HR Working Group – Forum for HR Directors on the Future of Work

acatech’s Human Resources (HR) Working Group provides a platform for informal strategic discussions between figures from science and industry. The Working Group’s experts share views about how companies, employees, employee representatives and government can work together to shape the digital transformation. They also explore how digitalisation can be leveraged to create opportunities for innovation and good jobs. Conceived as a think tank on the future of work, the HR Working Group aims to raise awareness of the most pressing challenges and contribute to the public and policy debate.

The HR Working Group’s members

The majority of the HR Working Group’s members are HR directors from leading technology companies and service providers. They are joined by acatech Members and academics who provide state-of-the-art input from the fields of educational research, human factors and ergonomics, business administration and business organisation. The meetings are hosted by acatech Vice-President, Stefan Oschmann, Chairman of the acatech Board of Trustees, Henning Kagermann, and Joh. Christian Jacobs, Managing Partner of Joh. Jacobs & Co. (AG & Co.) KG and member of the acatech Senate.

Since it was formed in 2014, the HR Working Group has become an established force, working to create attractive, modern jobs and recruit employees to the fields of science and engineering, provide them with the relevant training and help them to develop their skills.

HR Working Group Members

Filiz Albrecht
Robert Bosch GmbH, Member of the Board of Management and Director of Industrial Relations
Sabine Bendiek
SAP SE, Chief People Officer and Labor Relations Director
Dr. Sebastian Biedenkopf
Fresenius SE & Co. KGaA, Executive Board member responsible for Legal Affairs, Compliance and Human Resources, Labour Relations Director
Birgit Bohle
Deutsche Telekom AG, Board member for Human Resources, Labor Director
Dr. Elke Frank
Software AG, Member of the Management Board responsible for Global Human Resources, Talent Management, Global Legal, Global Information Services and Transformation
Jochen Hanebeck
Infineon Technologies AG, Member of the Management Board and Chief Operations Officer
Dr. Immanuel Hermreck
Bertelsmann SE&Co. KGaA, Member of the Executive Board, Chief Human Resources
Officer
Dr. Doris Höpke
Münchener Rückversicherungs-Gesellschaft AG, Member of the Board of Management responsible for the Europe and Latin America Division including the Financial Lines, global responsibility for Human Resources in the reinsurance field of business, Labour Relations Director
Ilka Horstmeier
BMW AG, Member of the Board of Management, Human Resources, Labour Relations Director
Dr. Joh. Christian Jacobs
Managing Partner Joh. Jacobs & Co. (AG & Co.) KG, Managing Partner
Prof. Dr. Henning Kagermann
acatech – Deutsche Akademie der Technikwissenschaften, Chair of the acatech Board of Trustees
Zhengrong Liu
Beiersdorf AG, Member of the Executive Board, Human Resources, Labor Relations Director
Dr. Thomas Ogilvie
Deutsche Post AG, Member of the Board of Management, Human Resources
Dr. Stefan Oschmann
Merck KGaA, Vorsitzender der Geschäftsleitung & CEO und acatech Vice-President and Senator
Prof. Dr. Manfred Prenzel
Head of the Centre for Teacher Education at Universität Wien / acatech Member
Prof. Steffi Robak
Leibniz Universität Hannover, Institute of Vocational Education and Adult Education,
Executive Board
Petra Scharner-Wolff
Otto (GmbH & Co. KG), Member of the Group Executive Board, CFO, Controlling, Human Resources
Corinna Schittenhelm
Schaeffler AG, Member of the Board of Managing Directors, Chief Human Resources Officer
Martin Seiler
Deutsche Bahn AG, Member of the Management Board for Human Resources and Legal Affairs
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Dieter Spath
Director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering IAO and IAT University of Stuttgart / acatech Member
Prof. Dr. Isabell M. Welpe
Technical University of Munich, Strategy and Organization Professorship / acatech Member
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Katja Windt
SMS group GmbH, Member of the Managing Board / acatech Member

Aims and role

The digital transformation is revolutionising companies’ work, management and organisational processes, and this is leading to lasting changes in how we define work and in our ways of working.

Many actors in Germany underestimate just how radically and rapidly we need to change – actively shaping the transformation will be key to companies’ future success. Global competition in relation to the digital transformation is putting significant pressure on innovation in Germany, a country where – due to the impacts of demographic change – innovation plays a particularly important part in securing economic growth, increased prosperity and public services.

In view of the above, the HR Working Group’s aims and role are as follows:

To learn from each other (sharing experiences of shaping the digital transformation, cultural change, etc.)
To act as an independent think tank for policymakers (addressing underlying/long-term themes that are relevant to society, but without engaging in lobbying)
To act in the interests of society (build trust, promote change).

Priority themes

The transformation of the workplace must benefit businesses and employees in equal measure. In order to ensure that digitalisation is a win-win for society, it must be implemented by people, for people – technological developments must be conceived and designed to meet the needs of employees and end users.

