acatech’s Human Resources Working Group – the forum for Chief Human Resources Officers (CHROs) on the future of work

Business | Host: Frank Riemensperger, Member of the acatech Executive Board

• Yvonne Albert, Fresenius SE & Co KGa, Chief Human Resources Officer
• Julia Bangerth, DATEV eG, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Human Relations Officer
• Katharina Baran, TÜV Rheinland AG, Member of the Executive Board
• Dr. Sebastian Beck, Festo SE & Ko. KG, Member of the Management Board Finance and Human Resources
• Khadija Ben Hammada, Merck KGaA, Chief Human Ressources Officer
• Birgit Bohle, Deutsche Telekom AG, Board member for Human Resources and Legal Affairs, Labor Director
• Susan-Stefanie Breitkopf, Carl Zeiss AG, Member of the Executive Board, Chief Transformation Officer
• Markus Fink, Infineon Technologies AG, Globale Gesamtverantwortung für den Bereich Personal & Organisation
• Dr. Astrid Fontaine, Schaeffler AG, Chief Human Resources Officer
• Matthias Füssel, Commerzbank AG, Head of Human Ressources
• Stefan Grosch, Robert Bosch GmbH, Member of the board of management, Director of industrial relations
• Michael Halberstadt, Flughafen Berlin Brandenburg GmbH, Chief Human Ressources Officer
• Beatrix Henseler, Sartorius AG, Head of Human Resources
• Dr. Immanuel Hermreck, Bertelsmann SE & Co. KGaA, Member of the Executive Board, Chief Human Ressources Officer
• Ilka Horstmeier, BMW AG, Member of the Board of Management, People and Real Estate, Labour Relations Director
• Dr. rer. pol. Achim Kassow, Münchener Rück AG, Board of Management, Division Asia Pacific and Africa, Divisions Central Procurement and Global Real Estate and Services, global responsibility for HR, Labour Relations Director
• Nicole Kurek, SICK AG, Member of the Executive Board
• Dr. Claudia Mayfeld, Knorr-Bremse AG, Member of the Executive Board, Worldwide responsibility for Integrity, Legal, IP, Data Protection and HR
• Dr. Thomas Ogilvie, Deutsche Post DHL Group, Member of the Board of Management, Human Resources
• Petra Scharner-Wolff, Otto Group, Chief Financial Officer, Member of the Executive Board, Finance, Controlling, Human Resources
• Martin Seiler, Deutsche Bahn AG, Member of the Management Board for Human Resources and Legal Affairs
• Gina Vargiu-Breuer, SAP SE, Chief People Officer and Labor Director, Member of the Executive Board

Academia | Host: Prof. Dr. Katharina Hölzle, Director IAT University of Stuttgart and Director Fraunhofer IAO / acatech member

• Prof. Dr. Peter Dabrock, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Professor of Systematic Theology
• Prof. Bernd Fitzenberger, PhD, Institut for Employment Research and Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Director and Professor of Quantitative Labor Economics
• Prof. Dr. Simone Kauffeld, Technische Universität Braunschweig, Chair for Industrial/ Organizational and Social Psychology
• Prof. Dr. Bettina Kohlrausch, Hans Böckler Stiftung and University Paderborn, Director of the Institute of Economics and Social Sciences at HBS and Professor of Social Transformation and Digitalisation at Paderborn University
• Prof. Dr.-Ing. Verena Nitsch, RWTH Aachen University, Chair and Director of the Institute of Industrial Engineering and Ergonomics
• Prof. Dr. Sabine Pfeiffer, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Chair of Sociology (Technology – Labour – Society)
• Prof. Dr. Steffi Robak, Institute of Vocational Education and Adult Education, Leibniz University Hannover
• Prof. Dr. Jutta Rump, University of Business and Society Ludwigshafen and Institut für Beschäftigung und Employability, Professorship of General Business Administration and Director
• Prof. Dr. Carsten Schermuly, SRH Berlin University of Applied Sciences, Vice President for Research and Transfer, Professor of Business Psychology
• Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Schroeder, University of Kassel, Professorship Political System of the Federal Republic of Germany
• Prof. Dr. Yasmin Weiß, Technische Hochschule Nürnberg, Professor of Business Administration
• Prof. Dr. Isabell M. Welpe, Technical University of Munich, Chair for Strategy and Organization / acatech member

acatech’s Human Resources Working Group and the Hans Böckler Stiftung have proposed solutions for how we in Germany have to position ourselves in order to be able to react quickly and broadly to the change in the world of work. They shed light on the acute challenges facing the training of today and tomorrow. Particular emphasis is put on the development of knowledge and skills that is needed for the digital transformation.

The approaches from business practice described and the policy options adopt, in particular, the perspective of workers who are in employment and whose fields of work will be altered by the structural changes.

“The digital transformation necessitates continuous further training – but it also makes lifelong learning easier. For example, with the aid of artificial intelligence, learning progress can be better checked and learning needs more accurately identified. AI-based systems spot patterns in the content the learner is having difficulties with and give learning recommendations and assistance accordingly.”

