However, there are also downward pressures on the industry. High inflation and interest rates have reduced the demand for over-the-counter medications, and stricter drug pricing regulations imposed by the UK and Europe are impacting healthcare spending. The significant pharmaceutical trends for 2024 and beyond are as follows:

Small-molecule drugs continue to dominate the market

The small molecule drug market is a significant segment within the pharmaceutical industry that involves developing, manufacturing, and selling drugs composed of small, chemically synthesised molecules. Small molecule drugs are typically composed of low molecular weight compounds. They are chemically synthesised, allowing precise control over their structure and properties. They are used for a wide range of therapeutic applications, including treating various diseases and medical conditions. They may target specific proteins or pathways involved in the disease process, and many can be administered orally, making them convenient for patients. This mode of administration contributes to patient compliance and ease of use.

Patent protection and competition from generic versions

Small molecule drugs are often protected by patents, providing pharmaceutical companies with a period of exclusivity during which they have the sole right to manufacture and market the drug. Once the drug’s patent protection expires, generic versions may be introduced, increasing competition and potentially lowering prices. This dynamic is a common feature of the small molecule drug market. The cost of research and development to discover and develop new small-molecule drugs is high. The process involves identifying potential drug targets, screening and optimising compounds, and conducting preclinical and clinical trials. Following rigorous testing, they must gain regulatory approval before being marketed. Regulatory agencies, such as the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), NICE and the European Medicines Agency (EMA), assess safety, efficacy, and quality.

Future trends

Global healthcare trends, regulatory changes, and shifts in disease prevalence influence the small molecule drug market. Healthcare policies, pricing pressures, and emerging technologies also impact market dynamics. They will continue contributing significantly to pharmaceutical companies’ revenues for the foreseeable future. However, the market’s size and growth will depend on factors such as the success of new drug launches, market competition, and the ability to address unmet medical needs.

The markets for biologics will continue to grow

Biologics are therapeutic products derived from living organisms like cells, tissues, or microorganisms. Unlike traditional small-molecule drugs, which are chemically synthesised, biologics are large and complex molecules produced through biotechnological processes. They are often composed of proteins or nucleic acids and include many products, such as monoclonal antibodies, vaccines, hormones, and gene therapies.

How biologics work

Biologics are designed to interact with specific targets in the body, such as proteins or cells, to modulate or correct disease processes. This targeted approach can enhance efficacy and reduce side effects compared to less specific treatments. Used to treat a wide range of diseases, including autoimmune disorders, cancer, infectious diseases, and genetic disorders, they are valuable in addressing conditions where specific biological pathways need modulation. However, due to their biological nature, biologics may induce an immune response in the body. This reaction can lead to the development of antibodies against the biologic, potentially impacting its efficacy and safety.

Development

The biologics’ development and regulatory approval process thoroughly assesses safety, efficacy, and quality. The approval pathway often includes extensive clinical trials demonstrating the product’s benefits and risks.

Future impact on the pharmaceutical market

Biologics have revolutionised the treatment landscape for various diseases, offering new therapeutic options for previously challenging conditions to manage effectively. They have been particularly successful in oncology, rheumatology, and autoimmune disorders. Consequently, the global market has experienced significant growth, and biologics have become a primary revenue driver for pharmaceutical companies. The market is expected to expand as more biologics are developed and approved for different indications. Biologics often enable a more personalised approach to treatment, as they can be designed to target specific molecular pathways or cellular markers associated with a patient’s disease.

Future challenges

The complex nature of biologics makes their manufacturing more intricate and costly than traditional small-molecule drugs. This complexity can impact pricing and access, and the high costs of some biologics have raised concerns about affordability and healthcare system sustainability. However, introducing biosimilars, similar but not identical versions of approved biologics, has increased competition in the market. This intervention can lead to cost savings for healthcare systems and patients, reducing profits for the industry.

The success of biologics has led to increased research and investment in biotechnology and biotherapeutics. This focus on innovation is likely to continue through 2024 and beyond, shaping the pharmaceutical industry.

The trend to outsource drug development and manufacturing

Pharmaceutical companies will continue to outsource drug development and manufacturing, leveraging external expertise and resources to enhance efficiency, reduce costs, and accelerate the overall drug development process.

Contract research and manufacturing

Outsourcing allows pharmaceutical companies to tap into the specialised expertise of contract research organisations (CROs) and contract manufacturing organisations (CMOs) that focus on specific aspects of drug development. These specialised partners often have deep knowledge and experience in preclinical and clinical research, formulation development, and manufacturing.

Cost reduction and faster time to market

Outsourcing can be a cost-effective strategy, especially for smaller or emerging pharmaceutical companies that may not have the infrastructure or resources to handle all aspects of drug development internally. By outsourcing to CROs and CMOs, companies can avoid significant upfront investments in facilities, equipment, and personnel. Outsourcing also provides pharmaceutical companies with flexibility in adapting to fluctuating workloads. They can scale their operations up or down based on project requirements without the fixed costs of maintaining an in-house infrastructure. Collaboration with specialised service providers can accelerate the drug development timeline. Outsourcing allows companies to leverage the established capabilities of CROs and CMOs, potentially reducing development times and enabling quicker entry into the market.

Risk Mitigation

Drug development is inherently risky, with uncertainties at various stages. Outsourcing enables companies to share some of these risks with their partners. For example, a CRO might take on the risks of conducting clinical trials, and a CMO might assume risks related to manufacturing processes. It also means that pharmaceutical companies can concentrate on their core competencies, such as research, strategic planning, and commercialisation, allowing them to allocate resources more efficiently and strategically.

Furthermore, reputable CROs and CMOs adhere to strict quality and regulatory standards. Partnering with organisations with a strong compliance track record helps pharmaceutical companies ensure that their products meet regulatory requirements and quality standards.

The demand for personalised medicine will continue to grow

Personalised medicine, or precision medicine, is a medical approach that tailors healthcare decisions and interventions to individual characteristics, considering factors such as a person’s genetic makeup, lifestyle, environment, and other unique attributes. The trend toward personalised medicine is driven by genomics, molecular biology, and technology advancements, enabling a more targeted and precise approach to disease prevention, diagnosis, and treatment.

Genomic and molecular diagnosis

Advances in genomic research have provided insights into the genetic basis of diseases. Genetic information is increasingly used to identify individuals at risk for certain conditions, guide treatment decisions, and predict responses to specific therapies. Additionally, molecular diagnostics can analyse particular molecules, such as DNA, RNA, proteins, and metabolites, thus helping identify disease-associated biomarkers and guide treatment choices.

Additionally, pharmacogenomics is used to study the impact of genetic variations on an individual’s response to drugs. Understanding a patient’s genetic makeup can help predict drug effectiveness, potential side effects, and optimal dosage, leading to more personalised and safer treatment plans.

Targeted therapies

The development of targeted therapies is a hallmark of personalised medicine. These therapies are designed to specifically target molecules or pathways involved in the growth and survival of cancer cells or the progression of other diseases. Targeted therapies aim to maximise efficacy while minimising side effects.

Immunotherapy is a personalised medicine that harnesses the body’s immune system to target and destroy cancer cells. It has shown promising results in various cancers, emphasising the importance of individualised approaches to treatment.

Clinical trials

Personalised medicine will continue to influence the design of clinical trials, with an increasing emphasis on patient stratification based on molecular and genetic profiles. This approach allows researchers to identify subpopulations more likely to respond positively to a particular treatment.

Artificial intelligence

The integration of diverse data types, including genetic information, electronic health records, and lifestyle data, is facilitated by data science and artificial intelligence advancements. Analysing this integrated data enables a more comprehensive understanding of an individual’s health and can inform personalised treatment plans.

Future trend

The trend toward personalised medicine represents a paradigm shift in healthcare, moving from a one-size-fits-all approach to a more individualised and targeted model. While challenges exist, ongoing research and technological advancements will continue to drive the integration of personalised medicine into mainstream healthcare practices.

The impact of emerging markets

Emerging markets, including countries in Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East, will continue to impact the pharmaceutical industry significantly, influencing various aspects of drug development, market access, and global business strategies.

Large growing and more wealthy populations

Emerging markets often have large and growing populations and offer substantial growth opportunities driven by rising incomes, expanding middle-class populations, and improving healthcare infrastructure, leading to increased demand for pharmaceutical products. As healthcare access improves, there is an increasing need for pharmaceuticals to address a range of health issues, including infectious diseases, chronic conditions, and lifestyle-related disorders.

The disease burden in emerging markets may differ from that in developed economies. Thus, the trend is for pharmaceutical companies to adapt their product portfolios to address prevalent diseases in these regions, such as infectious diseases (e.g., malaria, tuberculosis) and non-communicable diseases (e.g., diabetes, cardiovascular diseases).

Improving access

Improving access to essential medicines will continue to be critical to pharmaceutical development in emerging markets. Companies may work on pricing strategies, partnerships, and differential pricing models to enhance affordability and ensure broader product access. However, the regulatory landscape in emerging markets can vary, and pharmaceutical companies must navigate diverse regulatory requirements. Adherence to local regulations, obtaining market approvals, and complying with quality standards are essential for successful market entry.

Pharmaceutical companies often collaborate with governments and healthcare organisations in emerging markets to contribute to developing healthcare infrastructure. This partnership can involve investments in training healthcare professionals, building healthcare facilities, and supporting public health initiatives.

Future trends

Through 2024 and beyond, emerging markets will continue to play a crucial role in shaping the pharmaceutical industry’s global landscape. Companies that effectively navigate the opportunities and challenges presented by these markets will strengthen their market position, drive revenue growth, and contribute to improving healthcare outcomes in diverse regions worldwide.

Pricing pressure

The pharmaceutical industry will continue to face increasing pressure to reduce the cost of drugs due to various factors, including concerns about healthcare affordability, rising healthcare expenditures, and public demand for more accessible and cost-effective treatments. Several vital drivers contribute to this pressure, and the industry is exploring various strategies to address the challenge of reducing drug costs.

Pricing Transparency and other cost reduction strategies

There is a growing call for greater transparency in drug pricing. Patients, healthcare providers, and payers are seeking more visibility into the factors that contribute to the pricing of drugs, including research and development costs, manufacturing expenses, and profit margins.

Additionally, the expiration of patents for branded drugs opens the door for generic and biosimilar competition. Generic drugs, which are bioequivalent to brand-name drugs, typically enter the market at lower prices, leading to cost reductions. Biosimilars, similar but not identical to biologic drugs, offer competition in the biopharmaceutical sector.

One increasing trend is a shift toward value-based pricing models, where the price of a drug is tied to its demonstrated clinical outcomes and therapeutic value. This approach aims to ensure that the cost of a drug aligns with its efficacy and the benefits it provides to patients. Payers, such as insurance companies, the NHS, and pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), often negotiate with pharmaceutical companies for discounts and rebates on drug prices and secure favourable pricing arrangements for large patient populations.

Research and Development cost reduction

Improving the efficiency of the drug development process will also contribute to cost reduction. Efforts to streamline research and development, embrace new technologies, and optimise clinical trial designs can help bring new drugs to market more efficiently and at lower costs. Supply chain optimisation can also reduce manufacturing and distribution costs.

Investments in digital health technologies and telemedicine will continue to improve healthcare efficiency and reduce costs associated with traditional healthcare delivery. These technologies may enhance remote monitoring, patient engagement, and overall healthcare management.

Future trends

The pharmaceutical industry will continue to feel the pressure to reduce drug costs, with stakeholders continuing to explore a range of strategies to achieve this goal. Efforts are being made to increase transparency, enhance competition through generics and biosimilars, adopt value-based pricing, optimise supply chains, and collaborate on innovative solutions that balance the need for affordable healthcare with the industry’s imperative for innovation and sustainability.

Opportunities in Pharma

The pharmaceutical industry continues to thrive despite all the challenges it has faced over recent years. It remains under immense pressure to reduce prices while responding to demands to improve healthcare globally. It also faces perceptual challenges. Building and maintaining public trust is an ongoing challenge, particularly regarding perceptions of pharmaceutical companies’ motivations, pricing practices, and ethical standards. Transparent communication and ethical behaviour are essential to address these concerns. However, the pharmaceutical industry remains poised for significant developments in 2024 and the coming years.

We can expect to see continued advancements in biotechnology and biopharmaceuticals, the development of innovative therapies, including gene and cell therapies, monoclonal antibodies, and RNA-based treatments, precision medicine with an increasing focus on developing targeted therapies based on individuals’ genetic profiles and molecular characteristics. Advancements in cell and gene therapies are expected to continue, potentially revolutionising the treatment of genetic disorders, cancers, and other conditions.

Integrating digital health technologies, such as telemedicine, wearable devices, and health apps, will also play a significant role. AI and machine learning will likely become more prevalent in global drug discovery market, particularly in areas such as drug discovery, clinical trial design, and data analysis.

In navigating these prospects and challenges, the pharmaceutical industry will likely undergo continued transformation, driven by scientific advancements, technological innovations, and efforts to address societal needs and expectations. Collaboration across the industry, regulatory bodies, and healthcare stakeholders will be critical in shaping its future trajectory.

The post Pharmaceutical & Life Sciences Trends 2024 first appeared on Horton International.

Here, we examine some of the dominant trends for 2024 and the future, as also identified by Gartner 2024. These include:

1. AI TRiSM
2. Continuous Threat Exposure Management (CTEM)
3. Sustainable Technology
4. Platform Engineering
5. AI Augmented Development
6. Industry cloud platforms
7. Intelligent Applications
8. Democratised Generative AI

These trends will profoundly affect the jobs market. There is a talent shortage across many of these sectors, while, as has often been noted, there will likely be job losses in readily automated sectors.

AI TRiSM

The applications of AI are far-reaching and impact many aspects of our working lives and leisure. Advocates of AI are already demonstrating many ways AI will improve our lives, yet there is no shortage of warning of the many dangers AI poses.

The primary concerns regarding AI relate to risk, trust, and security. The question is, how do we ensure the reliability and trustworthiness of AI? A potential answer is the AI Trust, Risk and Security Management (AI TRiSM) framework proposed by Gartner, which successfully supports innovation, develops trust, and increases value.

The AI TRiSM framework has three elements:

1. AI Trust includes transparency and explicability, for instance, if and how the AI model achieved the targeted outcomes.
2. AI Risk – the application of governance for managing AI risks, including development and process stages to guarantee the model integrity and compliance
3. AI Security Management – to ensure security at every stage of the process throughout the entire machine learning pipeline, including handling anomalies and vulnerabilities.

It is built on four pillars:

1. Explainability/Model Monitoring – making AI decisions transparent and understandable by describing how models function, documenting their strengths and weaknesses, and examining potential biases.
2. ModelOps covers managing AI models across their lifecycle, maintaining optimal performance and ethical standards.
3. AI Application Security aims to protect models from cyber attacks.
4. Privacy ensures data protection, focusing on individual privacy where sensitive data is prevalent.

Thus, AI TRiSM is pivotal in AI model deployment and management. Gartner claims that organisations deploying AI TRiSM will see an 80% improvement in decision-making accuracy.

Continuous Threat Exposure Management (CTEM)

Continuous Threat Exposure Management (CTEM) is an ongoing and proactive process to identify, assess, and mitigate cybersecurity threats and vulnerabilities systematically and continuously. CTEM aims to provide organisations with a real-time understanding of their security posture, enabling them to detect and respond to threats promptly.

The critical components of CTEM include:

1. Vulnerability Assessment – Regularly scanning and identifying vulnerabilities in an organisation’s systems, networks, and applications using automated tools to discover potential weaknesses that attackers could exploit.
2. Threat Intelligence Integration – Incorporating threat intelligence feeds to stay informed about the latest cybersecurity threats, trends, and tactics malicious actors use.
3. Risk Prioritisation – Analysing and prioritising identified vulnerabilities based on their severity and potential impact on the organisation.
4. Continuous Monitoring – Implementing real-time monitoring solutions to detect and respond to security incidents as they occur. This involves tracking network activities, user behaviour, and system logs to identify anomalies or signs of a potential breach.
5. Remediation and Patch Management – Developing and implementing strategies for addressing and mitigating identified vulnerabilities.
6. Automation and Orchestration – Leveraging automation to streamline and accelerate security processes in scanning, analysing, and responding to threats more efficiently, reducing the time between detection and mitigation.
7. Compliance Monitoring – Ensuring security practices align with regulatory requirements and industry standards.

With CTEM, organisations can move away from the traditional approach of periodic security assessments and instead establish a dynamic and adaptive security posture that responds to the evolving threat landscape. This approach is crucial in today’s rapidly changing cybersecurity environment, where new vulnerabilities and threats emerge regularly. According to Gartner, CTEM can reduce security breaches by 66%.

Sustainable Technology

Sustainable technology within the framework of digital solutions for environmental, social, and governance (ESG) outcomes applies technological innovations to ecological challenges, promoting social equity and upholding governance principles. It aims to support long-term ecological balance and human rights by integrating digital solutions into various aspects of business and society. Sustainable technology can be conceptualised within this framework by:

Environment

• Renewable Energy Solutions – Implementing digital technologies to enhance the efficiency and adoption of renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, and hydropower
• Smart Grids – Utilising digital tools to create intelligent energy distribution systems
• IoT (Internet of Things) for Environmental Monitoring –

Social

• Digital Inclusion – Ensuring equitable access to digital technologies
• Health Tech for Social Impact – Leveraging digital health solutions to improve healthcare accessibility, telemedicine, and health data management
• Education Technology – Implementing digital tools to enhance education and skill development

Governance

• Blockchain for Transparency
• Data Privacy and Security – Implementing robust cybersecurity measures to protect sensitive data
• Digital Governance Platforms – for efficient and transparent governance processes, enhancing public participation and facilitating data-driven decision-making.

Human Rights

• Ethical AI and Algorithms – Ensuring that artificial intelligence and algorithms adhere to ethical principles, avoiding biases and discriminatory practices.
• Supply Chain Traceability

A comprehensive approach to sustainable technology involves the integration of these digital solutions across industries, fostering collaboration between businesses, governments, and communities.

Platform Engineering

Platform engineering involves creating and maintaining robust infrastructure and services that enable developers and teams within an organisation to build, deploy, and manage their applications efficiently. This approach emphasises the concept of internal platforms, each managed by a dedicated product team, to cater to the specific needs of its users. Critical aspects of platform engineering include:

Self-Service Philosophy

• Empowering Development Teams – The core principle of self-service platforms is to empower development teams by providing them with tools and services to manage their application lifecycle independently.
• Automated Workflows – Designing platforms with computerised workflows for everyday tasks such as application deployment, scaling, and monitoring, reducing the manual effort required from development teams.