The HR Working Group has identified the following themes as key to shaping the transformation:

As well as enabling companies to adapt faster to the digital transformation and strengthening their ability to innovate, agile company and work organisation also offers employees greater flexibility and individual freedom.
Lifelong learning is key to boosting productivity and innovation in companies while at the same time enhancing the ability of employees to perform their duties and their employability.
Employees should be able to have their own individual say in shaping the digital transformation. This will require a form of governance that promotes a willingness to embrace change and creates the freedom to experiment.

You can download the full publication in German and English here:

The post-Covid world of work

The digital transformation and the coronavirus crisis are transforming the world of work. Hybrid working models that offer a flexible mix of various forms of work and organisation both within and outside the company will continue to play an important role in the long term.

To ensure that good, creative and productive work is still possible when people work remotely or in hybrid models, three areas in particular should be at the forefront of operational considerations. In addition to a corporate and management culture that encourages independent, autonomous working, tailored spatial and technical solutions are also required.

“Management will increasingly take on an enabling role, with managers acting as facilitators rather than instructors. The “top-down” management paradigm was already outdated before Covid, and will no longer be sustainable in a post-pandemic world. Instead, we need to empower employees by communicating more and trusting them more.” (Elke Frank/software AG)

Intended as a resource for the different stakeholders in the digital transformation, the HR Working Group has published seven proposals concerning how people might work together in the future. The proposals aim to facilitate forward-looking organisational development and promote productivity, innovation and good working conditions in Germany.

1) Collaborative and active creation of the company’s culture 2) Strengthening the openness and trust through empowerment 3) Precise definition of the expectations connected to a leader’s role model 4) Create a framework for trustful collaboration 5) Redesigning the workspace using new ideas and concepts 6) Spot-on usage of tools- and analytics-applications 7) Establishment of precise guidelines and frameworks © Shutterstock.com/Inspiring and acatech

You can download the full publication in German and English here:

Lifelong learning

As well as accelerating technological, economic and social developments, digitalisation is also bringing about a fundamental transformation in how we learn. In the future, the knowledge and skills that we acquire will go out of date increasingly quickly. Lifelong learning will therefore be key to the success of businesses and individual careers, and to the ability of employees to perform their duties and their employability. Many companies in Germany are already starting to promote lifelong learning more strategically, working with employees, trade unions and works councils to develop innovative, future-ready approaches to training and continuing professional development.

Shaping the Digital Transformation: Promoting Lifelong Learning

The HR Working Group and the Hans Böckler Foundation have developed a series of proposals setting out what Germany needs to do to ensure a rapid, universally effective response to the changes in the world of work. The publication examines the most urgent challenges facing lifelong learning today and in the future, focusing in particular on the importance of updating people’s knowledge and skills so that they are equipped to meet the requirements of the digital transformation.

The examples of practical solutions used by companies and the policy options set out in the publication concentrate mainly on workers in jobs and industries that are set to be transformed by the current structural changes.

While the digital transformation means that lifelong learning is now essential, it also makes it easier. For instance, artificial intelligence can help to test learning progress and determine learning needs more accurately. AI-based systems can spot the content that repeatedly causes difficulty for learners and provide them with the appropriate learning recommendations and aids.

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

You can download the full German publication here:

Dynamic Skills Management

In order to provide targeted continuing professional development tailored to a company’s individual strategy, it is necessary to carry out an analysis of the company so that the relevant skills requirements can be identified. In many cases, companies’ skills management requirements have undergone significant changes. What are their target groups? Exactly which skills do they wish their employees to acquire? What specific content do they want them to learn?

Meaningful answers to these questions can only be provided if companies align their HR planning and development processes with their strategic HR and corporate goals and with expected technological developments and changes in the environment. While much of the responsibility for an employee’s own learning biography lies with the employee themselves, they still need guidance with regard to the knowledge and skills that they acquire as individuals.

Between February 2019 and September 2020, a working group established by the HR Working Group discussed the concrete requirements that arise in corporate practice and developed a methodology for analysing skills requirements.

A practical guide for companies was developed following a series of workshops and feedback loops with HR directors from HR Working Group companies and successful trials in these companies.

You can download the full German publication here:

Best practice examples

A best practice report published by the HR Working Group describes concrete methods of implementing lifelong learning within companies. In the report, companies such as BMW, Otto Group and Deutsche Telekom provide insights into how they use innovative learning platforms and tools to enable autonomous, needs-based continuing professional development.

“This collection of best practice examples shows that companies’ CPD programmes are geared towards this goal. In other words, management have recognised that lifelong learning is critical to a successful digital transformation. Our HR Working Group will continue to address this key theme.” (Dieter Spath)

However, there are no generic, one-size-fits-all solutions for enabling high-quality, productive learning. Consequently, many companies are experimenting with new learning and teaching methods. Key issues include how to design work environments that are motivating and conducive to learning, and how to break free of established, rigid ways of thinking and try new things. In essence, it is all about working together to give people freedom and flexibility in how they learn so that their potential for creativity and ongoing development can be harnessed in a more targeted manner.

The report’s authors identified ten “lessons learned” that highlight which adjustments must be made to achieve successful lifelong learning within companies: