In order for a company and its organization to be future-proof and marketable and to be able to constantly question, develop and change accordingly, it needs, among other things, a lively learning culture. Nowadays, with all the fast-moving changes and requirements, organizations and their employees should continuously learn and tap into their knowledge. The focus of change is therefore shifting more towards the employee, and with it the continuous learning of the individual and the development of knowledge and skills. Can the company’s current knowledge and learning tools provide employees with the necessary resources and opportunities for continuous learning and knowledge reference? Or do other formats, tools and methods need to be used and practiced?
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The corporate world is changing dynamically and with it the challenges for leadership and management. Managers are constantly confronted with new tasks as a result of the permanent changes. In order to successfully cope with change, focused further development is essential. Structured development of executives is best achieved using an individually designed development model. It ensures that leaders are best equipped for current and future business tasks and challenges.
Systematic development of executives in medium-sized companies is currently the exception rather than the rule. Leadership development therefore offers many companies a great, previously untapped opportunity to strengthen their team, find new talent and successfully move the company forward even in phases of major change.
Supervisors play a Key Role in Employee Retention
The structured development of managers is an important basis for the company’s future – and for staff retention. According to a recent Personio study*, 46% of employees in small and medium-sized companies across Europe are planning to change jobs in the near future. One of the most important reasons cited for this is a lack of appreciation. Leadership style, social skills, empathy and corporate culture are key factors in determining how much employees identify with the company and feel comfortable there. This means that supervisors play a particularly important role in the onboarding process.
Success is no coincidence
Reflecting on oneself, deepening one’s own competencies, learning, networking, motivating … In times of such rapid and major changes, a modern manager is characterized above all by the willingness and ability to develop further. This applies to younger managers as well as to experienced ones. The concrete design of the personal development model depends on many individual factors such as the management level, the area of responsibility or the personal experience values. A younger manager who wants to prepare optimally for taking on greater management responsibility will set completely different priorities in his development model than an experienced manager who wants to drive major change processes in the company. The earlier a development model for leadership and management is implemented at all levels, the more promising the results. After all, developing leaders systematically takes time and is an ongoing process.
Leadership Development with Structure, Empathy and 360° View
How can a manager be developed in a goal-oriented manner? When implementing the development model, it is important to look at the individual framework conditions, corporate culture and goals and link them to the internal guidelines for managers. For this purpose, we develop an agile development model. First, the initial situation is analysed and relevant competencies as well as strengths and weaknesses of the executives are identified. On this basis, development areas and goals are defined, and an individual leadership development model is elaborated. The development model is tailored to the individual starting situation of the executive in order to ensure optimal learning and successful transfer to practice. It will initially be launched as a pilot project and, after the test phase, will be successively implemented as a professional infrastructure in the form of coaching, training, and learning-on-the-job elements. Managers can thus achieve their individual development goals in a targeted and efficient manner. The training effects are permanently evaluated and assessed to ensure the best possible development results.
THE MAK`ED TEAM sees leadership development as an essential part of successful business development. We develop agile leadership development models that are easy to implement and focused. Executives benefit from our high level of expertise in corporate business and our interdisciplinary, experienced team.
More about HR Development.
*Source: Personio study “The Great Value Shift”, 2022
Every company knows that it is no longer possible without digital tools – especially in HR management. But how do you implement such a digitization step in a medium-sized company? One of our customers, a medium-sized mechanical engineering company with its own production facilities and around 150 employees, decided to take the step forward with us and digitize its HR processes.
The particular challenge was that, at the start of the project, a lot of data and information was still in paper form and very little in Word or Excel. In addition, the company’s resources for this project were very limited. Despite the hurdles, the software was successfully implemented, and the entire company benefited greatly. Many processes have been automated since the system was introduced, which has freed up valuable personnel and financial capacities in the company. Managers, HR managers and employees benefit from greater transparency and 24/7 access to the data they need for their tasks.
Last Friday, July 29, 2022, our Karlsruhe location once again became a mini-campus for a few hours. We at THE MAK`ED TEAM were all very excited when four students and their course director Prof. Dr. Susanne Steimer from the Mannheim School of Management (HdWM) came to our office. Here they presented their practical project, which was also an examination situation. In the project, the students dedicated themselves entirely to the topic “Creation of a sustainability check for small and medium-sized businesses” according to an assignment by THE MAK`ED TEAM. During the elaboration they were actively supported by THE MAK’ED TEAM and developed our case study with great commitment. In their final presentation, the students showed a clearly structured roadmap of what a sustainability check for medium-sized companies across all industries could look like. In the end, they presented a convincing sustainability check for medium-sized companies, which can be carried out in different variants, from a short check-up to an individual workshop. Using well-chosen questions and a traffic light system in the evaluation, the check clearly shows the respective company how sustainably a company is currently positioned and in which areas.
After the all-around convincing and very clearly structured presentation, open questions were clarified in the round and lively discussions were held. THE MAK`ED TEAM has been cooperating with the HdWM since 2021 and focuses on sustainable corporate management. We were also very impressed by this joint project and are already looking forward to the next one.
The world of work is changing dramatically and is challenging HR managers. Whether it’s the shortage of skilled workers, succession management or digitalization: there’s a lack of personnel here, a lack of sufficient skills there. These dynamics have led to an increasing professionalization of HR management. State-of-the-art planning of personnel requirements forms an important and valid basis here.
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.
Our Consultant Jennifer Augustin
When „I“ is replaced by „We” even illness becomes wellness. – Malcolm X
Jennifer Augustin is a consultant at THE MAK`ED TEAM and at home in different cultures. Haiti, Canada, the United States of America and the cooperation with people from different countries of this world span a wide range of inter-national and intercultural experience.
She has a high level of expertise in building organizations with professional structures and processes. She also has a lot of experience in building teams and developing people. She also focuses on managing training organizations and business development in Africa. She is our contact person for projects on the African continent and brings with her strong language skills – she is fluent in English, French and Haitian Creole – and her high cultural competencies the best prerequisites for this.
She herself is at home in many worlds with a varied curriculum vitae: Jennifer Augustin was born in Haiti, grew up in Canada and completed her studies in the USA. With a Bachelor’s degree in Management & Supervision and a Bachelor’s degree in Organizational Communication, she was able to acquire a broad knowledge base. She then further enhanced her versatile skills with a Master of Science in Human Resource Management. After graduation, she pursued her passion for developing and organizing people in practice, and her career paths led her back to her home country. During this time she also became a partner of THE MAK’ED TEAM Haiti.
Today Jennifer Augustin lives in Florida. Her vast international experience and her hands-on, open nature make her a very valued team member and we look forward to many more international projects with her.
Introducing new processes, mastering transformations, overcoming challenges: A company that is intensively concerned with itself can be highly satisfied with its performance. But where is the customer? The needs of customers change at least as fast as the markets. A company must keep up if it does not want to be left behind by the competition. This calls for a consistent change of perspective from time to time: the focus is not on the company and its products, but on the customer and his or her needs.
THE MAK’ED TEAM combines its SME expertise with teaching
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.
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.
Since 2013, I have been working in Haiti in the field of further education and the development of personnel and organizations – in 2016, I started my own local business in Port-au-Prince. Two days ago, widespread violence broke out – with road barricades, looting and shooting throughout the country.