Layered Architecture

• Modular Design – Platforms are structured in layers, each serving a specific purpose. This allows flexibility, scalability, and the ability to update individual components without disrupting the entire system.
• Abstraction of Complexity – Each layer abstracts the complexity of underlying infrastructure and provides a simplified interface for users. Dedicated Product Teams

Interface with Tools and Processes

• Integration with CI/CD Pipelines – Seamless integration with continuous integration and continuous deployment (CI/CD) pipelines, ensuring that applications can be quickly built, tested, and deployed on the platform.
• Monitoring and Logging Integration – Built-in support for monitoring and logging tools to provide visibility into the performance and health of applications running on the platform
• Scalability and Elasticity – Platforms scale horizontally and elastically to accommodate varying workloads and resource demands.

User-Centric Approach

• User Experience (UX) Design – Prioritising user experience in platform design, ensuring that developers and teams find it intuitive to use the provided tools and services.
• Documentation and Training – Offering comprehensive documentation and training resources to help users understand the capabilities and best practices associated with the platform.

By adopting platform engineering with self-service internal platforms, organisations can accelerate the development process, improve collaboration between development and operations teams, and foster innovation by allowing teams to focus on building features rather than managing infrastructure. This approach aligns with the principles of DevOps and supports the overall agility and efficiency of the organisation.

According to Gartner, 80% of software engineering teams will be platform-based.

AI Augmented Development

AI-augmented development involves the integration of AI technologies, including generative AI and machine learning, to assist and enhance various aspects of the software development lifecycle. The goal is to improve software engineering processes’ efficiency, speed, and quality by leveraging AI capabilities. Some key elements include:

• Code Generation – Generative AI can automatically generate code snippets or even entire functions based on high-level specifications provided by developers. This accelerates the coding process and reduces the manual effort required for routine or boilerplate code.
• Natural Language Processing (NLP) – AI models with NLP capabilities can understand and interpret natural language descriptions. This enables developers to express their intentions in a more human-readable format, translatable into functional code.
• Automated Testing – ML algorithms can create intelligent test automation tools that learn from historical testing data.
• Predictive analytics – ML models can predict potential code areas prone to defects, helping developers focus their testing efforts on critical sections of the application.
• Automated Code Review – AI tools can analyse code for adherence to coding standards, best practices, and potential vulnerabilities.

Other capabilities include performance optimisation,  project planning and resource allocation, automated task assignment, continuous integration and deployment, release management, user interface design, and more. AI-augmented development is an evolving field that promises to make software development more efficient, collaborative, and accessible.

According to Gartner, 75% of software engineers will use AI coding assistants by 2028.

Industry cloud platforms

Industry cloud platforms are specialised cloud computing solutions designed to address particular industries’ specific needs and challenges. These platforms go beyond generic cloud services by integrating industry-specific Software as a Service (SaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) components into a comprehensive offering with composable capabilities. Key features of this approach include:

• Industry Focus – Industry cloud platforms are built with a deep understanding of the unique requirements and regulations of specific sectors such as healthcare, finance, manufacturing, or retail
• Pre-configured SaaS applications, PaaS tools, and IaaS resources are tailored to the needs of the industry, reducing the complexity of deployment and customisation.
• These platforms are designed with a modular, composable architecture, allowing organisations to select and integrate specific services based on their unique requirements.
• Users can compose their applications and workflows by combining and configuring different components, creating a flexible and customised solution.
• The platforms seamlessly integrate SaaS applications, PaaS tools, and underlying infrastructure. This ensures that data flows smoothly across various components, enhancing interoperability.
• Platforms often include tools and services for handling industry-specific data types, such as patient health records or financial transactions, while ensuring compliance with regulations

Industry cloud platforms offer many advantages over legacy methods. For instance, they deeply understand the specific challenges, processes, and regulations within a particular sector, which is reflected in the platform’s design and features. Seamless integration, flexible scaling, and the Pay-as-You-Go model maximise efficiency; additionally, platforms are designed with industry-specific security measures and compliance features, helping organisations meet regulatory requirements.

According to Gartner, by 2027, over half of enterprises will use this technology.

Intelligent Applications

Intelligent applications leverage AI and other advanced technologies to enhance functionality, learning capabilities, and automation. These applications analyse data, adapt to user behaviour, and make informed decisions without explicit programming. In terms of their nuts and bolts:

• Data Collection – Intelligent applications gather and process large volumes of data from various sources, including user interactions, historical records, and real-time inputs.
• Feature Extraction – Relevant features are extracted from the data to build a comprehensive understanding of the context and patterns.
• Machine learning algorithms are trained on historical data to recognise patterns, relationships, and trends. Intelligent applications often use models that can adapt and learn continuously, improving their accuracy over time as more data becomes available.
• User inputs and continuous user feedback refine models and improve the application’s ability to understand and respond to user needs.
• Applications can make informed decisions, predictions, or recommendations based on the analysis of data and learned patterns.
• Such applications often incorporate NLP and computer vision for communication and object recognition.

Thus, intelligent applications can enhance and personalise user experience, understand and respond to user context, and improve the relevance of recommendations and interactions. Intelligent applications are a pivotal part of the evolving technology landscape, contributing to the digital transformation of various industries by leveraging AI and data-driven insights to deliver smarter, more efficient solutions.

According to Gartner, by 2026, a third of new apps will be AI-driven.

Democratised Generative AI

Democratised Generative AI involves the broad accessibility and usage of generative AI tools and technologies across various users within an organisation and across multiple industries. Thus, the power and benefits of generative AI are distributed widely, making these advanced capabilities available to a larger and more diverse audience. Key features include:

• Widespread availability makes generative AI tools accessible to a broad audience, including individuals, small businesses, and organisations with varying technical expertise.
• Intuitive Tools – The tools associated with Democratized Generative AI are designed with user-friendly interfaces, minimising the need for advanced technical skills to use and understand the technology.
• Democratised Generative AI platforms often incorporate no-code or low-code approaches, allowing users to harness the power of AI without extensive programming knowledge.
• Democratised Generative AI encourages collaboration and knowledge sharing within a community of users, fostering a collective understanding and development of AI applications.
• Some Democratized Generative AI efforts involve open-source initiatives, allowing users to contribute to improving and expanding AI tools.

Democratised Generative AI holds the potential to unlock new possibilities, foster creativity, and democratise the benefits of AI technologies across various domains. By making these tools accessible and user-friendly, it encourages a broader audience to participate in and contribute to the advancement of generative AI applications.

According to Gartner, most enterprises will have used generative AI by 2026.

Finally

From the trends we have analysed, AI and related technologies are undoubtedly on a path to transform industry significantly across multiple domains by introducing innovative capabilities, improving efficiency, and enabling new solutions. Automated creativity, generative design, process and supply chain optimisation,  finance, customer service, cyber security, HR, environmental monitoring, education and healthcare are just some sectors that will feel its impact. While timelines are difficult to predict, experts agree that many changes will occur in the next 36 months.

The effect on jobs will be profound. The shortage of AI expertise is manifested in enhanced opportunities and rewards for the top talent in these fields. At the same time, technology will replace many jobs that can be automated.

Download the report

The post Top Tech Trends for 2024 first appeared on Horton International.

1. Authenticity and professionalism

In the world of professional networking, authenticity is the key to success. An authentic profile should present both professional achievements and personal characteristics in a balanced manner. Instead of exaggerated self-portrayal, it is important to authentically reflect real skills and deep commitment to the field.

An example of this is the portrayal of an IT professional who not only emphasises technical skills and professional milestones, but also shares her personal development in the industry. This person could describe their journey from a passion for computer games in their youth, to a computer science bachelor’s degree, to leading complex IT projects at a multinational company. This illustrates how personal interests and professional experiences can lead to exceptional performance and shows potential employers your skills, motivation and unique perspectives.

An authentic LinkedIn profile is more than just a list of qualifications and work experience. Your professional identity emphasises your expertise and personal experiences. With authenticity and professionalism you will stand out and maximise your career opportunities.

2. Long-term planning instead of short-term provocation

A well-thought-out long-term strategy on LinkedIn far outperforms short-lived, provocative content. Martin Krill highlights the importance of writing articles that reflect genuine insights and reflections. This not only demonstrates your understanding of current industry trends, but also your ability to think broadly and constructively – a key trait for any leader.

Let’s take the example of a risk management professional. Instead of focusing on sensational or controversial topics, this professional could build a strong reputation by sharing in-depth analysis about market risks and risk mitigation strategies. Such content demonstrates his ability to analyse complex topics in depth and act proactively.

Short-term provocations may attract attention, but they risk undermining your professional credibility. On the other hand, a LinkedIn profile that offers strategic insights and deep expertise establishes you as a respected voice in your field. By crafting your online presence wisely, you are laying the foundation for long-term success and recognition in your industry.

3. The Power of Networking: More than just a job search

LinkedIn is about much more than just looking for a job. The platform serves as a dynamic career development ecosystem in which headhunters also actively look for top talent for key positions. Think of your LinkedIn profile as an interactive business card that represents you in the digital world. It is a showcase of your professional skills, achievements and ambitions.

Let’s take a project manager in the renewable energy sector as an example. He regularly reports on his projects and green technology challenges. By participating in discussions and sharing insights into environmentally friendly solutions, he shows his commitment and expertise. This activity attracts potential employers and headhunters. Continuous networking and knowledge sharing help to be perceived as an influential figure in the industry.

4. Quality over quantity: depth instead of superficiality

The value of your LinkedIn profile is largely determined by the quality of the content you share. Instead of focusing on the number of posts, you should focus on in-depth and technically relevant content. For example, a financial analyst who shares detailed insights and informed forecasts on market trends not only demonstrates their extensive expertise but also contributes to the knowledge community.

Such high-quality posts can stimulate discussion, increase your visibility, and solidify your reputation as an expert in your field. By providing content with substance and relevance, you position yourself as a valuable resource and opinion leader in your industry. Sharing well-researched articles, in-depth analysis, and personal success stories makes your profile not only informative, but also inspiring and memorable.

And finally … Think authenticity, strategic foresight and first-class content. Bring your profile to life by vividly representing your professional journey and personal experiences – highlight your uniqueness. Say goodbye to short-term stimuli and instead focus on in-depth articles that let your expertise shine and demonstrate your foresight.

Source reference: The original article can be found here: https://www.businessinsider.de/karriere/ideales-linkedin-profil-headhunter-gibt-tipps-fuer-100-000-euro-jobs/?tpcc=offsite_bi_linkedin_bi

The post The Ideal Linkedin Profile: How To Position Yourself For Top Jobs first appeared on Horton International.

“Our success is built on long-term partnerships based on trust,” says Martin Krill, Managing Partner of Horton International Germany. “Continuity for us means professional appreciation, not settling into routine. We value each award we receive, and remain dedicated to delivering outstanding results.”

Continuing their streak of success, Horton International Germany has been recognised as the Top Personnel Service Provider 2023 by FOCUS Business, marking their tenth consecutive win. Competing against 4,000 service providers, their consistent performance was evaluated through 2,200 interviews with HR managers, personnel service providers, and candidates. Out of the 284 awarded companies, Horton International Germany was among the 62 recognised in the executive search category.

This latest award adds to a series of esteemed acknowledgments for Horton International Germany’s exceptional performance. WirtschaftsWoche named them one of the “Best Executive Search Consultants 2022” out of 830 firms, while Handelsblatt recognised them as a “Top Executive Search Consultant” out of 509 evaluated firms.

Furthermore, they have also been recognsised as an exceptional employer, earning the coveted TOP Company recommendation and recognition for fostering an open work culture on the kununu employee evaluation platform.

Congratulations to the entire team for their exceptional achievements!

The post Horton International Germany – Leading the Way in Personnel Services for the Tenth Consecutive Year first appeared on Horton International.

In the end, a sensitive gap occurred during the pandemic. But it was not only the fast, networked transfer of data that came under discussion – since then, IT security in the critical healthcare infrastructure has also come under scrutiny. How secure is patient data in hospitals? Is information and data security guaranteed at all times for all players in the healthcare ecosystem? And are IT security solutions really as robust and reliably protective as they claim to be?

The digital hospital

It is undisputed that digitization also opens up a wide range of opportunities in healthcare, especially in the context of much-vaunted personalized medicine. To this end, the Federal Ministry of Health is pursuing an ambitious digitization strategy, through which it is hoped, among other things, to achieve more efficient administrative processes. The Hospital Future Act, which came into force in 2020, has already prescribed a digital update for German hospitals. In the “digital hospital” of the future, the electronic patient file and its linkage with numerous software components, such as drug prescription software, are indispensable. Devices and objects will be linked digitally in a far more complex way than they are today – gone will be the days when employees of medical laboratories had to laboriously enter handwritten data from doctors´ practices into their IT systems.

“The more digitization in critical health infrastructure, the more important security becomes, so simple yet highly complex is it all.”

CISO establishes security architecture

IT security is not a niche, but a necessity that permeates everything. Critical healthcare infrastructure is not exempt. The number of hospitals that must meet the requirements of the IT Security Act will increase in the future, regardless of the legal obligations. The requirements and necessities for digitization have given rise to new positions and departments responsible for information and data security throughout the organization. Increasingly, hospitals are setting up Security Operation Centers (SOC) operated by their own experts, which should enable them to analyze external hacker attacks in order to keep their own IT systems and IT infrastructures stable and protect them from damage in the face of increasingly complex attack technologies.

With the SOC, IT security is also taken into account not only in healthcare, but also with regard to medical and building technology. The head responsible for overall corporate and cyber security is the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO, all genders). His or her area of responsibility is far greater than that of the Chief Security Officer (CSO, all genders) or a department head for security. A CISO, whether working in a hospital or a health department, develops a holistic overall strategy for information security, but is not organizationally anchored in IT; instead, he or she usually reports directly to the CEO or the CIO.

Convincing of the need

Based on an interdisciplinary strategy, a CISO creates an individual analysis of all systems and processes to ensure a protected and robust security architecture. The CISO optimizes security policies, controls identity management and leads training and awareness sessions for employees. Communication skills and strong assertiveness are mandatory, especially when a CISO has to convince about the necessity of IT security and about adjustments of process flows in the company. The discussion about the relevance of the function ends at the latest when the CISO intervenes in a security-relevant incident as “Superman” or “Superwoman” who saves the day. Anyone who underestimates such incidents or IT gaps and cyberattacks is blatantly misjudging the role of the CISO.

Security where the threads converge

IT security experts in critical infrastructure face a tremendous and challenging workload. In hospitals, they often find IT systems and software applications that run in parallel like a patchwork and are not always compatible, which is a gateway for sensitive data to be leaked and intercepted. In addition, these experts must take a forward-looking strategic view of hospitals as interfaces for networking practices and health insurers – multisectoral networking across hospital boundaries, from nursing to outpatient care in doctors’ practices, is also a sustainability goal formulated by politicians.

Processes and responsibilities will continue to change in digitization, there is no going back and this would also speak against any progress. Horton International Germany, which has focused on digitization and networked technologies since its founding more than 25 years ago, has been observing the challenges for a long time: the more technology and AI are used in therapy and diagnostics, the more complex the demands on IT security in the critical healthcare infrastructure become. Managing the latter, while always striking a balance between data security and business effectiveness, is the task of specifically trained IT security experts, wherever the threads have to come together quickly and transparently, whether in laboratories, health offices or clinics.

However, this requires a change in mindset and a sense of urgency among many of those responsible. Again, IT security is not a niche, but permeates all areas of healthcare. Policymakers should not always be the first to call for action or even reinforce measures. Individual responsibility is key and the imperative mandate.

The message of optimal IT security has not yet been received everywhere, but to ignore it would be to expose oneself to avoidable risk and, above all, to an enormous loss of trust on the part of patients.

The post Is The Critical Healthcare Infrastructure Protected? first appeared on Horton International.

With the impact of advanced digital technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), increasingly underpinning many aspects of the industry, from drug discovery and clinical trials to supply chain management, we can expect an exciting future with emerging opportunities for fresh talent. Here we will focus on the following areas:

• The forging of digital partnerships between pharma and tech businesses
• Clinical trials
• Cloud computing
• Blockchain technology
• Personalised medicine

Digital partnerships pave the way forward

Pharma giants are deeply aware of the potential benefits of partnering with digital health organisations, and many flavours of collaboration are being explored, including acquisitions, collaborations, investments and more. Such partnerships include various activities and applications, including health apps, remote clinical trials, virtual drug trials, digital therapeutics, drug discovery, diagnostic tools, and secure data management. As a result, the digital healthcare market is predicted to grow at a CAGR of 28% through 2026, reaching $640 billion.

Such partnerships are far more efficient than in-house development, providing the opportunity to develop powerful synergies between both sectors. As expressed by pharma executives, the primary drivers are access to new technologies, reduction of operational costs, and meeting new patient demands.

Clinical trials

Testing drugs is a slow, painful and expensive process. Most drug development projects fail at the clinical trials stage, not only because of the non-effectiveness of the therapeutic agent under test but through extraneous factors such as poor planning, patient non-compliance and administrative problems. The failure rate is enormous. Only 3.4% of oncology clinical trials are successful, though this rises to 33.4% for vaccine trials. Most drug development programmes take 10 to 15 years to develop a single drug at a cost of around $1 billion. The overall cost of clinical trial failure is enormous and potentially unsustainable.

Clinical trials generate increasingly colossal data sets – currently three times more data than a decade ago. Unfortunately, this unprecedented amount of data poses handling problems due to the volume and the fact that much of it is poor quality and potentially harmful to the patient. The reasons for poor quality data are attributed to:

• Inadequate industry standards – clinical research includes multiple data capture systems, processes and definitions resulting in chaos and confusion.
• Lack of appropriate skillsets – staff are unskilled at interpreting and analysing data. AI can detect highly nuanced signals; however, their implications are often missed by study groups which are often unable to keep up with the latest AI developments.
• Poor automation and integration – there is still a focus on dashboards and spreadsheets rather than on modern data analytics tools.

Clinical trials must change, and the industry is focused on replacing the current regime with a more effective and efficient approach. One of the leading trends in achieving this is decentralised and hybrid clinical trials. Rather than require patients to travel to a centre for the trial, patients can remain at home while they are remotely monitored. This system makes it easier for participants though it can compromise patient safety.

Another approach is breaking the randomised controlled clinical trial model, which, although rigorous, is expensive and often lacks hard endpoints. Instead, researchers focus on value-based clinical trials that use modern technology to monitor symptoms and endpoints that patients relate to. These are more focused on subjective experience than biological markers.