Joh. Christian Jacobs, Managing Partner Joh. Jacobs & Co. (AG & Co.) KG

The German version of the full publication is available to download here (in German):

Targeted training geared towards the individual company strategy requires a business analysis to be conducted and skills needs to be defined. In many businesses, the skills management requirements have changed greatly: What are our target groups? What exactly do we want to qualify the workers to do? What specific content do we want to deliver?

These questions can only be answered in a meaningful way if companies align their own HR planning and development with HR and corporate strategy objectives as well as the technological developments and changes in environment that are to be expected. Employees also have a good deal of personal responsibility for their own learning journey – but they need guidance in relation to their personal acquisition of knowledge and skills.

Between February 2019 and September 2020, a working group from within acatech’s Human Resources Working Group discussed what is specifically required for business practice and developed a method of skills needs analysis.

In a number of workshops and review loops with CHROs from the member companies within the Human Resources Working Group and after a successful trial run in the companies, we have developed a guide for business practice.

The English version of the full publication is available to download here:

In a Good Practice report, acatech’s Human Resources Working Group showed how exactly lifelong learning can be implemented in companies: in it, companies such as BMW, Otto Group and Deutsche Telekom give insights into how they use innovative learning platforms and tools for self-guided, needs-based training.

“The examples we collected show that companies’ training offerings are directed at achieving this goal. Lifelong learning has therefore been recognised at the top level of the hierarchy as a critical factor in the success of the digital transformation. We will continue to work with acatech’s Human Resources Working Group on this key topic.”

Dieter Spath

However, there is no generic, one-size-fits-all solution for organising good, productive learning. Many companies therefore try out new forms of learning and teaching. Key issues here are the design of motivating work environments that are conducive to learning and the possibility of breaking out of current rigid thought patterns and exploring new territory. Overall, it is a matter of creating the scope and flexibility for learning together and thereby realising the potential for creativity and development in a more targeted way.

The authors of the report have compiled a list of ten lessons learned to highlight the adjustments that need to be made for lifelong learning to work in companies:

The German version of the full publication is available to download here (in German):

Online meetings, working from home, remote leadership: for many workers in Germany, this is the new reality of work after two years of the Covid pandemic. To facilitate good hybrid working, the regulatory framework must be adapted accordingly, states acatech’s Human Resources Working Group in a new Policy Brief.

The HR experts identify three key areas of action and give ideas for how rapid improvements can be made:

1. Mobile and hybrid working: ability to work from home in Munich, Milan and Madrid – without regular inspection

Flexible working hours and locations must be organised in such a way that employees and companies benefit equally: in addition to making the employer more attractive, resulting in employee retention and recruitment of urgently needed skilled labour, this can increase employee satisfaction and motivation.

The authors reject a legislative drive to promote mobile working. Instead, legislators should provide for the equal treatment of working from home and mobile working in terms of health and safety at work; the German workplace regulation (Arbeitsstättenverordnung) should not apply. Otherwise the company would have an obligation to (ergonomically) fit out the workplace of choice as well as the obligation to carry out a regular inspection and hazard assessment. The resulting additional bureaucracy for companies and financial administration would be considerable, according to the publication.

An employee can even work from home abroad now – however, in the view of the HR experts, this is too often associated with negative implications for the taxation of pay and for employees’ social security cover. To better facilitate cross-border mobile working therefore, limited tax liabilities for the German employer under foreign law and payroll tax liabilities abroad must be avoided. The legislator should make it clear that, in such cases, there is no workplace within the meaning of the law. Harmonisation of tax law and social security law, at least in the European Union, would be welcome.

2. Worker participation: embracing more virtuality

The authors state that worker participation in Germany can be described as very constructive and responsible overall, and works councils are important partners and fellow travellers of the companies. A culture of participation, which aligns the requirements for companies to be able to change with the interests of employees, could become a German USP in the digital transformation.

However, for this to happen, worker participation must be modernised to an extent that goes beyond the Works Council Modernisation Act. At the moment, in the opinion of the HR experts, this law imposes too heavy an administrative and financial burden on companies. During the Covid pandemic, temporary derogations were introduced – for example, works meetings could be held virtually – which facilitated worker participation while adhering to company infection control measures. These derogations should become the rule rather than the exception, according to the Policy Brief.

3. Qualification: individual rather than general training entitlements

Hybrid working is heavily dependent on digital skills. During the two pandemic years, employees came to grips with many new digital possibilities and expanded their knowledge. But gaps still exist; lifelong learning remains – notwithstanding the above – a critical success factor in the advancing digital transformation, write the authors.

Companies and employees have a shared responsibility in this respect: companies must create work environments that are conducive to learning, support needs-based individual learning processes and motivate employees to learn. Insofar as they are able, employees learn in a more self-guided way with greater personal responsibility.

However, training must remain under the companies’ control. General provisions in the form of statutory training or extensive exemptions would conflict with the need to encourage lifelong learning geared towards the specific needs within the company and the individual requirements of the employees.

In the case of reskilling, e.g. transferring employees from one job to another, however, the constructive and future-oriented interaction of all stakeholders is decisive.

The German version of the full publication is available to download here (in German).