From staff shortages to inflation: in the future, companies that perform well will be those that are efficient. Automated and standardised processes are an important basis for this. Data-centred, digital processes create efficiency and transparency in all areas of business. Routine tasks can be automated through digitalisation and processes can be monitored, controlled and continuously improved. Transparent, digital processes enable companies to identify potential and improve overall performance. Weak points can be recognised early on, errors can be reduced and the company can react quickly to changes or new requirements in the market. In short, the digitalisation of processes is a crucial component of a company’s competitiveness. Read more
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A frequent experience in our customer projects is that our medium-sized customers react to the topic of compliance with the critical question: “And who is going to do that? Of course, a medium-sized company does not have the same resources as a group of companies, where a compliance department with several members deals with the topic. Nevertheless, the same legal framework conditions apply to SMEs and group companies.
Multiple crises, international interdependencies, challenging political developments. The risks for companies tend to increase. The business world is increasingly difficult to assess, more dynamic and more complex. Compliance has become an important basis for SMEs to safeguard the company, protect it from potential risks and thus create a foundation for the long-term success of the company. Good compliance can protect the company in the best possible way and indicate emerging crises and problems at an early stage. For effective implementation of compliance management, it is particularly important in medium-sized companies to use resources wisely and to sensitise everyone in the company to the issue. All too often, compliance is still perceived as a secondary task and the risks that actually exist are massively underestimated.
Without compliance with ESG criteria, it is becoming increasingly difficult for medium-sized companies to attract customers, investors and new employees and to convince banks. However, many questions arise when it comes to the concrete fulfilment of ESG factors. The overarching issue is to take the right approach to ensure that the ESG criteria are optimally integrated into one’s own business strategy and play their part in ensuring that the company acts responsibly and thus remains viable and competitive in the future.
Comply with regulations, implement ethical standards: Compliance is crucial for SMEs in the highly competitive business environment. Medium-sized companies that decide to professionalise their compliance can make their compliance management processes lean, efficient and transparent on the basis of certification standards. Once a solid compliance basis has been developed according to certification standards, the company is optimally equipped for active compliance management.
Planning, controlling, monitoring – ERP systems are becoming increasingly important in the course of digitalisation in medium-sized companies. ERP solutions are at the heart of the digital transformation in the company and have an impact on all business processes. At the same time, ERP transformation projects present companies with numerous challenges.
ERP – what does that even mean? Behind the acronym is “Enterprise Resource Planning”, which can be translated as “operational resource planning”. ERP stands for software that is used in companies to digitalise all relevant business processes from A to Z and thus to manage and control the multitude of business transactions. Be it in logistics, sales or purchasing. Here, the right preselection, the professional system check and the correct configuration are decisive for the success and profitability of the ERP systems.
Acting ethically and responsibly is a matter of course for most entrepreneurs. The concept of the “honourable merchant” goes back to the Middle Ages and still has an important meaning for German companies. However, Germany is very much involved in global divisions of labour and along the supply chains there are always grievances in the economic, ecological, and humanitarian spheres. This should change. With the Supply Chain Due Diligence Act, or Supply Chain Act for short, a law was passed that obliges companies based in Germany to implement defined due diligence obligations. It came into force on 1 January 2023 and aims to protect human rights along supply chains, improve working conditions and protect nature from harmful impacts. In concrete terms, companies should ensure that human rights and minimum standards such as the prohibition of child and forced labour are observed through responsible management of supply chains.
On 16 December 2022, the Whistleblower Protection Act (HinSchG) was passed in the Federal Parliament. Based on the Whistleblower Directive, it guarantees whistleblowers better protection in their professional environment against reprisals such as dismissal or defamation. The next plenary session of the Bundesrat is on 10 February 2023. If it approves the HinSchG, the law can be promulgated in February. Since a law comes into force three months after promulgation, in this case it would probably be the end of May. In the first stage, the law will apply to all companies with 250 or more employees and, from 17 December 2023 to all companies with at least 50 employees.
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The press releases are piling up: small and medium-sized companies are increasingly experiencing economic difficulties – many have concrete closure plans and are implementing them. The offers for sale are increasing. Energy shock, brittle supply chains, shortage of skilled workers and inflation are the reasons. Price increases are not only hitting their own profit and loss statements, they are also causing customers to hold back and lower sales. An analysis by the information service provider CRIF sees an increased risk of insolvency for around 300,000 companies in Germany. That is around 10% of the companies in Germany. The industries that are particularly energy-intensive have already shown significant increases in insolvency cases. This situation calls for attention and caution.
The whistleblower directive is coming. But very few companies have taken care of it yet. This is shown by a recent PWC study. And it also confirms our impression in practice. But time is pressing: if the law is finally passed by parliament, all companies with 50 or more employees will be obliged to install a corresponding system. And the number of employees here is based on the European concept of employees – and this differs from the usual way of counting. Employees include everyone employed by the company without exception, including interns, mini-jobbers, and the management itself. This is important for determining whether thresholds are reached or not.
Since August 1, 2022, the new regulation in the Verification Act obliges German employers to record and archive further contractual terms in writing in addition to the information regulated in Section 2 (1) of the NachwG. And this in paper form. The new regulation leads to considerable additional bureaucratic work, and many companies have hardly been able to prepare for the new Verification Act due to the short transition period. Therefore, the question arises: How can medium-sized companies implement the requirements resulting from the Verification Act in a compliance-compliant and yet company-specific manner?