There is much to be done, with many opportunities for new talent to forge pathways into clinical trials that deliver better results at sustainable costs.

Cloud computing speeds time to market

The pharma sector is awash with data, much of which is highly sensitive and increasing daily. From its origins in the tech sector, cloud computing has blossomed, offering unprecedented speed, resilience and scalability while eliminating the need for high capital investment. It enables innovative analytics in drug discovery and clinical trials within pharma, reducing innovation cycles from a decade to years and months, and providing global access to crucial data. For instance, cloud computing was instrumental in allowing Moderna to provide Covid-19 vaccines for clinical trials just 42 days after sequencing the virus.

In 2023 cloud computing will continue to impact all aspects of the pharma value chain, including research and initial development, drug repurposing, clinical trials, market access, and commercial applications. However, the technology is not without its challenges. Over the next few years, developers must focus on realising the cloud’s potential value to the business.

However, extending the cloud across multiple business areas is difficult, especially in the fragmented research strategies typical of pharmaceutical companies. Strong leadership and talent are needed to drive through a holistic approach to the cloud. Data protection, compliance and security are vital across the industry, and the speed of the cloud means new approaches are needed. Costs must also be carefully managed; while cloud computing is fundamentally a low-budget approach, maintaining legacy operations, migrating processes, and cloud migration can have significant financial implications.

Moving to the cloud requires different technological expertise from more traditional approaches. As a result, new workforce capabilities are likely to be needed. Upskilling the existing workforce and hiring the right talent will be crucial to successful cloud implementation. In addition, the challenges ahead will likely attract and motivate new talent, thus further increasing the business value.

Blockchain technology improves security

Attracted by its decentralised data structure that offers the highest data security and integrity standards, Blockchain technology is being increasingly adopted by pharma, a trend that will continue through 2023 and far beyond. The overriding concerns throughout the sector from drug discovery to drug distribution, include product quality, patient safety, and data integrity. Blockchain technology has the potential to enhance and streamline all of these and more.

One problem confronting the industry is drug counterfeiting, a considerable problem that puts patients’ lives at risk and has significant financial implications. Blockchain technology has the potential to safeguard every step in the supply chain and guarantee that the customer receives the correct product.

Blockchain also can enhance clinical research by safeguarding patient information, validating returned drugs, and confirming intellectual property claims regarding drug discovery. However, there are challenges, not least the lack of blockchain expertise within the industry. Therefore, the best approach could be partnerships with blockchain start-ups and consultancies.

Personalised medicine promises a bright future

Personalised medicine is seen as the way forward for pharma. This emerging healthcare practice is based on taking a patient’s genetic profile to guide disease prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. It is now increasingly replacing the traditional one-size fits all approach. Personalised medicine is set to transform healthcare in the future as its abilities to treat multiple, and life-threatening ailments are realised. The global personalised medicine market is expected to reach $717 billion by 2025 and $923 billion by 2030.

While personalised medicine is far from new, to an extent, it has been used in oncology for two decades or more for both chemotherapy and analgesia. However, recent molecular diagnostic technologies and AI and ML mean physicians can create optimum drug and treatment plans for their patients. While currently, physicians are likely to choose appropriate drug treatments from those available off the shelf, customised drugs may be explicitly created for the patient in the future. Using state-of-art molecular design tools, standard drug backbones will be modified to suit patients’ specific needs and genomics. The sustainability of such approaches within the pharma industry is yet to be tested, but by harnessing the power of data, many analysts believe it will happen and will be the future of modern medicine.

Finally

Innovation challenges abound across pharma – and the industry is currently in an excellent position to rise to them. With funds to spend on new talent, ideas and facilities, the sector is a talent magnet for high performers. In addition, the industry’s demand for AI and data science continues to grow rapidly. As a result, these technologies are now increasingly positioned at the core of most major pharmaceutical research and development areas.

It also makes sense for the industry to continue to pursue strategies involving big pharma and digital technology partnerships. Collaboration is the way forward that will give organisations a competitive edge. Digital health has become big business, and the sector will continue to expand as the industry moves forward to exploit personalised medicine’s full potential.

The post Pharma Trends In 2023 first appeared on Horton International.

“If I stop, I fall behind.” The old running slogan of industry sounds quite different today: “If you don’t take two steps ahead, you fall three steps behind.” The digital revolution and with it the profound transformation of all areas of life and work is like the triumphant advance of the steam engine in the 19th century – nothing stays the same; knowledge and inventions pick up speed. The digital transformation has also permanently changed our understanding and approach to illness. Bringing ever more sophisticated digital applications and technologies to market maturity has become the driving force of R&D departments in medical technology. For example, AI offers benefits that go far beyond traditional diagnostic and clinical techniques. The alliance of man and machine, located in the “Internet of Medical Things” (IoMT), is progressing rapidly. Thanks to a medical technology industry that sets standards worldwide and is among the leaders in global trade, Germany is in the middle of the dynamics of this change. It is also proving to be a good location for establishing high-quality, innovative applications in healthcare.

On the transformation journey

IT-equipped products and production. Horizontal and vertical networking across company boundaries. Visionary medical goals. In today’s medtech cyber world, CIOs (are ideally at the helm, fully engaged in the transformation journey and therefore know where the company is right now, including in terms of efficiency, productivity and growth.

They understand automation controlled by digital systems and are close to production or production management. Increasingly, they are engineers from the mechanical engineering sector who can score points here with their experience and a range of innovative technology concepts. Psychologically, what these CIOs 4.0 have in common is the persuasiveness and charisma to accompany the entire workforce on this not always easy journey. If jobs are cut as a result of robotics, the CIO 4.0 looks at where these valuable specialists can be deployed elsewhere in the company so that they are not lost. That is transformation in action.

New generation of skills

The biggest challenge, however, is the speed at which everyone has to keep up. Always at least two steps ahead. If a company does not manage this innovation-hungry pace, it will inevitably lose out in global competition. Leading and not lagging behind others is the name of the game. Germany’s medtech giants have internalized this maxim and are on the lookout for protagonists who understand how to implement the new 4.0 paradigm. Small and medium-sized companies must be advised to do the same. Horton International knows the fast pace of digital transformation. And Horton International knows the personalities who bring willingness to change and fast thinking. There are no empty phrases behind this, but rather our many years of experience: change begins with people. And for the present and the future, we need leaders who can guide us through change in tense times. They are communicators, networking masters, human deep learners and visionaries. Without them, the representatives of the new CIO 4.0 generation, the digitization pressure to which medical technology is exposed will come to nothing. With fatal consequences.

“Transformation requires a willingness to change. Opening up to the new and shaping it remains the only chance to help set the agenda in global competition.” Dr. Markus Neumann, Business Unit Manager Lifesciences & Healthcare

The post CIO 4.0 – Do We Need A New Generation Of IT Managers For Networking And Automation? first appeared on Horton International.

Genome researcher Prof. Dr. Alexander Dilthey examines how advances in genome sequencing technology (Next Generation Sequencing, or NGS) can be harnessed to generate biological-medical knowledge.

In an interview with Dr. med. Markus Neumann (Horton International Germany), he explains future scenarios in the pandemic occurrence of infectious diseases and the opportunity to revolutionise not only the fight against multi-resistant hospital germs through genome sequencing.

Markus Neumann, MD:

The importance of genomic infectious medicine was demonstrated on a broad scale by the Corona pandemic. In a pilot project at the University of Düsseldorf, you and your team were able to uncover clusters of infection of the virus through NGS sequencing, i.e. with the help of a rapid and efficient analysis of the genetic material, and thus improve the tracing of infection chains.

Prof. Dr. Alexander Dilthey:

Genome sequencing can be used to unravel infection chains more effectively.
In the pandemic, we were able to gain a completely new perspective on the spread networks of pathogens. This is an insight that will be strategically decisive in the future. The biggest mistake would be to assume that things could not get worse – after the pandemic is before the pandemic. However, with the new NGS technologies, we are better prepared.

Markus Neumann, MD:

The corona virus SARS-CoV-2 was identified within only a few weeks. This is the fastest any virus has ever been identified, which is like a technological marvel.

Prof. Dr Alexander Dilthey:

With the identified genome sequence of the virus, it was possible to produce the vaccine. This worked phenomenally well in Germany and America. The fact that we had a vaccine so quickly after the virus appeared is directly due to the progress in genome sequencing. Nevertheless, during the pandemic there was a strong focus on the established diagnostic methods, less on the innovations in genome sequencing.

Markus Neumann, MD:

The microbiome, that is the totality of all microorganisms that colonise humans, is known to have a complex influence on the immune system, metabolism and hormone system. How useful would it have been to include its mechanisms of action in the Corona pandemic?

Prof. Dr. Alexander Dilthey:

In terms of individual personalised medicine that leverages data generated from sequencing, this would indeed have been enormously forward-looking. It is possible that the microbiome has an influence on the course of corona diseases, or the probability of becoming ill.

The new sequencing capabilities open up a world in which science can understand the microbiomes even better in causal terms, for example, what role fungi play in interaction with bacteria. Already today, the microbiomes are part of the focus in cancer immunotherapy. And we know that they have to be seen in connection with the development of infectious diseases.

Markus Neumann, MD:

What knowledge will remain?

Prof. Dr Alexander Dilthey:

The central insight beyond the pandemic is that it would be important and sensible to integrate genome sequencing into standard diagnostics. We have to get there. Take sepsis (“blood poisoning”), for example. In the case of this complication, which can arise in a wide variety of infectious diseases, the decisive question is which pathogen is the cause and how best to combat it. Traditionally, the result of a blood sample is only known after twelve to 48 hours. This wastes valuable time, because every hour of delay increases mortality. In the new world of genomic infection medicine, the entire genetic material from the blood would be sequenced. With NGS technology, the results can be available after only six hours. Moreover, in some cases the generated data also provide information about antibiotic resistance. Targeted therapy could thus be initiated much more quickly and efficiently. I also see a revolution in this respect in the fight against multi-resistant hospital germs. Here, routes of spread within a hospital – and also between different hospitals or doctors’ practices – can be verified quickly and appropriate measures can be initiated.

Markus Neumann, MD:

The latest sequencing technologies will also revolutionise countless fields of research in the life sciences. Could there soon be a kind of construction or module kit for clinical routine to individualise treatments?

Prof. Dr. Alexander Dilthey:

With NGS diagnostics, there is indeed a revolutionary tool available for the treatment and prevention of diseases that can take into account individual differences in genes, lifestyle, but also the environment. This approach to precision medicine will make it possible to accurately predict which treatment and prevention strategies will be successful for a given disease and in which groups of people. Pandemic infectious events in their early stages can be diagnosed with certainty and their spread could be prevented. A “module system” for clinical routine would be quite possible. But there is still a long way to go before that happens. For one thing, data analysis and the interpretation of findings are extremely demanding. Without software and algorithms, the data cannot be deciphered. It also requires deep subject matter expertise. One of the biggest challenges is actually data management, i.e. the storage, security and analysis of the huge amounts of data. We also need quality standards as well as ethical and legal guidelines, such as how to deal with the expected side findings in comprehensive genome analyses. Furthermore, the question of cost coverage by health insurers has not yet been clarified. However, the first steps towards the broad application of NGS technologies have been taken and it is hoped that they will soon find their way into routine medical diagnostics.

Markus Neumann, MD:

Where are there obviously still deficits?

Prof. Dr. Alexander Dilthey:

We have to work worldwide to increase sequencing capacity. The future belongs to networked diagnostics, where the most diverse medical technology systems exchange data with each other, whether antibody data or the genetic profile of a patient. In terms of the possibilities of data integration, there is still a lot of room for improvement; the Anglo-Saxon countries are already much further ahead in this. What we need are modern concepts for data protection. The goal is easier translation (“from the laboratory bench to the bedside”), i.e. new research findings should be evaluated more quickly for their clinical usefulness and safety and made available to patients.

Markus Neumann, MD:

Horton International Germany fills key positions to support this translation up to the marketing of new drugs and solutions. The manufacturers of pharmaceutical products and medical devices, whether medium-sized companies or long-established global players, are exposed to enormous quality and efficiency pressure – the competition is huge and the pressure to innovate is high. Against this background, the battle for talent is in full swing.

Prof. Dr. Alexander Dilthey:

In the USA and Great Britain, pharmaceutical and biotech companies are extremely attractive employers, and a large proportion of graduates in the corresponding disciplines aspire to work there. Artificial intelligence in the development of new medicines, interdisciplinary work and big data volumes that deliver usable knowledge all represent a great incentive for young talent.

The pharmaceutical industry in Germany can only catch up here. Research departments need data scientists and bio-data scientists with an affinity for and understanding of personalised medicine, algorithms and empirical data. Empirics, data integration and medicine are increasingly converging in the development of new medicines. If these skills are not available within the company, they must be brought on board through collaborations with orthogonal biopharma players or academic institutes. For a strategic positioning in a highly complex knowledge ecosystem like this, cooperations are simply indispensable. Otherwise, the worst case scenario is that you lose out internationally.

“Next Generation Sequencing is the only logical step towards modern precision medicine.”

Prof. Dr. Alexander Dilthey
Genome Researcher 

Prof. Dr Alexander Dilthey,  Professor of Genomic Microbiology and Immunity at Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf. Main focus: Bioinformatics, Big Data analytics and sequencing. Company foundations in Oxford/UK and Germany. The distinguished genome researcher was a sought-after expert during the Corona pandemic. At the Düsseldorf University Institute for Medical Microbiology and Hospital Hygiene, he is leading a highly regarded coronavirus sequencing project. With the genetic fingerprint, chains of infection can be traced (“corona screen search”).

Markus Neumann, MD,  Business Unit Head Lifesciences & Healthcare. – Horton International Germany. Several years’ experience as a clinical physician. Senior manager in the life sciences and healthcare sector for renowned companies in Germany and abroad. Board member of the German Healthcare Alliance at the Federation of German Industries (BDI) until 2019

FASTER, MORE EFFICIENT, CHEAPER

Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) refers to improved technologies for DNA sequencing. A complete human genome can be sequenced within one day. In contrast to classical sequencing (according to Sanger), several hundred million fragments in a sample are sequenced simultaneously. Sequence changes such as mutations are detected in the process. Time and costs are comparatively much lower.
For research purposes, in clinical genetics, microbiology and oncology, NGS technologies have already been used for several years. Their relevance in the early detection and control of infectious diseases and pandemics as well as in oncology is assured.

The post Medicine. Powers. Big Data. first appeared on Horton International.

In an interview with Dr. Markus Neumann of the Horton International Life Sciences Practice, Eric de Kesel, responsible for sustainability at Swedish medical device manufacturer Mölnlycke, explains how disposable products can still generate a good eco-balance. He says: “Ethical behaviour attracts ethical behaviour.” But it is not only this formula for success that is exemplary.

World market leader Mölnlycke Health Care is on its way to becoming a zero-waste company and is continuously reducing the ecological footprint of its products and processes. On what considerations and regulations is Mölnlycke’s sustainable future based?

ERIC DE KESEL: “Our goal is to improve healthcare worldwide. And sustainability is a strategic priority. We recognise the importance of reducing our GHG emissions along our entire value chain and are in the process of building a sustainable ecosystem for the production of healthcare solutions that we offer, including minimising product waste and improved efficiency in the use of raw materials. By 2030, 95 per cent of our packaging will be recyclable and more than 80 per cent of all packaging will be made of recycled (PCR) and/or renewable material. Our sustainability goals are based on the relevant international conventions, including the goals of the United Nations Paris Climate Agreement, and the findings of science are fundamental to everything we do. We report on metrics in accordance with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) standards and the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises. By 2050 at the latest, we aim to have achieved net zero emissions along the entire value chain and to both, have reduced material consumption and decoupled it from our growth. With ‘WeCare’, we have developed a medium and long-term sustainability plan (‘roadmap’) to create shared value for all our stakeholders. We see sustainability as a driver of growth, innovation and productivity, and an essential part of our value proposition to our people.”

How is “WeCare” navigating the path to sustainable transformation?

ERIC DE KESEL: “We have defined three pillars for the ‘WeCare roadmap’: ‘Green mindset’, ‘Responsible relationships’ and ‘Ethical business’. These are, according to the materiality analysis we conducted, the most important issues that represent sources of risks and opportunities for Mölnlycke and its stakeholders. When we focused fully on sustainable mindset and action, we also decided to think in an integrative way. This is because integration, thus the embedding of all three pillars in all functions and business areas within the company, is, in our experience, the key to innovation and a high degree of effectiveness. The close interweaving of sustainability work with all areas of our business facilitates detection and measurement of potential challenges at early stage and guides us in how to act on these. It is important to Mölnlycke to constantly measure and improve our sustainability approach.”

“The goal is to transform Mölnlycke to become a global leader in sustainable healthcare.”
Eric De Kesel, COO & EVP Sustainability, Mölnlycke Health Care

Mölnlycke manufactures disposable medical products – how can this be reconciled with sustainability?

ERIC DE KESEL: “Mölnlycke does not compromise on the safety and quality of its products; our promise is to be a premium supplier. At the same time, we are committed to offer our customers solutions with the smallest possible environmental footprint. Finding the right balance in this equation is not always easy or straightforward. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) shapes our main approach to sustainability in product development. The assessment helps us to ensure that the prudent management of natural resources and the environment provides the foundations for Mölnlycke’s sustainable business growth and supports Mölnlycke’s commitment to meet the growing needs of our customers for sustainable products while guaranteeing patient safety. Reusable is not always the best option due to the high amount of resource used and investigation on a case-to-case basis should be done, taking into account the entire value chain impact.

At Mölnlycke, we have been working on phasing out the use of fossil materials in our product formulations for quite some time now. One example is our ISCC-certified surgical drape product offers, produced with bio-based raw materials, contributing to effectively reducing GHG emissions compared to similar products with the same function. We are a pioneer in this, by the way. ISCC-certification also ensures full traceability of materials. Another example is a post-op wound dressing that can remain on surgical wounds for up to seven days. This significant reduction in dressing changes, as compared to conventional dressings, contributes to a reduction in material consumption as well as dressing costs and also helps reduce the risk of wound infections.”

Global zero balance is your goal. How far is Mölnlycke with renewable energy in terms of sustainable growth?

ERIC DE KESEL: “We plan to source 100 per cent electricity from fossil-free sources at all our sites worldwide by the end of 2024. Already today, we have a cumulative share of up to 57 per cent of fossil-free electricity in our production sites. One example: since the beginning of 2020, the electricity at our plant in Finland has been 100 per cent carbon-free. The energy that powers the production facilities, lighting, cooling and waste systems there comes from a combination of wind, solar and hydropower. We partner with ENGIE Impact, the sustainability consulting division of the world’s leading low-carbon energy and services company, on the above Net Zero goal, from strategy to implementation.”

