New work in traditional industrial companies

New work in traditional industrial companies
- From strategic incorporation to operational implementation -
…or: The myth of new work – is blanket change possible?
Steffen Fischer
Human Resources Officer ifm electronic gmbh
Head of the Strategic HR management task force at BPM
1

 Why is ifm asking this question, or: What is a “traditional industrial company”?
 About ifm
 New work - what is it?
 How has the ifm Group approached the topic of new work?
 Opportunities and limitations of human resources management
Overview of content
2

3
 About ifm
Overview of content

5
Why is ifm asking this question,
or: What is a “traditional
industrial company”?

6
A traditional industrial company
is not:
• An agile startup company
• A fancy marketing firm
• An internet company without production and vertical added value.
Instead, it features:
• A long tradition
• Complex collaborative processes
• A traditional understanding of organisational structures and processes.
Why is ifm asking this question,
or: What is a “traditional
industrial company”?

 About ifm
7
Overview of content

ifm is a family-owned company
8
• Short decision-making processes.
• Consistent implementation of strategies.
• High innovative strength and flexibility.
• Consistent corporate culture.
• Simple and efficient organisation.
• Foundation: 1969
• Sales 2017: more than € 880 million
• Employees: round about 6,700
worldwide
• Chairmen
of the Board: Martin Buck
Michael Marhofer
• Members
of the Board: Christoph von Rosenberg
Dr. Thomas May
Benno Kathan
Short presentation ifm

Continuous growth
9
Since the foundation in 1969 the ifm group of
companies has developed, produced and sold
sensors, controllers and systems for industrial
automation worldwide.
With round about 6,700 employees, the ifm
group, family-run in the second generation, is one
of today’s worldwide industry leaders and
generated sales of € 880 million in the year 2017.

Overview of ifm products
10
Alongside automation technology/sensors,
interconnection of the data world is in focus

Areas of application for ifm products
11

Company awards
12
ifm awarded several times for HR work.
Here are some examples:
• Awarded training company 2015 / 2016 /2017
• Focus 2016 / 2017 / 2018
• Kununu Top Company
• Kununu Open Company
• Member in the company network
”Erfolgsfaktor Familie” (success factor family)
• Top employer among German SMEs 2017

Presence with potential
13
• The customer has been at the focus
of our activities since the company was
founded in 1969.
• Competent local support for more
than 150,000 customers in more than
80 countries.
• Represented by about 1,500 sales
employees and trade partners worldwide.
• More than 95 % of the products are sold
by its own branch offices.
• The experts on site ensure individual and
trusting support of our customers worldwide.
trade partner
ifm location “World-wide ifm employees have to develop a relationship
of trust in close contact with the customer which openly
and honestly considers mutual interests.ˮ
Extract from ifm’s philosophy

 About ifm
15
Overview of content

The philosopher Frithjof Bergmann
coined the term “new work” in 1984. In
his theory, new work described a specific
type of work that employees considered
meaningful. Due to its recognised
usefulness, employees “really want” to do
the work.
New work - what is it?
16

• Hence work should not be an unpleasant activity, instead it should be a need that is deeply fulfilling.
• Technology has liberated humans from the pressure of always having to work at the same place. New
places encourage inspiration and creativity. To use the freedom acquired in this manner, employers must
possess trust.
• The end of strict hierarchies Approach: Abolishing strict hierarchies has the benefit of enabling innovative
momentum and knowledge transfer to take place in all directions. Everyone benefits from everyone else.
Eliminating rigid command structures does not lead to chaos. Instead, it supports a different form of
organisation.
17

Self-organising networks
Approach: A new understanding of work views a company's employees as partners or parts of a network.
Networks consist of people with very different, individual abilities and strengths. This fact is ignored by rigid
routines and mere work instructions, but networks offer room to develop.
18

• Satisfaction as motivation
Approach: When employees have the freedom to choose when and where they work, their productivity
increases. Humans have variable biorhythms with high and low phases. When individual performance
phases can be used intensively, success experiences are likely to occur more frequently. In turn, they
increase self-confidence and motivation. People who are not forced to be present can also create their
personal work-life balance more readily. Going to private appointments, being there for the family and
working productively are not mutually exclusive. Employees who can freely determine their daily routines
are highly motivated because they possess the most valuable commodity: time.
19

• Seriously ask about the best possible working conditions: People who love their job are
more motivated, innovative, and creative. The social framework is changing and
digitalisation is creating the option of “new worlds of work” from which employees and
employers can benefit. … “The evolution of the desk”
• For ever more functions, it is no longer essential to be present at a company.
Digitalisation is making it possible to edit documents on all sorts of devices, at all hours of
the day, and at any location. Videoconferences, chats and conversations are not tied to a
fixed location either.
21

 About ifm
22
Overview of content

ifm as an appealing employer
What do we think about the new work/smart working approaches that are
being debated now?
24
How has ifm approached the
topic of new work?

