%), damage to reputation (52%) and direct financial losses (45%) were mentioned. The respondents expect an average loss of sales of a good 7% and estimate that it takes more than nine weeks to rectify a damage that has occurred, incurring costs of more than 1.1 million Swiss francs on average. Swiss companies estimate the costs to be significantly lower than in other countries. The international average is 1.5 million Swiss francs.

Seriousness of the situation still too little recognized?

The high damage potential raises the question of how things stand in terms of incident response. Here, too, not much has really changed compared to the previous year. In Switzerland, only 42% of companies had an incident response plan in place in 2017. However, 21% were already in the implementation process and a further 21% were planning to implement
corresponding measures in the near future. However, the current results do not reflect this development; on the contrary. As before, only 42% of the companies have an incident response plan in place. "Unfortunately, the result shows that in many cases it has remained with mere declarations of intent and the seriousness of the situation is still insufficiently recognized, even though numerous security incidents in recent times have actually shown that there is no way around a lived incident response plan. This is because dedicated process and emergency plans are the only way to respond appropriately and, above all, quickly to different IT security incidents. Ideally, specialized incident response tools should be
be used, for example, a central incident response platform for the systematic and coordinated handling of security incidents with ready-made action plans," says Grunwitz.

Managed security services are gaining in importance

However, from NTT Security's point of view, the investigation also produced positive results. For example, there is a growing awareness that security incidents cannot be ruled out entirely. 57% of respondents have already been the victim of such an incident, and a further 14% have not yet, but expect to be. For this reason, Managed Security Services (MSS) are also gaining significant importance with regard to the implementation of comprehensive cyber security strategies. Although MSS are still being used cautiously at present, the Risk:Value Report shows that around two-thirds of the companies surveyed in Switzerland are currently actively considering MSS solutions or plan to do so in the near future.

Source: www.nttsecurity.com/ch

"With the new corporate identity, we can specifically advertise our competencies on the market. At the same time, the new appearance ensures sustainable brand management," says Daniel Ettlinger, CEO of Galledia AG. The name "Galledia" remains, but the color and shape have changed. The print, digital and publishing divisions are equally weighted in the communication.

The new look is designed to consistently deliver on the brand promise of "simple," "personal," "effective" in both corporate communications and marketing and communications materials. The rebranding includes a new logo, a new Websitean image brochure, various letters as well as fact sheets, reference cases and advertisements.

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.