Every ethical behaviour includes a willingness to help. How does Mölnlycke live by this code?

ERIC DE KESEL: “We are committed to acting in a socially responsible way that benefits our customers, patients and society in the long term. We are aware of our responsibility and want to have a sustainable, positive impact. We support medical charities that can deliver credible and measurable results and are in line with our ethical guidelines. With ‘Operation Smile’, we support a global, non-profit charity organisation that provides free and safe surgeries for children with cleft lip and palate. In addition to donations in kind, we also support Operation Smile with employee volunteers and train healthcare professionals in infection prevention. In the fall of 2023, together with Operation Smile, we plan to open a centre of excellence for cleft treatment in the Philippine city of Cebu. In addition, we partner with Debra International – a network that works to improve the quality of life of people with the rare genetic skin disease epidermolysis bullosa (EB), also known as ‘butterfly disease’. The wound patches we developed specifically for this condition are considered the gold standard of treatment worldwide.”

Would you have a “tool kit” along the lines of Mölnlycke’s that would help companies in a sustainable transformation of key business areas beyond the legal requirements?

ERIC DE KESEL: “It would be wonderful if such a fixed toolkit existed. But every transformation journey is different, depending on the company and the regulations of the country where it is located. ESG, the components of which – Environmental, Social, Governance – are still being shaped, illustrate well how broadly the topic of sustainability should be constructed. Mölnlycke recognises its responsibility, a good starting point for the journey to begin. We acknowledge the central role of social responsibility and involve our employees in a targeted way. Instead of applying a rigid ‘tool-kit’, companies should take action and apply appropriate measures courageously. Even if you fail, the learnings can be used to correct your own ESG path.”

How does Mölnlycke motivate its employees to act sustainably?

ERIC DE KESEL: “In our business, employees are genuinely very motivated to work sustainably on their own accord. We believe in creating a first-class workplace, and ethical behaviour is crucial. We actively nurture integrity mindset and encourage our employees to speak up. We also believe that embracing diversity not only teaches tolerance for the individual differences but also contributes to boosting innovative thinking. We give a lot of support to our employees, including regular meetings, learning and leadership programmes and training. Overall, this creates a snowball effect, where ethical behaviour attracts even more ethical behaviour.”

“Ethical behaviour attracts ethical behaviour.”
Eric De Kesel, COO & EVP Sustainability, Mölnlycke Health Care

Does this also apply to partners and suppliers?

ERIC DE KESEL: “Absolutely. Mölnlycke expects its partners to act in the same responsible and ethical way. We promote and encourage values of our corporate culture, such as fairness and transparency among our suppliers, and ask them to promote this in turn with their own partners and suppliers. The company’s Supplier Code of Conduct is designed to ensure responsible business operations and respect for human rights in the supply chain, including human rights, employee relations and health and safety. Compliance with these principles is a key factor when choosing suppliers and business partners. If any issues of concern are identified, we work with the partner to investigate those issues and, where necessary, encourage the development of higher standards. If the partner does not change their behaviour, Mölnlycke will move away from using them whenever possible. We continually monitor our efforts to meet our own standards, as well as the needs and expectations of our customers and stakeholders, and report annually on its progress to the UN Global Compact. All reporting, including disclosures on human rights, connected communities, working conditions, discrimination and harassment in our operations, and modern slavery at company level, is carried out in accordance with local reporting requirements on non-financial information.”

How does Mölnlycke organise its talent management, and do you notice a shortage of skilled workers, as in Germany?

ERIC DE KESEL: “The shortage of skilled workers is not felt as strongly at Mölnlycke as elsewhere. A good 70 per cent of our managers have progressed through the ranks at our company, so they are insiders, which we encourage a lot. Mölnlycke owes its attractiveness to the purpose we stand for. Our product portfolio and our research bring positive value of improving many people’s lives. This sense of purpose builds a certain reputation, which is reinforced by our sustainability profile, all of which is very attractive to existing and potential employees. This way, we minimise talent attrition in spite of not having targeted programmes to recruit talent.”

Thank you very much for the interview, Mr. De Kesel!

About Mölnlycke:

Mölnlycke is a world-leading medical products and solutions company that equips healthcare professionals to achieve the best patient, clinical and economic outcomes. The core business is within the four Business Areas: Wound Care, Operating Room Solutions (ORS), Gloves, and Antiseptics.

Mölnlycke employs around 8,700 people. The headquarters are in Gothenburg, Sweden, and the company operates in more than 100 countries worldwide. Mölnlycke is owned by Patricia Industries AB, which is part of Investor AB, an engaged owner of high-quality, global companies founded by the Wallenberg family in 1916. www.molnlycke.com

Eric De Kesel has held executive positions at Mölnlycke Health Care since 2002. As Chief Operating Officer (COO) and Executive Vice President (EVP) Sustainability, Belgian-born Eric is responsible for the development and implementation of Mölnlycke Health Care’s sustainability strategic framework.

1. Beele, H. et al. A prospective randomized controlled clinical investigation comparing two post-operative wound dressings used after elective hip and knee replacement; Mepilex® Border Post-Op versus Aquacel® Surgical. International Journal of Orthopaedic and Trauma Nursing, 2020.

2. Zarghooni, K. et al. Is the use of modern versus conventional wound dressings warranted after primary knee and hip arthroplasty? Acta Orthopaedica Belgica, 2015.

3. Bredow, J. et al. Evaluation of Absorbent Versus Conventional Wound Dressing. A Randomized Controlled Study in Orthopedic Surgery. Deutsches Ärzteblatt International, 2018.

The post TOP VOICES by Horton International Germany – Interview with International Thought Leaders first appeared on Horton International.

• What exactly is a platform?
• Are platforms new?
• How platform businesses operate
• Why some platforms perform well while others fail
• The disruptive effect of platforms
• Skills that platform start-ups need
• The future of platforms

What is (and what is not) a platform

Apart from being some of the most successful start-ups of recent times, Uber, Apple, Amazon, Airbnb, Facebook, PayPal and Alibaba are examples of organisations that operate platform business models.  Rather than selling their own products and services, they focus on facilitating economic exchanges between different user groups. For example, in the case of Uber, the user groups are drivers and passengers, and with Airbnb, they are landlords and tenants. The core benefit that such businesses provide to their users is access to participants on the other side of the equation. For instance, eBay attracts participants to join, facilitates matches between buyers and sellers, and provides a transactional rule-based architecture where buyers and sellers can safely do business.

While platform businesses leverage technology, a platform is the business model, not just the technology. While incorporating technology, the value-creating component is the holistic business model that brings together users and suppliers.

Platforms and ecosystems

We can view this as a combination of platforms and ecosystems. A business ecosystem is the business community of interacting participants, while the platform is the integrating element that organises the interactions and creates additional value. In other words:

• Communities of interacting entities such as businesses, individuals, and organisations that produce value for one another, maybe by creating and consuming goods and services, are considered an ecosystem.
• A platform is a way of organising that ecosystem and facilitating interactions between its members to create value.

Compared to traditional linear businesses where suppliers create the product or means of production, it is relatively easy and inexpensive to scale platform businesses. In a linear business, the inventory appears on their balance sheet, while this is not the case with a platform business.

Surprising as it may seem, Netflix is a linear business and not a platform business as it owns the licences of the content that it streams. Also, many SaaS businesses that market themselves as platforms, for instance, Amazon Web Services, are linear businesses that sell in-house developed products and services to multiple users.

Platform businesses are as old as the hills

In our highly connected world, we tend to think of platform businesses as new and modern, the natural extension of modern technology and the internet. However, we have been operating platform businesses for as long as human civilisation has existed. Ancient marketplaces and auctions held in Ancient Egypt and Rome were all platform businesses, as are today’s shopping centres and malls.  However, it is only in recent times that platform businesses have become so dominant.

Yet only recently have they dominated the economy

Since the turn of the 21^st century, platform businesses have grown exponentially and have overtaken linear businesses in leading the economy. Eight of the ten wealthiest companies are platforms, and globally around 60% of unicorn start-ups (start-ups worth over a billion dollars) are platforms.

This exponential growth has, of course, been fuelled by digital technology, but as we have indicated, it takes more than just technology to create a platform business. Technology makes creating platform businesses a much more straightforward and economic process.

The essence of a platform business

Platform businesses generate value through the core transactions they facilitate, thus optimising the core transaction elements of the platform is critical to success. These include:

• Building an audience
• Bringing together users and suppliers
• Providing the tools and services needed to facilitate the transactions
• Setting and enforcing rules, protocols, and standards

There are many different kinds of platforms. Some examples are:

• Technology platforms are not actual platform businesses as they market their own technologies to multiple users. However, they are often considered as such, even though they don’t connect platform participants. Examples include Twilio, Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services.
• Computing platforms connect users and third-party developers, typically through an app store. These may start with a parent building the technology side of the platform before launching it to third parties. For instance, Apple developed its initial iPhone apps through partnerships with other businesses, increasing the user side before opening the platform to third-party developers. Google did the opposite – they grew a developer network before launching an Android phone.
• Utility platforms such as Google and Bing attract users by offering free services. Once the user phase is established, they open the platform to advertisers.
• Interaction platforms such as Facebook, WhatsApp, LinkedIn and bitcoin facilitate interactions between users. Such interactions could be text, voice, and money transfer. The network builds organically as users attract more users who attract more users and so on.
• Marketplaces such as Amazon, eBay, Airbnb and People-Per-Hour connect the supply side with the demand side. The supply-side sets the prices, and the network builds organically with suppliers attracting buyers who attract more suppliers.
• On-demand platform services such as Uber deliver services fulfilled by independent suppliers, for instance, passengers and drivers.
• Content crowdsourcing platforms such as YouTube and TripAdvisor collect content from various users and share it with a broad user audience. Additional content attracts additional users.

Creating a platform

Adopting a platform business model is easy if you are a start-up. As we have shown, most unicorn start-ups did precisely that. Of course, not all have been successful; many platform start-ups have failed to take off or have eventually fallen by the wayside – think Friends Reunited and Sidecar. So what differentiates a successful platform and one doomed to failure?

Why platform start-ups fail

In his paper “Seven mistakes to avoid in launching and scaling digital platforms”, Rubén Mancha and his co-authors listed the following mistakes:

1. Failing to create a seamless digital experience
2. Failing to develop a vibrant ecosystem
3. Failing to protect monetisation opportunities
4. Failing to recognise and  balance strategic options at  three crucial  pivot  points
5. Failing  to  exploit the synergy  of  digital and physical  assets
6. Failing to innovate  beyond  the  digital  experience
7. Failing  to  follow  emergent  strategies

Wenhui Fu, writing on “The influence of platform service innovation”, categorised the main platform failure mistakes as:

1. Mispricing on one side of the market
2. Failure to develop trust with users and partners
3. Prematurely dismissing the competition
4. Entering too late

Other analysts have emphasised financial challenges, pricing, regulatory and legal issues, hubris, overconfidence and other personality traits of entrepreneurs.  Overall, creating a successful platform is far from easy, and there are many obstacles to overcome.

How platforms disrupt linear business models

While platform businesses are becoming increasingly dominant, this is often at the expense of linear businesses. Most businesses are linear, for instance, manufacturing, traditional education, SaaS (where software is developed by the business and sold on a pay-as-you-use basis), and e-commerce are all linear businesses. Any business that adds value to products and sells them to consumers can be considered linear; in other words, value is created upstream and flows downstream.   Such businesses seek an advantage over their competitors by leveraging their internal resources and providing their customers with channel access.

The platform business model turns this on its head. Platform businesses assemble hordes of connected users and resource ecosystems. For example, a traditional software business develops software that it sells to customers adopting a linear model. In contrast, a software business such as the Android app store leverages an army of developers to supply a much larger audience of users. The positive feedback of the user and developer network allows such enterprises to grow into behemoths.

So how can a traditional linear business survive in an increasingly platformed marketplace? The adage that if you can’t beat them, join them comes to mind. For instance, the software business we used in the example could refocus its internal expertise on developing its users’ capabilities. Thus, it could sell its products alongside those created by its customers, perhaps by creating building blocks that its customers assemble into products which it sells alongside its internal developments, thus relying on the network effect to grow. An alternative approach might be to build a network of similar developers which focuses on solving customer’s problems.

The power of the network effect rapidly increases the size of the customer base while driving down costs. When faced with competitors that strive to harness this power, surviving while maintaining a strictly linear approach may be too challenging. A hybrid approach that combines both linear and platform business models may allow a business to capitalise on its internal expertise alongside the power of the network.

Skills that platform start-ups need

As in all start-ups, strong personal skills, the ability to work long, arduous hours, and the willingness and ability to take on any role in addition to your niche are essential requirements. You also need to be able to get on with people; while geek culture still prevails in parts of silicon valley, people skills are in the ascendency. As a new employee, you must work well with the rest of the team while bringing a range of unique skills that will significantly impact the business. Here are some of the most important hard and soft skills you will need.

Hard technical skills

• Digital skills – whatever your specialisation, you need to be equipped with fundamental development skills:
  • Front-end development skills such as HTML, CSS, and Javascript, along with experience using frameworks and code libraries
  • Back-end development skills such as python, Ruby, MySQL and PHP
  • Full-stack developers capable of all front-end and back-end development are often crucial players in platform start-ups – it is said that Facebook at one time hired only full-stack developers.
• UI and UX skills – as platform businesses rely on end-user interactions with the company, products and services, user interface and user experience skills are highly sought.
• Sales and marketing skills are highly sought after. These include:
  • Relationship marketing, including branding, social media, and influencer marketing
  • Inbound marketing, including audience analysis and content creation.
  • Digital marketing such as SEO and CPC, which both require strong analytics skills
  • Direct marketing skills that focus on B2B interactions.
• Financial planning and analysis skills are the bedrock of successful start-ups. Good financial planners typically have excellent analytic skills and a deep understanding of business models.

Softer personal skills

• Initiative and resourcefulness are skills needed in any start-up.  Taking the initiative and finding resourceful solutions to problems that may seem intractable is a sure way to get ahead.
• Flexibility – in any start-up, the one thing you can rely on is constant change. To cope with this, you need to be flexible and willing to move on quickly.
• Enthusiasm – you must embrace what you do and your business aims; in other words, be a true believer in the mission.
• Patience and perseverance – don’t give up when things don’t turn out as planned. More often than not, they don’t.

The future of platforms

Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon. Facebook, Alibaba, and Tencent are all leading platform businesses with a combined market value of $6.3 trillion. There is no doubt that platforms are here to stay. As we have indicated, many platforms fail. Successful platforms must finely judge the future trends that will lead to success.

Over the next decade or so, we will see platforms disrupt many more traditional businesses. AI and machine learning are likely to play an increasing role, and perhaps quantum computing will eventually prove useful. Driverless cars and ride-sharing platforms are now on the horizon. In general, ownership is likely to give way to sharing, organised through peer to peer transaction platforms

The post Platforms, Ecosystems And Wealth Creation first appeared on Horton International.

An interview with Martin Krill, Managing Partner of Horton International Germany and Thomas Wetzel, head of training & coaching for Hager Unternehmensberatung.

There has been a lot of activity in C-level positions in recent years, with numerous new titles being added. What can we deduce from this and to what extent is this an indicator of changes in the world of work?

Martin Krill: When new job titles are created, it’s usually about more than just semantics. At C-level, job titles are an expression of power, of professional recognition. Whenever the C-level spectrum is expanded, and new positions are created, it’s a sign of a change in corporate strategy. The organizational structure below CEO level illustrates which are the most relevant topics and therefore which areas of the company will become more important in future.

Which exciting CxO positions have been added in recent years?

Martin Krill: The subject of compliance, for example, and the position of chief compliance officer have become more relevant in many companies. Human resources is also being prioritized quite differently. HR used to be almost neglected and was essentially restricted to the HR board. Nowadays, companies have chief happiness officers, which allows us to draw conclusions about the importance of corporate culture. The position of chief diversity officer is also relatively new; it didn’t even exist five years ago. These are all issues where companies want to take a strategic position. The area of security, which used to be not necessarily at C-level but rather under the COO, has also become more important, even if it’s perhaps not that new. Nowadays, companies often have a chief information security officer or even a chief security officer. So, you can see that IT security or security, in general, has taken on a completely different significance.

The US is a pioneer in terms of CxO. Is it a question here of synchronizing increasingly global jobs?

Thomas Wetzel: I was already familiar with this even before it caught on in the German economy. I have a military background and have worked a lot in an international context. There was a very clear hierarchy: the chiefs made up the highest rank. They were the ones who had the power to make decisions. That has also become important in business, as positions can’t be defined as easily as they used to be. Take the chief growth officer, for instance. That covers a broad spectrum, depending on whether the company is a small, medium-sized enterprise or a DAX-listed corporation. The position remains the same, but the company size determines the size of the playing field. But the title conveys the same message: I’m the one who makes the decisions. That’s become very important in business.

On one hand, we’re seeing more and more differentiated job titles, but on the other hand there’s a tendency towards flatter hierarchies – the catchword here being New Work. How can you explain what essentially is a contradiction?

Thomas Wetzel: I’ve been dealing with New Work for decades, but unfortunately, it’s now become a buzzword because there isn’t a precise definition for it. Much of what is now called “New Work” already existed in the 70s, but back then it was known as lean management. But that is only by the by – there’s a risk that terms become so diffuse that it’s almost impossible to work with them. Actually, the question about New Work is not whether or how hierarchies have changed but rather: How are managers behaving in the current world of work? How should we deal with the younger generations who are now moving up in these companies? How do you manage to be a good conductor for those specialists and other soloists who will join your orchestra in the years to come?

Thomas, you deal with the subject of development a lot. How can you best promote young talent? What are the important skills?

Thomas Wetzel: The topic of leadership is becoming increasingly important. Graduates have received excellent technical training. What they need to learn are social skills: How to deal with other people. I believe you can encourage young talent by giving them early responsibility. I’ve seen people in their mid-twenties who’ve already had five or six employees and managed them really well. It’s noticeable though how they have mostly trained abroad. Studies there naturally include subjects such as psychology and philosophy, so you learn how group dynamics work.

Martin Krill: In the last five to ten years I’ve seen a generational change in many companies. In other words, digitization has created great pressure to innovate in banks, insurance companies and more traditional companies. As a result, more and more young talents have moved into C-level positions, especially into roles such as the CIO – the chief information officer, or CDO – the chief digital officer. These new leaders naturally had and still have to follow a steep learning curve, which is definitely an advantage in this rapidly changing market. At the same time, we can now see, even in this current phase, that this can also be critical, because decision-maker positions are filled with people who haven’t yet had to manage a crisis in their professional lives. At least not such a fundamental one right now like COVID-19.

