It’s the combination that makes the difference! Different skills, practical experience and solid expertise are the basis for our business. As diverse as our team is, our common basis is our affinity for medium-sized businesses and for the people who shape them.
“Find people who will make you better.” – Michelle Obama
“Organizations do not commit violations of the law or misconduct. These are committed by people in the organizations.”
Compliance combines goals and functions to comply with laws and rules in the company and to create the framework that misconduct is avoided. In practice, compliance looks different for every company: Of course, every company has to adhere to the legal provisions, thus acts “compliantly” per se. But for a craft business, other laws and internal rules are important than for an IT company or a logistics company. All internal rules that go beyond the law are formed from industry practices, stakeholder expectations and corporate values.
In the North Baden region, two strong partners with a clear focus on medium-sized businesses have come together. At the beginning of the month, we sealed our cooperation with the University of Applied Sciences for Management (HdWM) in Mannheim.
This means that teaching is now even more closely linked to practice – for more competence for SMEs. We are convinced of the efficiency of small and medium-sized enterprises and would like to help shape this efficiency by empowering young people.
Our office – a mini-campus for a few hours: We were delighted to welcome five students and their course director Professor Dr. Stäudner from the Mannheim University of Applied Sciences for Management (HdWM) to our Karlsruhe location on Thursday, 3 February 2022. The occasion was the presentation of a project that the students had worked out according to the task of THE MAK`ED TEAM.
The new year marks the beginning of the annual financial reporting season. All companies that prepare financial reports have to deal with the issues surrounding the preparation of their annual financial statements. Even if many of those responsible are not aware of it: accounting compliance forms the foundation here. It ensures that all relevant accounting rules are recognized and applied, and that the company’s assets and liabilities are valued correctly, so that the annual financial report is prepared in accordance with the rules.
THE MAK’ED TEAM introduced the learning management system Moodle at the peacekeeping school “École de Maintien de la Paix” and conducted a train-the-trainer qualification for online teaching. This created an important basis for successful online learning.
Since its foundation, THE MAK’ED TEAM has worked with a distinct international focus and is certified by iMove, an initiative of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) for the internationalization of German education and training services.
One of THE MAK’ED TEAM’s core competences is the establishment, development and management of training and education academies to promote skilled workers on site. That’s how we were selected for the project at the West African educational institution “Ecole de Maintien de la Paix” (EMP-ABB), which extended from November 2020 to September 2021, including the planning and start-up phase.
The decision to bring an external managing director into your own company requires a change in the owner’s leadership behavior.
In one of our client’ companies, this decision was made some time ago – with the best of intentions and a disastrous outcome!
The owner of a medium-sized company hired a managing director for a new subsidiary for the first time and renounced the usual board position himself. He had decided to do so for a variety of reasons and postulated that competence and responsibility were inseparable. The newcomer could and must manage his area of responsibility independently.
This sounded interesting to the “new guy”. He had gained second-tier experience with a larger competitor and now wanted to have overall responsibility.
The implementation of the EU Whistleblower Directive is on the agenda of many small and medium-sized companies. Managing directors and compliance officers immediately think of lawyers and software, but it takes a lot more to implement the guideline not only in a legally secure way, but also in a motivating and profitable way.
Our expert Karin Scherer puts it in a nutshell: “Many managing directors would like to receive information from the staff when the company is damaged, whether negligently or intentionally, internally by employees or by external persons. Our experiences range from reaching into the till, theft of goods to sexual harassment at the workplace. All incidents in which those in the know or affected did not know how to act, looked a way as a precaution – and in which the management would have liked to have been informed at an early stage, to protect the employees affected and the company.”
Whether it’s a small family business or a globally active company: Finding the right staff is becoming increasingly challenging for every HR department. The shortage of skilled workers has become the bottleneck in German SMEs – and good staff has become a critical resource for success. New, good team players are rare. The constant development of the existing team, making it fit for the future and keeping it in the company, is a real challenge. Through professional and strategically anchored personnel work, medium-sized companies can improve their position to meet these challenges.
Not every company needs a whole HR department to effectively manage the human resources and the corporate culture. Sometimes, only one HR officer is enough. This depends on many individual factors of the company, such as size, industry, complexity or planned orientation.
Personnel development – some entrepreneurs don’t like to hear this word. In most cases, it is closely linked to expensive seminars, training courses and further education. And these expensive measures haven’t brought the success that the company expected, often. “No wonder”, the expert thinks, and we show what personnel development means and why personnel development is more important than ever for the success and growth of companies.
