St.Gallen New Work Forum 2020: For a moving working world

"We will not master the challenges of the New Work with the work cultures of the 20th century," the science-practice network "HR-Panel New Work" of the University of Applied Sciences St.Gallen (FHS) is convinced. But how then? The hosts and co-leaders of the panel, Alexandra Cloots and FHS Rector Sebastian Wörwag, conducted a recent study on the topic of work culture of the future and presented the results at the 3rd St.Gallen New Work Forum. On January 8, the approximately 200 participants discussed in interactive, inspiring contribution forms which work and organizational culture approaches are suitable for the new world of work.

Self-realization and cohesion

"Today, the focus is on the meaningfulness of work," says philosopher Philipp Tingler. Appreciation and uniqueness count, because artificial intelligence recognizes patterns, but humans can do much more. For example, making exceptions. And that's something that needs to be kept in mind. His statement is also confirmed in the study by Alexandra Cloots and Sebastian Wörwag. They surveyed 540 employees in companies from various industries throughout Switzerland. When asked why they go to work every morning, 86% answered: because of self-fulfillment. The 21-25 year olds and the 61-65 year olds stood out. In contrast, the 36-40 year-olds consider community cohesion more important, and the 26-30 year-olds consider sense orientation and freedom (balance) more important. It is interesting to note that security orientation decreases with age. So different than one would expect. "We have to be careful with stereotyping; not promoting older employees more is a mistake," says Wörwag. They have already built up their social security, bring great experience with them and want to realize themselves. It is also striking that only 47% of the employees are (predominantly) satisfied with the work culture they experience. Many would like to see a modern work culture and inspiring leadership. While it is clear that not all employees share the same work values at the same time, the study shows that people most often seek development, realization and community at work. "These values need to be lived out credibly at all levels," Cloots said. A new value also emerged in the study: "perfect imperfection." It stands for more trust, being able to experiment more and a people-oriented (error) culture. In summary, the study shows: there is still need for action, because only every 3rd-5th person goes to work motivated, on average every 4th person has an identification problem with the company, 2 out of 3 employees can develop. For the effective development of a culture, Cloots and Wörwag recommend to pay attention to a congruence of values already during the recruitment of new employees. In addition, the culture must be consistently and authentically exemplified by the managers and combined with a modern management style.

Millennials as the driving force

Thus, the big question at the St.Gallen New Work Forum remains how cultural change in companies can succeed. According to Sascha Demarmels and Reto Kessler of Now.New.Next., there are three key points: Everyone influences corporate culture, but no one can define culture alone. Culture is created when something is always (re)made the same and accepted. And culture change is never complete; it involves ongoing work and reflection. Steffi Burkhart sees Millennials as key drivers. "Experience alone can no longer help us today; we need new ways of thinking," says the "voice of the Millennials." Young people need to be involved in decisions and developments, she says, and AirBnB is an example of this. Founded by millennials ten years ago, its revenue grew rapidly, overtaking the Hilton chain. Millennials, he said, are the digital users, savvy and creative-ups, consequently an important part of preparing a company's culture for the future. That's because 65% of the jobs Generation Z will work in don't even exist today. "They are the key to our future shortage of skilled workers," says Burkhart.

Spatial diversity

Changing the work culture also involves changing the workspace. Stephanie Wackernagel from the Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering made this clear using the example of the new AOK project house in Ludwigsburg. The company had previously been considered very conservative, but with the new innovative building and the different room cultures, it suddenly sounded like this from the workforce: "an inspiring work environment," "I have shining eyes when I enter the company," "this is a great motivation for work." Many companies are not yet that far, because according to the "Office Analytics" study, 48% of those surveyed still perform concentrated still work at a fixed workstation. But there must be new forms of collaboration today, toward a division of labor and cooperative work in spatial diversity, Wackernagel said. The dilemma, however, is that many companies shy away from a participatory organizational culture. So she asks participants in one of the 12 themed sessions, "Why do you shy away?" The answers from the floor pretty much coincide - it's fear of change, fear of losing power, lack of trust in employees and the problem of not being able to please everyone. Apart from budget issues that come into play.

Votum at the St.Gallen New Work Forum: "Cultivating a participative management style".

Heiko Stahl from Vitra AG and Marc Künzle from Domus Leuchten und Möbel AG also advocate a new working landscape. However, there is no need to copy a Google campus, but rather to make an independent culture visible. In this context, he says, togetherness among employees is becoming increasingly important. Gabriela Manser, the owner of Goba AG, provides a good example: "In our company, we cultivate a participative management style and appreciation for our employees. It's important that we like them and promote those who want it." So does Reto Rutz from valantic CEC Schweiz AG. In the bright, open office there is a "Tschüttelikasten" and on Fridays there is sometimes a game session between some employees. The credo: work with meaning. The only rule is that the week's consulting hours must be recorded by Friday evening.

Working out values together

"Let's accept different cultures, but live them authentically," was Sebastian Wörwag's conclusion at the end of the day. It is important to let go of old structures and work out values together. Ultimately, culture means always being in motion. According to Cloots, it is important to allow "room for experimentation for employees and to structure leadership accordingly in an inspiring manner and distributed within the team according to competencies. May many more developments prove successful in the future, on a small and large scale, in digital, haptic and human ways. In a new working world.

More information: www.hrpanel-fhs.ch