To what extent does this generation still covet position and title? Has the concept of a career changed? Does the younger generation really tend to be purpose-driven?

Martin Krill: I think that in the end, it’s always a question of personality. Not everyone has the right level of motivation or maybe even the right kind of ability. Then again, others attach extreme importance to titles. We recently conducted a survey about the “workplace of the future”. This revealed that many candidates are increasingly concerned about being able to realize their personal abilities, and to freely shape their own lives and that is considered more important than having responsibility or power. Nevertheless, a title is definitely crucial for some.

Thomas Wetzel: I share Martin’s opinion. What actually constitutes a career is a really exciting topic. Here’s another example from when I was in the army. I was a specialist for explosives, defused bombs and terrorist packages. And during operations in the field, for example in terrain where there were unexploded bombs, I was everyone else’s superior, even though I held a subordinate rank, simply because of my specialist training. Even when a high-ranking officer was present, I could say: “If you ignore my order, you will be held responsible if something happens at a later stage.” They always complied then. But still, you didn’t want to meet them again (laughs). To get back to Martin’s point, I also notice that people tend to define themselves via the content of their job rather than through holding a specific position in the hierarchy. But it will still take a while before this is the case everywhere.

Which brings me nicely to the next point: what will the working world look like in future, when it’s organized into networks and it’s no longer standard to have a permanent job in a company. Won’t job titles automatically become less important?

 Martin Krill: Yes, but I assume that CxO titles with international acceptance will continue to exist. Certainly, jobs and responsibilities will change in a new working environment but it’s not yet possible to say exactly how. However, it’s very likely, and in some cases is already becoming apparent, that working in networks will break up areas of responsibility and more responsibility will be transferred to decentralized teams and units.

I’d be interested to know, Thomas, what issues are you increasingly facing in your training sessions?

Thomas Wetzel: An important aspect is how different generations can work together. Younger people are trying to work out: how do I manage to lead people who are ten years older or even in my parents’ age group? More experienced employees are motivated by the question: how should I deal with the up-and-coming generation, who are demonstrably better educated and at a higher technological and scientific level. So, the buzzword here is loss of power. Without sounding cynical, for companies, the challenge is: what should we do with residual executives? Not in the sense of getting rid of them, but of keeping them onboard. Many employees have been with the company for two or three decades and they have a low, latent willingness to change. What should you do with those people who are only interested in preserving prosperity, and not in seeking new horizons? How do you motivate them?

A delicate subject. What are the special challenges faced by those companies in the midst of transition? 

Martin Krill: In many companies, there is indeed a succession issue. And/or there are new investors who want to initiate change, especially in the management structure. This has to do with the implementation of new roles due to digitalization and new business models. This can go hand in hand with the introduction of new positions at C-level. In other words, this can mean that one or two positions are replaced.

Is it always a question of age? Or is it more about a certain mindset?

Martin Krill: How innovative someone is, how many new ideas and how much passion they invest in his or her management job isn’t necessarily linked to age. It’s also not linked to gender. Rather, it’s about the composition of the management team. The question is: what kind of dynamic is present? Often new appointments result from an analysis of which additional skills are required. And then it’s not a question of age but really a question of personality and the company’s situation, and what’s currently advisable. For example, we’re currently seeing, partly due to the difficult market situation, that the position of CFO is taking on completely new relevance in many companies. Finance and controlling are being reevaluated. Experienced and seasoned CFOs are in demand, managers who have already navigated critical market phases. Anyone can sail a boat through calm waters. But what if it’s stormy? In this case, age can even be an asset.

This article was written by Natascha Zeljko of Female One Zero, and is part of a content cooperation between FemaleOneZero (F10) and Hager Unternehmensberatung. The company, which specializes in executive search, has repeatedly been named one of the best personnel consultancies in Germany by the magazines WirtschaftsWoche and Focus. Hager Unternehmensberatung employs around 110 people and, in addition to its extensive know-how in the field of digitalization, is also considered a specialist in issues relating to diversity and innovation.

The post What C-levels Reveal About Our Working World first appeared on Horton International.

But is this the case at all hierarchical levels? Everyone who has heard about women’s quotas knows that women are rarer at board level. But this is not always a matter of chance. And how many people of colour are in the CEO role in German-speaking countries?

Are these groups of people less qualified just because they don’t fit into the frame of the image brochure they are looking for?

Unfortunately, thinking here is often still strongly influenced by conservative value patterns.

In many large German companies and corporations, you will also find the so-called ‘boy groups‘, which are located directly below the board level and are on the waiting list for the next vacant position. Which opportunities remain for female candidates and/or people of colour?

I can only advise companies that want to strengthen their employer branding and put on a positive PR to pursue a well-thought-out recruiting strategy and not to stick to old traditions or machinations. Ultimately, everything comes to light at some point, and a public outcry about an old boy’s network within a company is detrimental to any glossy brochure.

The post Diversity – everyone is discussing it – but which company implements it on all levels? first appeared on Horton International.

A recent online study carried out by the website Glassdoor on ‘Diversity + Inclusion’ took a closer look at this question on the international stage. Overall, 37 percent of the respondents from Germany, UK, France and the USA stated that they had already experienced or at least observed discrimination. Half of all employees in the countries surveyed believe that their company should do more to promote diversity. However, it is more likely to be the younger employees who see a change as necessary rather than many of their older colleagues.

Interestingly, around 10 percent fewer respondents in Germany agreed with this statement compared to their colleagues in other countries. However, this does not necessarily mean that diversity is particularly well implemented in Germany. In fact, the opposite is the case. In an international comparison, many German companies can hardly claim to be diverse: rather, they are homogeneously positioned. On the plus side, this means that there are fewer grounds that could lead to discrimination. But it has also become clear that many people feel that diversity is a matter for others rather than something they’d like to see within their own ranks. When it comes to themselves, people often prefer to work with colleagues who are as similar as possible to them. Therefore, it makes a difference here whether you’re choosing co-workers for yourself or for third parties.

While most of the participants associate diversity with creativity and innovation, they fear that working with people who have different views, speak a different language or have an unfamiliar cultural lifestyle could be rather difficult. And the more it affects the person themselves, the more pronounced these concerns become. For this reason, many employees prefer like-minded people in their own team rather than a diverse team player, someone who may create controversy by bringing in distinctly different views.

The diversity survey conducted by Hager Unternehmensberatung last year also showed comparable results. Many companies have already recognised the importance and the added value that diversity brings. However, very few of the participants surveyed have a fixed strategy that they follow. So although the knowledge has already reached most people it is often not actively put into practice in their own ranks. Diversity will only become normal when we no longer have to think about it and discuss it.

The post Diversity – one of the current ‘commandments’ of the hour. But… diversity in your own team? first appeared on Horton International.

The whole situation feels like a war without any visible enemy.

Nonetheless, most companies are doing their best to cope with the difficult situation. Supplying customers, patching up unreliable supply chains, maintaining operations – as well as they can.

Some sectors – such as tourism and gastronomy – are inevitably suffering massive declines. But the many other sectors should not let the virus completely determine their economic activities. Of course, priority must be given to compliance with health protection measures. But unwanted forced breaks in daily business also provide an unprecedented opportunity to invest in training employees or in the development of new strategies. It’s true, no one knows exactly how long this virus will continue to affect our lives. No one can reliably forecast the expected sales losses. But one thing is certain; life will carry on – economic life too – after corona. With that in mind, in addition to being fully committed to the immediate protection of the people’s health, it is important that companies keep things in perspective. That they question the business models they have grown fond of. That they finally get to grips with implementing or finalising digitisation.

There is no doubt that business leaders of all sizes of companies – including SMEs – must do one thing first: ensure their entrepreneurial survival. This includes acquiring any necessary state subsidies, renegotiating loans or sending employees on premature vacation or even short-time work. But medium- and long-term planning requires thinking in 6–12 monthly cycles. Is that absurd? No, it may be unusual to think like this, but it is a sensible way to look ahead – even after this phase is over. Sometimes personal, economic or, as now, global crises are an immense threat; but they can also be an opportunity for reorientation. In this difficult situation, one that entails drastic constraints for everyone, every single one of us should also keep an eye on planning.

If everyone just sits back and waits until this is all over or merely buries their head in the sand, it will mean their economic demise. It’s time to buck up and look ahead!

The post Don’t shut down – just lock down! first appeared on Horton International.

Despite the technical possibilities, many companies still stick to old work structures and the classic model of the 9-to-5 job. At the end of 2018, in a survey of 800 managing directors and HR managers by the digital association Bitkom, four out of ten employers (39 percent) said they would allow their employees to work outside the offices. This is a step forward compared to 2014 – when it was just one fifth of all companies surveyed. Nevertheless, the majority of companies are reluctant to accept workers’ desire for more flexibility. There are also differences between individual sectors: the trend towards flexible working time models is much more widespread in the digital sector than, for example, in logistics or industry.

The current Corona crisis could lead to a final break-up of rigid structures, as the companies that have the opportunity to send their employees to the home office – more or less voluntarily – to protect their health. In addition, the closure of schools and daycare centres in Germany poses major challenges for many working parents. Grandparents, who usually help out in such a case, are not an option as they belong to the at-risk group and their health should be particularly protected. So what to do if no one can take care of the offspring? For most of them, the only thing they can do is to find some way to combine work and childcare.

More flexible work structures still an option in the future?

Politicians have therefore already appealed to employers and asked for their leniency in view of the drastic situation. It is important to find a common solution without losing wages. For example, by allowing parents to work from home or, if possible, to make their working hours more flexible. Whether it’s parents alternating with childcare and work on a daily basis, and distributing their hours over the rest of the days or working in “shifts,” so that some are available during the first half of the day and the other the rest of the time. Although many companies offer their employees flexitime anyway, there is usually a core working time that limits the time margin. This must be avoided in the current situation, so that work can also be done at marginal times.

What is a measure of necessity at the moment could perhaps become a real alternative in the future once we have become accustomed to it. Many companies have so far been concerned that productivity and effectiveness could suffer from so much flexibility. At the same time, it is a renunciation of control and requires the full confidence of employers in their employees that they continue to perform the same performance and deliver the required results. However, this is precisely what companies are forced to do in the current situation. And once they have addressed it, they may find that this could be a real option even after the crisis has been overcome. Even in industries where this has not been considered so far.

This article is part of the “Game Changer Corona Crisis” series.

The post New working time models; from necessity to real alternative first appeared on Horton International.

It is important to learn from this crisis and to look forward to the business – but still not to forget the concerns within the company.

How are my team colleagues doing? Does communication work from management to employees? Are they aware of how their areas of responsibility may have changed?

Home office in days of Corona can also be stressful for many, some even consider the unwanted stay in their own home as a prison. In addition to working in the home environment, there are few escape points that can be found to compensate.

After the last laptops have been set up and handed over for the employees, the network connection is established, a video conference is established, the employees should also be contacted regularly.

What was it like in the ‘normal’ office routine? Regular meetings, in a team or face-to-face, this can also be maintained in the digitized world of work.

The usual rituals should be maintained right now, so that no state of suspense arises that unsettles the employees. Forecast on Friday, Jour-Fix on Monday morning, Team Meeting Wednesday lunchtime – the normal weekly calendar helps maintain the work structure in the home office. What should not be forgotten are clear meeting rules, especially in large phone sessions with six, eight or more participants. Set up an agenda, observe speaking times, ask each employee for his or her opinion (and explicitly) because of the lack of physical contact.

How does a company deal with this when even the specialists not working to capacity? What goals should be achieved in the changed situation? Are there online training offers that employees can take advantage of as further training measures in order to be able to move forward after the crisis, strengthened and with new knowledge?

Are there any remaining vacation days or overtime saved in the account that team members can now use up? Here, too, communication is important. Employees who are made aware of the company’s extremely difficult situation are usually prepared to make many compromises and take solidarity actions, as they usually want to support the company. Even without the offer of cheap all-inclusive flights to popular holiday regions, many employees are willing to take advantage of the time. For family outings, for a really thick book, for the garden or forest walks. Deceleration is de facto the magic word that helps employees with time (and little work) to rediscover themselves or the family and gather strength for the time after Corona.

Conclusion:

Home office does not mean structureless work. Employees should be spared a similar feeling of floating: regular meetings, rituals and also targets are important, so that the ‘engine’ remains in motion and does not come to a standstill. Less stress in the home office must not lead to the employee becoming inefficient because he does not have a ‘controller’. Working in a home environment has a lot to do with trust – in both directions. However, if there is in fact no work involved, the company should talk openly with its employees as to whether larger periods of time are also used privately. Often such phases of calm are good for the employees … and later also for the company.

This article is part of the “Game Changer Corona Crisis” series.

The post All arrived at the home office? first appeared on Horton International.

Microsoft reports a rapid increase in the number of users on its own blog. Twelve million new Team users in just one week, bringing Microsoft Teams to over 44 million active users worldwide (as of March 19). The reason is obvious: Because of the current Corona pandemic, many companies send their employees to the home office. In order to be able to continue to work together despite the elimination of personal communication, programs and apps that enable group chats and video conferencing are currently in high demand. The figures released by Microsoft show how strong: In just one week, a total of more than 900 million minutes of meetings and conversations in teams came together every day.

Microsoft’s corporate vice president and author of the blog post, Jared Spataro: “It is obvious that it is now more important than ever to enable teleworking, and that this will continue to have lasting added value beyond the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus.”

In the crisis, it is always to be seen that the simple things, such as videoconferencing or the establishment of mobile remote workplaces in order to be able to work independently of location and time, are a prerequisite in the digitising world. In order to be able to offer such alternative possibilities in the future, the IT infrastructure must be equipped accordingly. Working outside the offices requires that servers, networks, devices, or other IT components be accessible from anywhere to enable all activities.

This development will particularly benefit those who specialise in providing companies and individual jobs remotely. Basically, it’s all about mobile devices such as laptops, tablets or smartphones. Especially in companies where the home office has been the exception until now, the majority of employees still have a permanently installed computer workstation. Now that the home office has become the norm, this means a complete conversion or a costly purchase of a second set for the home office as well as possible adapters.

But the digitisation process encompasses much more than corresponding hardware. Although almost all households now have a working Internet connection, additional network components may be needed. Connectivity in the home office must also be ensured. This is where video conferencing tools, for example, come into play. In the current Corona crisis, some providers have recognized the chance to attract new users and make their programs available free of charge for a limited period of time.

Another important point is cloud computing. In order for employees to access company data outside the office and work with colleagues, it must be accessible via the Internet. As a result, demand for cloud solutions and services has also risen sharply. Due to the current trend towards the home office, providers in the cloud business such as Amazon will emerge as potential profiteers from the Corona crisis, according to the market research institute Blueshift-Research.

Not to mention the establishment of additional security measures for remote access to enterprise systems and data, as the potential attack surface for cybercriminals grows. “In addition to an increase in home office activity, we have also found that cybercriminals have tried to take advantage of the excitement surrounding the virus by hiding malicious files in documents with a predetermined connection to Corona,” the statement said. Kaspersky security researcher David Emm in a blog post.

The current situation forces all companies that have not yet dealt with the issue of digitalisation to follow suit as quickly as possible in order not to lose their connection to competition or even to lose their economic footing. Here, the Corona crisis is likely to lead to a further boost around digitalization.

This article is part of the “Game Changer Corona Crisis” series.

The post Global pandemic gives digitalisation a boost first appeared on Horton International.

This current phase, in which all companies worldwide are affected, is an extraordinary situation for everyone. Horton International is increasingly focusing on communication and trust in our teams.

The health and also the safety of our employees, customers and business partners is a top priority for all of us, which is why we have taken numerous measures to maximize protection and minimize infection. These include additional cleaning and disinfection measures in all offices as well as the standardisation of the home office.

On the IT side, we had already switched over to Microsoft Office 365, using Teams as a communication platform. All employees were given Surface Devices to work on, regardless of their location. The hard work of the IT managers at Hager has really paid off today. In places where other companies were still in the process of converting and testing at short notice, this was already a tried and tested part of everyday life for us. But one challenge is dealing with this new situation from a technical point of view, the other is mastering leadership in a predominantly virtual time.

The most important thing here is regular communication both with your own employees and with clients and candidates. Especially in a time when many people are unsettled by headlines and mood swings, it is all the more important to stay in regular contact. Personally, I try to think positively and to look ahead even in these difficult times.

A home office does not only mean staying in a private environment, but due to the current situation, it even means to experience the whole family intensively as well as being entrusted with school-related topics of the children. Normally, very few managers are at home during the day or are confronted with daily schoolwork. However, at the moment many parents are challenged in the home office to also take care of the school issues of their offspring and to support the so-called homeschooling of their children.

At the moment, it is a balancing act to also provide parental care in addition to the topics that help our company move forward. Binomial formulas and entrepreneurial visions, a special kind of multitasking.

A dash of empathy, a pinch of optimism and a lot of adaptability – that could be a simple recipe.

In these uncertain times, it can be difficult for many employees to find meaning in what they do. As a leader, it’s part of the job to work out a vision for the team. A clear, shared vision that everyone in the team agrees with can be incredibly motivating. It helps all team members to see a sense in the matter and also to find a focus and clarity in their daily work. All of this ultimately helps to maintain people’s mood while ensuring that their attention is focused on positive business outcomes.

Exchange with employees in person – unfortunately, it is not possible at the moment. Nevertheless, exchange is essential to get a feel for the mood in the company and to strengthen the team spirit. Virtual coffee breaks during working hours, joint lunches, cooking together (each in their own kitchen, using the same recipe) – it is important that the feeling of cooperation is or remains strengthened. Rituals and regular team meetings to agree on goals and projects should be a matter of course for every manager in the current phase. Likewise, an open ear for the concerns and also personal problems of the employees.

What is important under normal circumstances should now become even more important: responsibility for the team members. Confidence must be given to the employees in advance: everyone is an expert in their field and is responsible for them independently. When employees need support, they should know that they can always come to terms with their manager.

It is important to actively convey a feeling of “we” to the employees and not to neglect them or to leave them completely to themselves. This motivates everyone and ultimately brings the company forward – we all have a life after the coronavirus.

The post Leading from the home office first appeared on Horton International.

Many companies had to stop or at least reduce their production because of the coronavirus. Some products are currently not in demand and others – such as protective equipment and disinfectants – are no longer available on the market because production capacities are unable to cover the huge demand.