Excerpt from the Board's decision:
The new trends of new work/smart working are being discussed and along with them, the position of
company management.
Statement and decision on home office:
Working at the company shall remain the norm.
All deviations are individual cases; ifm is approaching the theme cautiously and not making general
statements.
25
topic of new work?

26
topic of new work?
Digitalisation and smart working
Strategic aim – Vision
• Our employees and organisational structures are prepared for the
Internet of Things and smart factories and have arrived in the digital
world.
• We have not only mastered the technical change process, but have
also mastered the social change process linked to the digital
transformation as well. There are successful examples of smart
working that correspond to the younger generation or society's
revised expectations of the working world.

27
topic of new work?
Digitalisation and smart working
Paths to the aim – Strategic thrusts/areas of potential
• We are implementing ever more digital tools to boost the effectiveness and efficiency of our HR
processes and are enhancing them gradually, preferably with modules from SAP HR and SharePoint.
• The ifmLernfabrik for further employee education focuses on courses on digitalisation and smart working.
• We have a co-ordinated HR-IT strategy and permanently synchronise the relevant themes, aims, resources,
and processes with the relevant specialist and IT departments.
• New work and smart working themes are co-ordinated with company management, top managers, and the
works council and implemented step by step:
 - Enhancement of digital and social expertise
 Leadership and collaborative work in conjunction with the digital expansion and social changes
 Health aspects and data privacy
 Increasingly independent, flexible, and agile work in teams
 Increasingly decentralised, cross-location teamwork
 (Workplace-dependent) opportunities for home office workstations without the duty to be permanently
present

30Steffen Fischer @ifm
An integrated strategy process
focuses on the following HR themes:
We are shaping an agile, dynamic smart working
environment by means of new digital forms of work, teaching,
and learning. We are accompanying our employees in this
technical and social change process. Our managers co-
ordinate on various focal categories.
Projects:
• Workplace: Attractive design of workstations in all direct and indirect areas
(incl. offers for break time design and occupational health management).
• Work hours: Options and limitations of mobile work and work hour flexibility
and employee determination of hours.
• Methods of work: Improvement of tried and tested and implementation
of new (agile) methods and ways of working.
• Learning: Increased use of digital media and technical options. Testing
New learning formats and expansion of targeted learning focal areas.
• Leadership: Responsibility of top management when the technical and social
framework is changing.
topic of new work?

• At the Tettnang-Bechlingen location, we are implementing a works agreement on “functional working
hours” for indirect employees which will complete the transition from classical core working hours to
function-related working hours. The concept calls for a self-managing team that ensures its department
functions properly, thus eliminating the previous presence-based core working hours. In this way, individual
requirements can be accommodated along with the requirements of the relevant task and our operating
procedures are also guaranteed to function.
31
topic of new work?

• In November 2017, a set of rules on how to deal with home office within the ifm Group was
adopted. The managers responsible for making decisions provide the framework for
determining the extent to which who can work mobile or at home in what way.
• As part of a bachelor's thesis, approx. 170 new work approaches were compiled and
examined with respect to their feasibility for ifm:
32
topic of new work?

33
New work in traditional industrial companies
From strategic incorporation to operational
implementation at the ifm Group
Lucia Hornstein
Konstanz
2018
BACHELOR'S THESIS
Change in values
More flexible working hours and workplace
Criteria for success
Workplace design
Employer branding
Health management
Application processes
Change in standards
Learning
Jobs of tomorrow
Leadership
Labour law
Organisational structure
Change in economic and social systems
Participation
Digitalisation of HR, IT, etc.
Communication
Agile working methods
Figure 2: Categorisation of themes
Previously completed
projectson new work
Health management
Learning
Labour law
Workplace design
Communication
Employer branding
Change in standards
Leadership
Jobs of tomorrow
Participation
Figure 8: Previously completed projects on new work
Figure 13: Projects in progress and projects in planning
Ongoing and planned
projectson new work
Health management
Learning
Employer branding
Change in standards
Leadership
Labour law
Communication

 About ifm
34
Overview of content

• New work in the sense of the most modern working conditions
possible and organisation of work that is tailored to individual people
are trends that appear to be inevitable.
• HR management is being increasingly involved because operational
procedures must be safeguarded and the measures co-ordinated
throughout the entire Group.
• Not every company will be able to or want to fully implement all the
aspects and characteristics listed. However, companies cannot
escape the trend because ever more employees want this change.
35
Opportunities and
limitations of human
resources management

• New work is a blurry term: it cannot be clearly delineated from other
terms. Companies must always view their implementation of the
concept within the context of the relevant field of work or detailed
company circumstances.
• Not everything works, everything does not function everywhere and
change requires acceptance and time.
36
Opportunities and
limitations of human
resources management

37
Point of contact: Steffen Fischer
• Human Resources Officer & Member of the
Group Managing Board at ifm electronic gmbh
• Head of the Strategic HR management task
force at BPM, the German association of
human resource managers
Thank you! More questions? Simply contact me:
Steffen.fischer@ifm.com /in/FischerSteffen📩

New work in traditional industrial companies

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