Some companies have switched their production at short notice to goods that are virtually non-industrial for them, thereby supporting the acute demand for products that are in high demand and in some cases urgently needed. The automotive supplier ZF Friedrichshafen on Lake Constance has been producing breathing masks in China since the beginning of March. This does not primarily serve external demand, but primarily because in the Chinese plants with government regulations, workers have not been allowed to work without face masks since the outbreak of the corona crisis.

Italian car company Fiat Chrysler currently plans to produce more than one million masks a month. In addition to respirator masks, disinfectants are also urgently needed goods. Some alcohol manufacturers are providing agile support here, such as the companies Jägermeister or Berentzen. This change in production is not the core business of these companies, but at the same time it shows that it is possible to produce articles that are not part of production or at least to expand the depth of production.

Restaurant operators have switched to ‘to-go’ to keep themselves afloat. Book and toy shops run their business online. Need or virtue? Both: The business models are being revised and partly restructured.

The current situation worldwide can clearly be described as very diffuse, sometimes even chaotic: Nobody knows when or how things will continue. But nevertheless, those involved should remain level-headed, plan with the currently known circumstances and look ahead. Of course, managers must not make promises to their employees, customers or creditors that they ultimately cannot keep. But good managers should be able to focus their attention – both internally and externally – on both the present and the future.

First of all, it is advisable to carry out a kind of inventory and analyse what resources are available. Based on the questions: What skills, networks, resources distinguish us, what else can we do to act in the market at short notice. Are there any restrictions in the current situation? If, for example, it is currently not permitted to enter the company premises for quarantine reasons, but remote access to IT resources is available, operations can be kept running, for example, via an IT partner network and its resources.

The second question, which is crucial in the long term, is: What are the company’s strengths and potential? What are the potential fields of action for future business. Do employees have creative ideas for new opportunities in the market? This is where visions that were previously taboo must be realized. Can the company completely reorient itself? Automobile manufacturers have already thought about the fact that the old core competence – manufacturing vehicles – will be transformed into the competence of making transport possible. With digital networking, the provision of platforms and cooperation with other service providers.

Can banks combine their business models in such a way that they both offer digital services and once again attach great importance to personal advice? Are services also possible remotely and require infrastructure? The models currently still in existence must be questioned. Yes, here, too, the question of necessary disruption arises – caused by viral factors. Consistent change in business, vision forward. But without completely neglecting the core competencies. The time is now – unintentionally – there to critically question business models.

On the personnel strategy side, too, companies are faced with the question of which paths they want to take after the Corona period in order to be well equipped in terms of personnel. Joy and sorrow sometimes lie close together: the current situation on the labour market can result in the acquisition of missing personnel data that would otherwise not have been available. But also existing, good employees can be bound to the company in the long term through concrete action if the right signals and measures are taken now.

Employees need security now and opportunities for the future. If there are clear regulations to secure jobs and the location, but at the same time flexibility is granted to meet the current needs of the employees, they are usually loyal and grateful.

Conclusion:

At present, companies and management should systematically examine what conditions they have in place and what additional resources may be needed to be prepared and to implement change as an opportunity with new strategies.

The post Responding to change – What opportunities does the crisis offer managers? first appeared on Horton International.

“Just-in-time”: This is the mantra that has shaped the logistics industry for decades. The aim is to minimise stocks at the processing site by delivering goods that are accurate in time and quantity. In order to save storage costs, fast and direct supply chains are increasingly being used. Safety buffers are hardly available. This type of logistics system requires a smooth flow of goods and is therefore extremely susceptible to disruptions, for example due to environmental influences or traffic congestion. If the supply chain is interrupted by production downtimes or the like, just-in-time is no longer possible because the limited quantity of goods in the warehouse is quickly used up.

It is not surprising that the current corona crisis is leading to considerable disruptions in this finely timed system in some places. Instead, the current situation shows us the importance of a functioning supply chain and how crisis-prone the logistics sector is at the same time.

Ensuring basic supply through greater storage capacities and higher delivery density

Miles and miles of traffic jams caused by border controls and closures, the absence of employees who have to go into quarantine or look after their children at home, and a major change in consumer behaviour – all factors that logistics companies are currently facing. While business in some sectors, such as industry and retail, has come to a complete standstill in some cases, food markets have been experiencing a rush since mid-March, the kind of rush previously seen only before seasonal holidays such as Christmas and Easter. In order to ensure the basic supply of the population with food, drugstore and hygiene products, medicines, fuel and everyday necessities during the crisis, freight forwarders and transport companies have already increased their loading capacity and delivery density. The Federal Government has also relaxed the ban on Sunday driving for trucks. In order to be able to increase stocks during the crisis, new storage facilities and logistics areas are being sought in the short term, especially in conurbations.

Expansion of production capacities at the multi-logistics level

As already reported in our last article of the series Game Changer Corona Crisis, due to the current output restrictions and contact blocks, more orders are being placed online. Amazon is the main beneficiary of the crisis. The US company announced in March that it would be creating 100,000 full- and part-time jobs in logistics centres and the delivery network in the USA. According to the online retailer, 350 new jobs will be created in Germany. But the e-commerce industry is also experiencing difficulties and interruptions in the supply chain because transport and parcel delivery services are overloaded due to high demand or goods are stuck abroad. Although production in China is gradually picking up speed again, the supply of goods is still stagnating due to the rampant virus.

Even before the Covid 19 outbreak, it could be observed that production is gradually being shifted back from China to Europe. This relocation close to the sales market is also known as “nearshoring”. When the crisis is over, there will probably be a shift towards building up production capacities increasingly on a multi-logistics level.

Higher inventory levels for greater crisis resistance

The current situation could have a long-term impact on processes in the logistics industry and lead to a rethink: away from “just-in-time” and towards larger safety stocks in order to be better prepared for future crises. There will also be a stronger trend towards warehouses close to sales and a general shortening of delivery routes. In this way, the availability of the required goods can also be ensured in the event of a crisis. “If you have a sufficiently large stock, you can make use of it and do not immediately fall into the production hole because assured quantities do not come regularly and as agreed,” explained Carsten Knauer from the Federal Association of Materials Management, Purchasing and Logistics to Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk. Corona puts existing structures and processes in logistics to the test and leads to them being rethought.

The post Will logistics companies restructure? first appeared on Horton International.

After the first wave of the crisis, when the rapid spread of the virus overtook many companies, a second wave will now follow in the coming weeks. Here it is up to the management and the executives to lead companies through the crisis with pragmatism, sensitivity and creativity before the new ‘normality’ is established. In the interaction with customers, creative approaches are required that make it possible to implement projects in a time of great uncertainty. When dealing with employees, managers must “keep their nerve” and not pass on the pressure they feel to the teams unfiltered and unconstructively.

“Most companies plan at short intervals – usually monthly – and have several plans: worst case, most probable, best case.” Explains Dr. Monika Becker, Business Unit Director for Software at Hager Unternehmensberatung and Sector Head IT & Digitalisation at Horton International.

“In the long term, most companies in the software industry expect the Corona crisis to have a strengthening effect on digitisation. Companies are now realising if they have not done their “homework” with regard to continuous digital processes and process automation and will push these issues with even higher priority”.

The Corona crisis has made the importance of digital technologies very clear to everyone. This phase should be seen as a wake-up call across the board to push the issue of digitisation more strongly.

Not only cutting costs – entrepreneurial courage is also required

Sales and margins are collapsing and cost pressure is increasing. This is precisely because emergency measures are often more cost-intensive than in normal cases. Nevertheless, if possible, companies should not sacrifice their future strategies for acute cost-saving measures and should act with foresight for the phase when the corona effect weakens. They should continue to push ahead with their business strategies. This applies in particular to recruiting in Germany.

The long notice periods make a hiring freeze in Germany particularly painful. Because it will take a long time after the end of the hiring freeze before a company has the employees it needs on board.

There are many indications that the DACH region could cope with the Corona crisis better than other regions, so that investments here appear to make particular sense.

Conclusion:

The Corona cut came very suddenly for many companies. The next phase, the management of the crisis, should be directed forward despite all the imponderables. Those who cut back their future-oriented corporate strategy for the post-Corona phase may give up a competitive advantage or lose out to companies that are able to move forward even during the crisis. This medium-term risk must not be lost sight of under current pressure to cut costs. This is particularly true in Germany, where many things – such as bringing new employees on board – can only be implemented with a certain latency.

The post Exit Strategy after the lockdown – What might be a possible strategy in the software industry? first appeared on Horton International.

The agricultural industry is currently facing massive challenges. Business models are under threat or have already collapsed in some cases. A lack of harvest workers, the closure of restaurants and catering businesses, resulting in a drop in customers, a considerable decline in the level of value added and the weakening of the international economy. More than half of all short-term losses are caused by declining international demand and supply bottlenecks.

The current problems of the agricultural and food industry were initially triggered by a massive supply shock to consumers due to the pandemic. Supply chains – in Europe and worldwide – have been disrupted and therefore fewer goods and agricultural commodities could be traded and sold, which has consequently reduced the supply of goods.

The shortage of available labour also reduces production and thus the potential supply. At the same time, however, there are consumer hoarding purchases, which in many countries and regions has led to export restrictions on food and other supply bottlenecks. Meanwhile, many agricultural companies are facing further, massive problems: many large importing countries and regions such as the USA, the EU and also Asia and North Africa have imposed far-reaching quarantine measures. As a result, the economies of these countries are also collapsing – sometimes the entire demand for goods even collapses.

What happens in the agricultural industry?

Many farms try to keep their cash flow above water by optimizing their cash flow and see this as the only viable way forward. But what comes next? The entrepreneurial view should also be adjusted to the future in order to be able to operate successfully in the post-corona phase. Leaner processes and increased transparency could be a successful measure in the agricultural sector.

In addition, the crop protection industry is strongly affected by political regulatory changes and limitations and is therefore rethinking its existing range of products. This leads to stagnating sales and the loss of approvals. As a consequence, there is a decline in the number of suppliers of machinery and thus declining sales figures. This vicious circle is further compounded by the threat of a drought in the third year of the following year, which completely jeopardizes the harvests.

This tricky situation calls for an optimisation of business processes. “Lean through digitalisation” can make a not inconsiderable contribution to improving the economic situation in this area.

As a result of the influences described above, the willingness of agricultural enterprises to invest in the renewal of machinery has currently fallen sharply, and as a result the entire supply industry is affected to the same extent.

“Based on my many years of experience in the agricultural industry, I can only encourage those responsible in this sector to push the issue of digitization further in order to streamline processes and increase transparency”. Explains Hans-Gerd Birlenberg, head of the Agribusiness & Distribution business unit at Hager Unternehmensberatung.

The agricultural industry should make even greater use of the opportunities offered by digitalisation for its sector than it has done to date. The agricultural sector, which was already one of the pioneers in the use of GPS data, should switch to digital, as should the digital ‘Büro Deutschland’. Intelligent new approaches are currently more necessary than ever. Digitisation can provide relaxation and survival in the future in many places. It does not always have to be the expensive agricultural machine that navigates the fields via satellite or applies fertilisers and fungicides. An intelligent farm management system can also do a lot, for example for personnel planning, documentation or even applying for agricultural subsidies.

By using such measures, processes can be streamlined, capacities better utilised, resources conserved and ultimately production costs reduced. Those responsible in the agricultural industry should consider this issue for their exit strategies in the corona phase and not be put off by high investment costs or the complexity of the issue.

Focus on change in personnel policy

An equally important aspect for a forward-looking strategy is the succession of personnel in the management area. When making new appointments at management level, it is advisable to focus on ‘change agents’ and not on ‘keepers’. The agricultural sector is also in a state of upheaval, so managers are needed who support, demand and, at best, even initiate change.

“Another focus in the agricultural industry should be to find ways and means to expand the B2C business more strongly. In general, there is a high degree of primary contact in this industry, and this should no longer be the sole focus of attention due to digitalisation”. So Birlenberg continues.

Especially in the current corona phase, many companies have converted their sales networks. Due to the sometimes limited supply chains, direct sales to the consumer can also be another way of opening up new avenues in the agricultural sector. In addition, the consumer market is often larger and also more varied, which ultimately increases the number of potential customers. In addition, consumers like to know where their food comes from. Therefore, consumer business could be a successful way to open up new sales channels.

Conclusion

It is not easy for any industry to define a complete exit strategy, as no one knows what the next step will be. However, one thing is certain, sticking to the tried and tested is not a suitable way to achieve long-term economic success. By driving the digital transformation, farms can operate more effectively, suffer fewer production losses and ultimately become more profitable. In addition, a combination of B2B and B2C can provide an additional mainstay so that agricultural products find their way to consumers even in times of crisis.

In the short and medium term, new fields of activity and more complex tasks will also be required in the agricultural industry. Here, in addition to sound specialist knowledge, special skills such as quality management, communication and risk and crisis management will be added to agricultural knowledge.

The post Exit strategy after the lockdown – What could this look like in the agricultural sector? first appeared on Horton International.

How has the technology solutions industry prepared for the end of the corona phase?

The restrictions of the lockdown are often reversed and a new ‘normality’ continues. In the Technology Solutions industry, various preparations have been made, which are heavily dependent on the technological solution offered and the size of the company.

Due to the high level of innovation in this sector, there are numerous up-and-coming companies and start-ups. In contrast to many large corporations and DAX companies, these smaller, dynamic tech companies have reacted very agile to the crisis. Instead of counteracting the lockdown with a shutdown and stopping or postponing all investments, they have proceeded here with the motto ‘Now more than ever!‘

This has put these companies in a very good position to emerge from the crisis stronger than before. The current is a good time to address internal issues. Be it technical investments to create a better infrastructure or a well-founded analysis of the bugs in their own products. Also the recruiting of new employees can already be useful to prepare for the post-Corona times in the best possible way.

“Of course, Corona will also leave its mark on the tech industry. Most technology companies are globally positioned and not all the resources needed are available in the respective country or region. If this is the case, a rethink will have to take place here. Our globalized world cannot operate as cross-border as usual in these times, ergo resources in all regions have to be built up more intensively in order not to lose potential business. It is particularly important to have key technical and customer-oriented roles that can maintain sales in such times,” explains Kevin Eckstaedt, Manager of the Technology Solutions business unit at Hager Unternehmensberatung, which specialises in executive search.

Before the outbreak of the pandemic, many companies were literally running behind the market. Many vacancies to be filled, important processes and investments in innovation fell by the wayside. The investment-happy companies were already actively preparing for the time after the pandemic during the entire lockdown phase in order to be able to get off to a more professional start with increased manpower.

Companies that have shut everything down at the beginning of the exit from the lockdown will not be able to react quickly enough in the start-up phase to withstand the competition. It is precisely this motto that drives start-ups to actively prepare themselves and continue to fill key positions and invest in technology.

“My recommendation is quite clear: pull your head out of the sand and look ahead! Currently, everyone, whether customer, supplier, partner or employee, wants to get back to the same level after the crisis! This dynamic will help us to quickly regain momentum together as an economy, both nationally and internationally, and work hard for the status quo. So now set yourself up as if you had to give 150 percent after Corona, because this will probably be the minimum! Every crisis also brings an upswing, as it was after the Second World War and as it will be after COVID-19”, Eckstaedt affirms.

The post Exit strategy after the lockdown – What options are available in the Technology Solutions sector first appeared on Horton International.

The time has been used and many great social projects have been started or supported. Players like Leon Goretzka or Josua Kimmich have collected donations of over four million euros for charitable institutions with the “We kick Corona” initiative.

During the Corona crisis, almost every club has comprehensively expanded or relaunched its e-sports activities, which has given the entire scene a significant boost.

Digitalisation was the buzzword at every event in recent years and hardly anyone was able to really grasp what was actually meant. Keyword home office. In many conversations, I have learned how well it worked when most employees worked flexibly from home. The consequence of this? The offices of the future will become increasingly empty. Not because the number of employees is being reduced, but because it is possible to work more effectively. “Working hours for everyone from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. will no longer exist in this form at our company,” the marketing director of a German Football League club told me.

But a rethink also seems to be taking place in the normative area. Those responsible had sufficient time to reflect on the system and its functionality from all sides. Marco Bode, chairman of the supervisory board of Werder Bremen puts it this way: “It is the attitude that counts, not the money.”

“Keywords like salary cap or personnel cost ratio are now frequently used. This should be discussed by those responsible at European level and implemented accordingly in accordance with EU law. I would like to see the balance of power between the clubs, players and consultants in player transfers become more evenly balanced again”, says Richard Golz, former professional footballer and head of the sports industry division at Hager Unternehmensberatung, which specialises in executive search.

“After the Corona pandemic, things in the sports industry will not be better or worse, but simply different”, Golz confirms.

The post How is the Sports Industry Preparing for Life After Corona? first appeared on Horton International.

Of course, the assumption is that currently, only those who are willing to change jobs anyway or who are afraid because of the situation of their employer are willing to change.

But this is also not true.

We often read in the media: employees are holding on to their jobs, many companies have decreed a hiring freeze, short-time work is being introduced and job cuts are imminent.

This may be true for some professionals and companies, but not for the entire economy. There are industries where production is still running at full speed and even extra shifts have to be worked. This applies not only to hygiene articles and the pharmaceutical industry, but also to the food industry and selected technology companies that are not experiencing standstills due to supply bottlenecks. Many branches of industry are producing at their usual high capacity utilization rates or sometimes even at more than 100 percent. Moreover, the current production level is in many cases the calm before the post-Corona storm.

On the candidate side, the situation is very similar: there are candidates who are frightened by the current situation and who are currently unwilling to move to a new, as yet unknown company to complete a probationary period and do not know what the entrepreneurial future will bring.

The flip side, however, is that it is precisely the highly qualified top candidates who have been dissatisfied with their current employer or their area of responsibility for some time that are open to new job offers in the current phase.

Often they have been so intensively involved in their normal professional life that they have neither the time nor the freedom to even think about the direction in which a change could be considered for them. In the current travel and commuting-free time, in which many people work in the home office, it is precisely these candidates who have the freedom to deal with changed and new professional perspectives.

Before the Corona phase, it was often difficult to find suitable candidates because there was a massive shortage of specialists and managers on the German job market. Currently, there are many potential top candidates available.

Quote from Henry Ford: “Whoever does what he can already do will always remain what he already is.”

Professional recruiting in times of Corona offers multiple opportunities

Hager Unternehmensberatun, partner of Horton Group International is very broadly networked due to the wide variety of industries it serves. This means not only that the right contact person is known. A good network also means that information is available from trustworthy sources about what is planned in the background at companies. What is the strategic direction for the post-corona phase? Are there short-time work plans? Are there any plans for redundancies? Are plant closures being considered?

This level of so-called ‘insider knowledge’ ensures a placement with solid employers. Vice versa, there is the concrete possibility to identify suitable candidates for companies that want to take advantage of the situation now.

What distinguishes a good personnel consultant is that, in addition to general market knowledge and an understanding of the industry, he also knows what is happening behind the scenes. This also includes knowing which candidate is already willing to change anyway and is just waiting for the right offer. We advise these candidates in particular not to passively shape the current – possibly uncertain – phase and shy away from change, but to think about the time after the crisis.

Conclusion:

A lot has shifted, changed and relocated because of Corona. But the economy is still running. Maybe not everywhere at full speed, but in many places with new creativity and willingness to change. To sit out topics in a crisis situation and wait until the phase is over can paralyze a successful future. Activity in such times is a credo for ambitious employees and company leaders.

Finally, there is a positive reverse conclusion: Candidates who are currently prepared to take this ‘personal risk’ and do not just want to wait until things are more relaxed again are also willing to take entrepreneurial risks. Such employees are often those who can positively shape the future of a company.

The post Strategic recruiting first appeared on Horton International.

Nowadays, data is collected in very different ways. Not only computers, smartphones and portable sensors, but also cars, household appliances and buildings routinely record where we are, what we do and with whom we communicate, thanks to embedded information and communication technologies (ICT). This is not necessarily done with the intention of specifically monitoring people. Rather, it is an inherent property of digital technology to generate data: for example, if a mobile phone network cannot locate a smartphone, it would not be accessible.

For many companies – and this across all industries – it seems unthinkable today to implement development, production and sales without significant support from ICT-based processes. Among other things, this automatically generates data about processes that used to take place virtually in secret, such as a customer browsing through a speciality store. The data generated in online retailing can be stored and evaluated in a much simpler and more cost-effective way than would have been possible in a stationary environment.

Big Data – the oil of the 21st century

Personalized advertising, customized offers or individualized pricing are examples of applications in the use of data by companies at the interface with their customers. But where are the ethics? Do we already live in Orwell’s world where ‘Big Brother’ is omnipresent?

On the other hand, with the increasing importance of large amounts of data, many new systems – such as the current Corona app – have been developed to solve and process the associated data challenge.

In German companies, further development in the area of data analytics is often blocked by the organisational importance of the IT. It is not the IT specialists in their function who are responsible for this; what is meant is the hierarchical positioning of the IT in companies. Especially when it comes to pushing technical issues forward, the role of the IT should have a higher position and also more responsibility. As long as the IT manager, or even the CIO, reports to the CFO, who has to approve investments based on data and hypotheses, this is a difficult undertaking. Digitization, and Big Data in particular, is an important part of operational strategies of companies and their future survival.

Just think differently

Control slows down the creativity – being creative and thinking outside the box are the drivers for innovation. Readiness to take risks and a culture of innovation are important prerequisites for allowing creativity to develop and for making meaningful use of data – the oil of the 21st century. Clear structures and straightforward thinking are then needed for implementation.

Particularly in the current corona situation, where many investments are being held back, companies with a little courage and an aptitude for risk should give employees with an affinity for data the opportunity to prepare the hidden treasures in such a way that they can also develop into refined oil without financial restrictions. Often it is also the somewhat exotic individual players who are particularly innovative for this refining process and who can take the best routes.

Only those who take different paths today and are prepared to take risks can become successful ‘gold diggers‘ in the post-Corona phase.

The post Big Data in Times of Crisis first appeared on Horton International.

What you will learn from this article:

• What are the three major themes and their leading strategic technology trends?
• What is the Internet of Behaviour, and how does it impact on our lives and jobs?
• What must organisations do to weather these disruptions?

People Centricity

The pandemic has changed the way many of us work and interact with our organisations. Despite that, people remain at the centre of business. However, to function effectively, the Gartner report emphasises that they need improved digitised processes. These include the internet of behaviours, total experience, and privacy-enhancing computation.

Internet of Behaviours

The internet of behaviours (IoB) follows on from the internet of things (IoT). In many ways, it is the most pervasive and controversial strategic technology trend identified by Gartner and has substantial ethical implications. Essentially it involves gaining ever more information on individuals from what the report calls their “digital dust”, in other words from customer data, social media, surveillance cameras, facial recognition, and other sources. The technology will integrate this data, gain insights on how individuals behave and use such insights to control their behaviour.

While the IoB can be as innocuous as monitoring the way you drive to fine-tune your insurance premium, it isn’t difficult to imagine more sinister applications. Though Gartner reassures us that “IoB must offer mutual benefit to both parties or risk being rejected by consumers”.

Total Experience

Total experience is an integration of various other experience collections, including multi-experience (MX), customer experience (CX), employee experience (EX) and user experience (UX). The aim is to create a better overall experience for all, particularly in response to challenges created by the pandemic.

Such an approach provides organisations with tools for creating joined-up services to optimise how customers interact with the organisation.

Privacy-enhancing computation

Privacy-enhancing computation includes several technologies, each of which are designed to protect individual privacy. These include:

• Creating a safe environment with confidential computing
• Decentralised processing and analytics
• Encrypting data and algorithms before processing or analytics (homomorphic encryption).

The aim is to allow organisations to share information while protecting private information and comply with the latest privacy laws.

With these innovations, it becomes obvious that innovation is not a question of technology only but deeply entangled with legal and ethical questions. As a consequence, managers in the tech sector should have broad competencies and a holistic view of their job.

Location Independence

The pandemic has shown that many of us can work remotely and that employees, customers, suppliers and the organisational infrastructure can interact without occupying the same physical space. However, we need new technologies to ensure this all works seamlessly. These technologies include the distributed cloud, anywhere operations, and a cybersecurity mesh.

Distributed Cloud

The distributed cloud made its first appearance in a Gartner report in 2020 and continues in the 2021 edition. Effectively it is the next generation of cloud computing and aims to reduce latency by locating data storage and cloud services closer to the user in a micro-cloud while running it all from a centralised location. Essentially it is a form of edge computing.

One benefit is cost savings by providing customers access to public cloud services while keeping their private data in a specific geographical location in compliance with privacy regulations.

Anywhere Operations

This might, by today’s standards, appear old hat. After all, we have become accustomed to remote working, remote customer support, and providing business services through a distributed infrastructure. But “anywhere operations” as perceived by Gartner takes this to the next level and offers “unique value-added digital experiences”. The five core areas for delivering this promise include:

• Collaboration and productivity
• Secure remote access
• Cloud and edge infrastructure
• Quantification of the digital experience
• Automation to support remote operations

Gartner predicts that by the end of 2023, 40% of organisations will be applying anywhere operations to deliver “optimised and blended virtual and physical customer and employee experiences”.

Cybersecurity mesh

Cybersecurity is a pervading and burgeoning challenge, but what exactly does Gartner mean by a cybersecurity mesh? They define it as “distributed architectural approach to flexible, reliable, and scalable cybersecurity control”. The pandemic has increased the trend for digital assets to be located externally to traditional physical and security parameters and the mesh provides an infrastructure whereby all those assets receive the same stringent level of security services wherever their location.

The distributed cybersecurity mesh must provide high security without hindering growth. It must be scalable, flexible and dependable.

The pandemic has rolled over the way we used to work. No question, the “new normal” will be different from the Pre Corona working habits. What it exactly will be, nobody knows. Therefore the only advice can be to create the conditions, regading performance of technical infrastructure, security but also legal aspects to allow the most flexible way of working under the new normal.

Resilient delivery

Gartner’s third theme is resilient delivery, which refers to maintaining delivery despite instability and volatility in the world, whether caused by a pandemic or an economic recession. The three vital strategic technologies to enable this are an intelligent composable business model, AI engineering, and hyper-automation.

Intelligent composable business

The pandemic has proven too disruptive for many businesses. Those that have failed to adapt have broken. To rebuild, businesses must build an architecture that provides improved access to information, provides new insights based on that information, and is “composable, modular, and can change and respond more quickly as decisions are made”.

In other words, such a model will provide better business outcomes that are “timely, relevant and contextual”. It is about being more adaptable, agile, and capable of responding rapidly to change. This calls for an overhaul of the decision-making process.

AI engineering

Gartner points out that we need to get better at AI engineering, specifically in terms of DataOps, ModelOps and DevOps. The same principals of DevOps that apply to high-speed code changes must also be applied to models and data if we are to mover project on from proof of concept to full-scale production.

Hyperautomation

If it is capable of being automated then, according to Gartner, it will be automated. Hyper-automation is, they say, key to digital operational excellence and operational resiliency. Hyperautomation combines multiple components of process automation, integrating tools and technologies for automating work. Such elements include robotic process automation (RPA) and (AI), process mining, advanced analytics, and other tools.

As the pandemic has disrupted our mode of work it has also shed a bright light on all the breaks in our “semi-digital” processes. From one day to the other, our manual bypasses haven’t been an option anymore. Therefore it is good news that help is at hand. With approaches such as AI and Hyperautomation, it is possible to create end-to-end digital processes and guarantee resilient delivery internally to employees as well as externally to clients, partners and suppliers.

How organisations can adapt to these technology trends

Over the pandemic, business has on the whole been extraordinarily capable of adapting to rapid change and uncertainty. It must continue to do so into the future, and the trends identified by Gartner should be viewed as opportunities to differentiate themselves from the competition.

Adaptability and flexibility are key. None of the trends identified in the report should be viewed as independent; they are all synergetic to each other.  Taken together, they will change the business landscape through and beyond the pandemic. As Gartner points out, they are not reversible. The arrow points only forward.

The post Gartner’s Top Strategic Technology Trends for 2021 first appeared on Horton International.

Our industry colleagues from Horton International would like to give you a brief, concise and individual impression. The report should quickly give you a feeling for the drama and the many positive examples.

It is certain that the industry will overcome this global crisis. Technological developments and the resulting competitive pressure will always remain the individual’s biggest challenger in the long term.

The post Industrial Sector Global Report 2020 first appeared on Horton International.

In this article, you will learn: 

• What are the leading trends driving the industrial & manufacturing sectors in 2021? 
• How will industry recover from the impending post–COVID-19 recession? 
• How will it all impact jobs? 

Industry 4 and smart factories 

Industry 4, the so-called fourth industrial revolution first mooted in 2013, promised us the traditional manufacturing systems would be replaced by a combination of robotics, the Internet of Things, big data, and artificial intelligence. To an extent, all these things have happened already. We already have a handful of smart factories that require zero human intervention. For example, in FANUC, a Japanese robotics company, robots manufacture more robots. The factory functions in the dark with the lights and air conditioning systems switched off. The robots work round the clock, never need a break, and monitor their own performance. The impact of Industry 4 on the jobs market cannot be overestimated. At FANUC Just a few workers remain to keep an eye on things. This does not mean that Industry 4 threatens people’s livelihoods; it creates more jobs than it destroys, merely different kinds of jobs. Job retraining is another major trend.  

Mass customisation 

The kind of mass automation described above is not as mindless as it might at first seem. Such smart factories are massively flexible and responsive to human requirements. For instance, today, when purchasing a new car, buyers can design their own vehicle by choosing between hundreds of alternative variables. Automated systems can make the car seamlessly within the automated mass production system. This is the very opposite of the traditional mass–production model. While mass customisation will continue as a trend for 2021 and beyond, it is not without its problems. From a customer viewpoint, mass customisation can result in mass confusion, where there are too many parameters to choose from, resulting in lost sales. As we shall see below, mass customisation is giving way to mass personalisation.  

Industry 5 

While the goals of Industry 4 will continue to dominate the direction of manufacturing through 2021 and beyond, today, analysts are focussing attention on what they call Industry 5. While Industry 4 is all about automation, Industry 5 recognises the importance of the human element. Essentially, Industry 5 involves the collaboration between smart manufacturing and human creativity, emphasising the synergy of human–machine interaction. The machines create efficiency and do the tedious, repetitive tasks while humans provide the human touch that adds value to the product. The hope is that human intelligence will take over once artificial intelligence has accomplished all it can. Humans will provide significantly higher levels of customisation than robots. It is the mass customisation offered by Industry 4 taken to the altogether higher level of personalisation, understanding and responding to customer needs rather than specifications.  

The rise of the Cobots 

Cobots, or collaborative robots, are an important trend. These intelligent machines work alongside humans in a shared workspace and are easy to program and train.  They are far from new, but over recent years they have become considerably more sophisticated and powerful. The global Cobot market in 2019 was  $981 million, and it is expected to grow to $7,172 million by 2025 – a CAGR of 41.8%. Seen by some analysts as a manifestation of Industry 5, in that they represent a close collaboration between humans and robots, a leading market driver appears to be a lack of skilled human workers and rising labour costs.  

Recovering from COVID-19 

Recovering from COVID-19 will be a significant factor in the industrial & manufacturing sector for 2021. Not all manufacturing sectors have been affected adversely by the pandemic; the pharmaceutical, chemicals, medical devices and defence sectors have been relatively unaffected. The sectors have made heroic contributions to the fightback against the virus. Assisted by government efforts, other sectors are likely to grow from their 2019 levels in 2021 including automotive, electronics, aerospace and textiles. However, some manufacturing companies will inevitably fail. 

Overall, the sector is optimistic – around 60% of manufacturing industry professionals expect a full recovery by the middle of next year, though this adverse supply chain issues might impact on this. Overall, the manufacturing industry is successfully implementing modified working practices to ensure safe working, a trend that will continue into 2021.  

Brexit is also casting a shadow over the manufacturing sector. Whether it is a threat or an opportunity is debatable. Industries that thrive will be those that are flexible and willing to adapt to what could be a rapidly changing landscape.  

Our Q4 Industry Sector Global Report for 2020 shares the many different impressions of the current crisis in the economically relevant regions of the world.

Industrial & manufacturing jobs 

COVID-19 will continue to have a significant impact on the industrial & manufacturing jobs market in the shorter term. This is likely to recover quickly, especially as there is now encouraging news on the vaccine front. However, the changes we describe above, including smart factories and the digital transformation of the industry, are having and will continue to have a profound impact on jobs.  

According to Deloitte, these changes will create a skills gap resulting in millions of unfilled jobs. The new manufacturing work environment will “blend advanced technology and digital skills with uniquely human skills to yield the highest level of productivity.” 

Conclusion 

Overall, leaders in the industrial and manufacturing sectors are optimistic of a rapid recovery from the current pandemic, followed by significant future growth. While Industry 4 and the smart factory remain important trends, the drive for automation at any cost has given ground to the more humane approach of Industry 5. Here, automation, perhaps in the form of cobots, does the donkey work leaving human workers to add the creative touches. The trend is to move on from mass customisation to personalisation. 

The post Industrial & Manufacturing Trends for 2021 first appeared on Horton International.

1. Corporate culture will become a crucial success factor

The COVID-19 crisis has made it clear that good leadership is influenced by several key human factors: trust, social cohesion even with social distancing, compassion, respect, solidarity, understanding, personal responsibility, flexibility and tolerance. All of these ingredients make up the cement that holds us together in such challenging times.

In just a few days, these values became the theme of remote leadership. Supportive leadership was in demand. Issues of workload and time management have taken on greater significance during the crisis. The possibility of working from home has mutated from benefit to necessity overnight. Any corporate culture is characterized by the degree of flexibility and supportiveness with which it reacts to new circumstances. The strength of a culture always emerges if it can stand the test of time in a changing environment. A change in culture is always accompanied by a shift in responsibilities. In today’s world, employees have to take even greater personal responsibility, to organize themselves well and manage their energy realistically: how much can or should I expect of myself? The ambassadors of a good corporate culture are employees and managers alike.

“A stable corporate culture overcomes crises, ensures that goals are achieved and presents an attractive image to the outside world.“

Thomas Wetzel, Head of Training & Coaching – Horton International Germany

2. Digital is radical

The technology was already there, but no one was using it. Before Corona, who could have imagined holding workshops and conferences virtually? Or testing out hybrid models? The courage to try things out, to improvise, to fail sometimes and to pivot towards a new direction – that’s what’s new. This new mindset won’t leave us after Corona. And neither will the certainty that everything that can be made digital, should be made digital. Plus, everything that promotes innovation should not be put on the back shelf – despite the old urge to save a buck.

“Before the pandemic, virtual events were the exception rather than the rule. But ever since the virus took hold of everything, everyone has realized that hardly any areas are exempt from digitalization. Many entrepreneurs have mustered up the courage and the innovative spirit to venture down new paths, even accepting failure in the process. This change of heart has often arisen out of necessity, but quite honestly, we have all become aware that digital transformation also brings success and, incidentally, has conveniences for many. Therefore, all I can do is strongly advise each and every decision maker not to make a U-turn towards old patterns.  Keep going and going, as my role model Oliver Kahn used to say.“

Martin Krill, Managing Partner – Horton International Germany

3.   Human-Machine Interaction – a fruitful connection

In the future, the key aspect of tech will not be the technology itself, but man-machine interaction, says Professor Marion A. Weissenberger-Eibl, Head of the Department of Innovation and Technology Management at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). Technology only unfolds its full potential in its interaction with a modern organization of labour and motivated employees. Professor Wilhelm Bauer of the Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering believes that “people and technology will interact much more ubiquitously and substantially change the way we work.

“Virtual and augmented reality in man-machine interaction are just now moving from the experimental phase into widespread commercial use.  But this will not be the end of its development. In the coming years, we will see machines grasp and control increasingly complex situations. The consequences of this close human-machine interaction will dominate discourse in the coming years; the opportunities, such as accessibility and the expanded possibilities of human action, but also the risks, such as hacker attacks and misunderstandings in man-machine communication.“

Dr. Monika Becker, Business Unit Director Software – Horton International Germany

4. The office will be back, only different

We all know by now that the home office is one solution, but not the solution – and especially not the permanent solution. The office as a physical location will by no means disappear. On the contrary, it will even be given an upgrade and a new quality. Concretely, as the central place for meetings and close collaboration, and in its more abstract significance, as the location of each firm’s specific corporate culture. It’s literally in the air. Anyone who enters a company’s office for the first time senses it immediately – for better or for worse. What will certainly change, however, is the interplay of different working formats. People will choose the best option according to individual or situational needs: home office, in-house, co-working spaces or mobile working. Meetings at a café or walk-and-talks: why not? The term “activity-based flexible office” has already caught on in professional literature.

“The world of work has changed radically in recent months, becoming significantly more hybrid. More than ever, we have been asked to renew the old. Contrary to some people’s preconceptions, the home office has established itself as a reality. There will be no going back to old structures after the pandemic. The future of work will be more digital and more agile. At the same time, we have seen that in the end it’s always the people the company employees, who make the difference in terms of competition. The integration of modern technologies, the design of offices as social meeting places too, new organizational structures, and a stronger focus on corporate culture will become central issues of the future. They will require the right managers and the best possible team composition.“

Ulrich Pohland, Business Unit Manager  – Horton International Germany

5. Spacious city centres

The pressure on business metropolises has been enormous in recent years, and prices have become astronomical. The pandemic has massively slowed down the Tokyoization of German city centres. Because look, there’s another way – a better way. Less traffic, more space in open-plan offices. Less stress, more time for exercise, because we don’t need to commute anymore. Who wants to go back to the old madness? For metropolitan suburbs and rural areas, this opens up completely new perspectives: co-working spaces are being created and we’re finally investing in better digital communication infrastructure. Being able to live and work in the countryside – if that’s not a good prospect, I don’t know what is. Over time, this will also have an impact on real estate prices for commercial or office space. That’s not good news for everyone, but it is for most people. And it’s definitely good news for start-ups and for Germany as a centre of innovation. 

“Germany and the whole world are experiencing a true transformation. For some it’s a positive one, for others it’s harmful, but everyone is affected. The centre of the metropolitan areas has lost its appeal, because people now have the Internet for shopping, their own four walls to work in, and they can meet in the village for coffee. We’ll see whether this will affect office pricing in the next few years: there are still many investors and project developers who invest in inner-city commercial real estate. Therefore, any iron-tight prophecy for future development should certainly be viewed with some scepticism.“

Sahar Faraji, Business Unit Manager Construction & Real Estate at Hager Unternehmersberatung.

The post How Will We Work? 5 Concepts for the Post-Pandemic Future first appeared on Horton International.

This month we’re delighted to introduce Dr. Monika Becker,  Business Unit Director & Sector Head IT & Digitalisation of Horton International Germany.

Read Monika’s full bio here.

Monika, tell us a bit about yourself and how long you’ve been with the group.

I joined Hager Unternehmensberatung in 2001 and we partnered with Horton International in 2015. I’ve worked in Executive Search for nearly 20 years’.  Right from the start, my focus has been on assignments for the software industry. This hasn’t changed, although the industry itself has incredibly grown and altered during the last 20 years.

What attracted you to Executive Search?

I think I’ve always loved to assess the strengths of people and to predict how people will get along. Prior to working for Hager UB I worked in an HR consultancy. I’ve loved to work for clients and Recruiting projects attracted me most. So Executive Search was the logical next step for me.

Can you tell us about a recent client success? 

We’ve been able to complete two assignments which have been set on hold right before offer stage in March when COVID started, and have been closed in August. This has been possible because we’ve stayed in close contact with the candidates. The candidates have always had full transparency on the process and enormous trust in us as their partners.

What can clients and candidates expect when they work with Horton International?

Clients can expect a truly global company which can deliver in nearly any economic centre worldwide. They can expect the same quality and standards everywhere. And most of all they can expect Horton partners with a deep knowledge of their region and a passion for their job.

What is the most rewarding part of your job?

When you work with a client for a couple of years and you have filled a couple of key roles and then you get the feedback that the company’s success is based on the candidates you’ve found.

If you could give one piece of advice to someone just starting out in the industry, what would it be?

Be aware of the upcoming changes of the industry regarding technologies such as AI, process automation etc. But do this job because you to love building relationships.

Ready to talk? Contact Monika here

Connect with Monika on LinkedIn

The post Consultant of the Month: Dr. Monika Becker first appeared on Horton International.

The renowned German business magazine ‘WirtschaftsWoche’ commissioned this study on the personnel consultancy market in collaboration with Christel Gade, professor at the IUBH International University in Bad Honnef and expert in the headhunter industry. Between July and November, around 2,600 personnel decision-makers from German companies filled out the specially created questionnaires and evaluated over 890 personnel consultancies. Among other things, they stated how satisfied they were with various personnel consulting agencies and awarded stars for good or excellent service. This anonymous survey was supported by the DFK (Association for Specialists and Executives) and the BDU (Federal Association of German Management Consultants).

Ralf Hager, founder and managing director of Hager Unternehmensberatung, which specializes in executive search, commented on the award: “We would like to thank our clients and candidates as well as our entire team for this repeated award. This once again reflects our own claim as a sophisticated executive search consultancy.”

The 2020 financial year was heavily influenced by the global pandemic. This was – and still is – noticeable in the willingness of suitable key personnel to change. As a result, high-quality executive search consulting support is imperative for many companies.

“With our 110-strong team and our firmly established process excellence, we are in an excellent position to meet the demands placed on professional executive search consultancies. I am all the more pleased that we have now taken a firm place among the best executive search consultancies in Germany in the exclusive ranking of WirtschaftsWoche,” Ralf Hager sums up.

The post Award announcement for Horton International Germany first appeared on Horton International.

At the beginning of the year, the German government cleared the way for more women on company boards and passed a bill to improve the participation of women in management positions. The obligatory goal is to significantly increase the proportion of women in management positions.

“We are pleased that this goal strengthens the representation of diversity in companies. Neither gender nor age nor origin or social background should be the decisive factors for filling management positions. The decisive factors should be ability, performance, personality, talent and experience in order to actually live equal opportunities,” says Ralf Hager, founder and managing director at Hager Unternehmensberatung, and Horton International partner in Germany, which is based in Frankfurt/a. M.

“In order to actively support this with our clients as well, we will be obligated to present a balanced list of candidates for mandates to be filled at board or supervisory board level and to include 50 percent women. We have been supporting our clients for many years in the establishment and acceptance of diverse, i.e. heterogeneous teams, and also place numerous top-level positions with women. Through our extensive network, we also have a corresponding talent pool of qualified female managers. Therefore, we also know that there is a sufficient number of highly qualified, suitable female executives to fill board positions regardless of the industry,” explains Ralf Hager.

Often it just takes the corresponding will and above all the courage of the decision-makers and those in charge to open themselves up to the career paths of excellent female candidates.

In the current ranking of WirtschaftsWoche, Hager Unternehmensberatung was listed among the best personnel consultants in 2020 for the fourth time in a row with 5 stars in six sectors. This award reflects the recognition and appreciation of clients for the service as an executive search consultancy as well as the unbiased view of the best and most suitable candidates.

The post Horton International Germany reacts to the Leadership Positions Act passed by the German government. first appeared on Horton International.

In order to determine the top employers in the SME sector in 2021, data from more than 950,000 companies from 39 industries with over four million evaluations were analysed. The ranking included companies that belong to the German SME sector, i.e. have between 11 and 500 employees and are located in Germany. Various assessment criteria were taken into account, such as working atmosphere, work-life balance, salary level or, this year, also the handling of the corona virus.

In its survey, FOCUS-Business emphasised that this year’s ranking winners manage to offer their employees an ideal working environment despite the pandemic and digital transformation.

“We are very happy about this great feedback from our employees,” explains Ralf Hager, founder and managing director.

With flat hierarchies, short decision-making paths and openness to innovative ideas, Hager Unternehmensberatung, as a medium-sized company, offers an optimal working environment. The 25-year success story that Hager Unternehmensberatung can now look back on is only possible with a highly motivated team.

“Our team is the most important factor in our company’s success – this applies both to the current time of crisis and more generally,” adds Ralf Hager. “Therefore, I am all the more pleased that our workforce perceives the real working conditions at Hager Unternehmensberatung so positively. Of course, it is our constant ambition to continuously improve them.”

The post Top Employers in Medium-Sized Businesses 2021 first appeared on Horton International.

Now, with a recovering global economy, the future looks bright for the payments sector, and a growth of 6-7% per year looks likely, with many predicting this industry will reach $2.5 trillion in 2025.

With the sector set to grow, there is an increasing demand for talent that can help to drive said growth. As many businesses are now struggling to find new hires to meet their needs in payment and IT security sectors, we’re looking at what skills businesses really need so they can adapt to the future of payments.

Beyond The Point Of Sale

In the past, payments were a discrete, standalone process. Now, with the Internet of Things, networking and other factors, payments have become a thriving ecosystem that now encompasses the end-to-end process taking into account all of the services, platforms and systems that play a part in the commerce journey.

What Does The Future Of Payments Look Like?

When considering the talent needs for payment industries, it is important to consider the emerging trends in the sector:

Real-Time Payments

In 2020, real-time payments grew by 41%. A trend that is set to continue as they play an increasingly important role in the global commerce ecosystem. However, as real-time payments increase, there is a greater risk of payment fraud. In 2020, 13.7% of fraud incidences were real-time payment scams, while digital wallet hacks accounted for 6.2% of payment fraud.

With this, IT security requirements will need to increase to help payments stay safe online. This is an in-demand skill for many financial organisations. For example, a search of vacancies at Deutsche Bank lists over 2,000 looking for IT security while JPMC lists around 4,000 roles requiring IT security.

Merchant Focus

Another area of growth in the payment sector is the accessibility of payment options for merchants. Increasing the payment options for merchants enables smaller businesses to reach a wider base of customers. It also helps businesses to grow globally too.

It is this support to SMEs and small businesses that many financial organisations are looking to build, especially with a growing number of SMEs creating a lucrative audience.

Some brands are already working hard to improve payment systems for merchants. For example, Mastercard in India has created a solution known as Soft POS, which allows a smartphone to work as a payment acceptance device.

With new approaches such as virtual shops and solutions that can receive, record and store transactions, organisations will need talent that can help to facilitate these projects and keep delivering creative offerings that help small businesses to grow.

Digital Identity Payments

Through the pandemic, another sector of growth in the payments industry was with digital identity payments. This was important to governments to distribute welfare with ease as well as organisations that deliver social payments based on individual identity.

It is expected the sector will continue to grow to help with expanding ecommerce volumes and rapid, large-scale payments. With digital identity payments, McKinsey believes it is possible to unlock further economic growth of between 3-13% of GDP by 2030.

While there is potential in this sector, there are concerns about the authentication of payments and limits to the levels of security. While there has been an increase in authentication technology, aspects such as two-factor authentication do create more friction points for the customer. Going forward, organisations will need to look at solutions that create an enjoyable payment experience that doesn’t compromise security.

Cross Border Payments

Another area of growth during the pandemic was the rise of cross border payments which grew by 17%. So much so that a 6% revenue growth is predicted for the next five years in this sector. As well as revenue growth, the volume of cross-border payments has grown. For example, SWIFT reported a 10% increase in volume in December 2020 compared to the previous year.

However, with the increase of cross-border payments, there is a demand to get them as up to speed as domestic payments in terms of cost, accessibility, transparency and speed. For this, global projects and enhanced technology will be required to create a universal approach.

Finding The Experts To Enhance The Future Of Payments

With so many challenges and growth opportunities ahead for payments, sourcing the right talent is essential but complex with a diminishing tech talent pool. However, this is where Horton International come into play: we specialise in finding the “needle in the haystack”, the perfect fit for open vacancies.

As industry experts, we know where the future of banking is headed and can source the ideal candidate for any expert level position, from compliance experts in traditional banks to the CTO of a leading FinTech organisation. If you want to find out more about how Horton International can support your organisation and find the talents that will play a vital role in the payment ecosystem, please reach out to our team.

The post What Does The Future Of Payments Mean When Hiring Experts? first appeared on Horton International.

But even in the food sector it is important to take a closer look. Many of the producers have a second central distribution channel in addition to trade: The food service. This has come to an almost complete standstill due to the closure of restaurants and pubs. Many have therefore already announced short-time work. A similar picture emerges when one looks at other industries. For example, mechanical engineering: Many manufacturers recently presented their latest products at the Hanover Fair. But Corona has put a spoke in their wheel. The industry is suffering from a sharp drop in demand or a collapse in supply chains.

What is the future for the industry? What insight is the crisis bringing?

Two issues have moved to the top of the agenda in recent weeks:

1)   Digitisation & New Work: Those who are not well positioned in the field of digitisation have felt this painfully with the outbreak of the Corona crisis. This begins with the appropriate technological equipment for employees. New Work and agile working are becoming more and more important. Especially in the field of digitalisation, the virus acts as an evolutionary accelerator. Video conferences will become the norm in the future and make some business trips superfluous. But certainly not all of them: Because personal contact will continue to be important and even increase in esteem!

2)   Risk management: Many companies are currently feeling the effects of this: if the flow of goods is throttled or even individual components are not delivered at all, production will come to a standstill or even come to a complete standstill. Unilateral dependencies, for example on producers in Asia, are being discussed. Against this background, companies are once again becoming increasingly aware of the issue of risk management. To position oneself professionally for the future or to optimize already implemented structures has been identified as a core task, as we are repeatedly confirmed in discussions.

What does this mean for personnel planning in the companies? What is your recommendation?

Very important is: Both of the above-mentioned topics – above all digitalisation – must be located at the top level of the company. Only if there is an awareness of this successful implementation will be possible. In some fields, such as the FMCG industry, digitisation will help to exploit new sales opportunities. For example, D2C (direct to consumer) activities will gain in importance as online demand increases. And when it comes to risk management, the current crisis has shown how important it is to have the right set-up and strategy in this field.

We are currently in close contact with companies in both fields and help customers to find the right candidates for the management of the future.

The post Exit strategy after the lockdown – Consumer Goods Industry first appeared on Horton International.

While core business operations and activities play an important role, it is the strategic use of new technology trends that can give businesses the boost they need to sustain their growth.

Gartner’s top 10 technology trends for 2023 provide a robust framework for businesses to focus on in a business environment that changes with every passing second. In this article, we discuss these trends and why they work.

1. Digital Immune System

A digital immune system (DIS) helps businesses play an active role in mitigating risks they can fall victim to in the form of cyber-attacks, among other things. It comprises a number of technologies and best practices to protect your applications and systems from failure. In case a risk is encountered, the system allows your software and operations to bounce back quickly and safely. According to Gartner, in a world where the primary platform for conducting a few, if not all, your business activities is online, a DIS is essential for ensuring the resilience of your systems, the smooth functioning of your operations, and a top-notch user experience to deliver maximum business value.
For working with a DIS, you don’t need experts for one specific security task, but managers who are able to see and handle the 360 degree situation.

2. Applied Observability

An abundance of data was once thought to be the core requirement for enhanced decision-making and improved operational efficiency and productivity across business and IT functions. What Gartner suggests is actually needed is highly integrated, organised, and context-based observable data that allows organisations to enhance their understanding of customer behaviours, trends, grievances, and preferences. Learnings from this data through observable systems allows you to address these factors and mould your business practices to achieve better customer engagement, adoption, and experience.
Consultants who work with Decision Making Platforms (as e.g. Customer Data Platforms) must bring in a fundamental technical understanding, analytical smartness, plus a strong commercial thinking. No question recruiting these roles is one of the biggest challenges.

3. AI Trust, Risk and Security Management

AI Trust, risk, and security management (AI TRiSM) is a technology trend outlined by Gartner that makes the application of artificial intelligence to business processes more streamlined and reliable. One of the top benefits of AI TRiSM is that it provides businesses with AI model governance and explainability, often using third-party open-source software. Secondly, it ensures that robust security systems are in place that allows for protection against external threats. Privacy and the protection of data as relevant to AI models allow you to better benefit from everything AI has to offer.
The three first trends underline that Cybersecurity is one of the TOP trends in 2023. The three trends have in common that Cybersecurity is not a pure technical topic anymore. Cybersecurity is combined with adapting business processes, ensuring user experience and delivering business value. Hence the security consultant in 2023 needs a broad background and strong cooperation skills.

4. Industry Cloud Platforms

Any smart business in the 21st century uses cloud services to manage, store, and optimise data without the need for internal infrastructure and hardware. Industry cloud platforms take it one step further and integrate multiple cloud services into a single solution, allowing businesses to streamline and expedite operations and facilitate strategic decision-making. The platforms are fully customizable, ensuring you can get a solution custom-tailored to meet the specific needs of your organisation, something Gartner believes can give businesses the edge they need.

5. Platform Engineering

Any efficient team and its members need an easy-to-use platform that connects the back-end services an organisation has deployed to users of the service in a way that optimises digital delivery. Gartner believes that organisations focusing on platform engineering enable their employees to access IT tools, services, and capabilities through a platform that bridges the gap between their skill set and the complicated IT infrastructure they have to operate for delivering business value. Gartner also predicts that 80% of engineering firms will use platform engineering to boost application delivery and other processes by 2026.
Platforms will obviously play an even bigger role in 2023. Among other implications, this changes the way software is sold. The time of the “lonely wolfe” sales, whose success is mostly based on his personal network, is definitely over. Successful sales in 2023 have to be able to manage an often pure digital complex sales process with multiple stakeholders.

6. Wireless-Value Realization

Wireless technologies and capabilities greatly enhance the efficiency and productivity with which teams operate within an organisation. Gartner believes companies are beginning to realise the importance of bringing together multiple relevant wireless technologies into single solutions to revolutionise the way in which teams function across the board. This will allow teams to go beyond using wireless for communication alone and use it to promote further digital transformation through integration across wireless applications and devices.
With an even stronger infrastructure and more sophisticated cooperation, there’s no natural need for many of us to work from an office. Most likely, the questions about what the real benefits of working in an office are, but also how we can build a digital corporate soul, will keep us busy in 2023.

7. Superapps

The future belongs to customisation, whether it is in the personal or professional sphere. With superapps, Gartner predicts that organisations will look to provide end users, whether employees or customers, with a single platform that, in turn, provides them with access to multiple other miniapps. The end users are able to customise the superapps based on their needs, resulting in a personalised, integrated, and efficient interface providing an unmatched user experience that promises top results.

8. Adaptive AI

Adaptability is a vital characteristic in artificial intelligence models and applications, allowing for flexibility and ease of use. Automated adaptability takes it a step further by eliminating the need for manual modifications to AI models. According to Gartner, increased adaptive AI use in the future will allow AI models and systems to learn smartly from the changes happening in the environment around them. Following this, they can automatically initiate and implement changes to their code to better solve a problem in real-time.
Software whether for end-users or for corporates has to be light and easy to use. This requirement is still not met by a lot of the older software solutions. Accordingly they have to invest a lot in their product management. Otherwise, there’s a strong risk of being outperformed by smart SAAS native software providers.

9. Metaverse

The metaverse creates a new world in the online realm where people can connect, interact, and work towards meeting their goals. Gartner is of the opinion that organisations can benefit from an online workspace where employees can connect and collaborate on work tasks across functions. This allows brands to boost their revenue, build a loyal workforce that works together seamlessly, and grow their business exponentially.
In 2023, the metaverse will not be a typical environment for interviews, onboarding or team meetings. Nonetheless, smart companies will start to “play” with the possibilities of the metaverse.

10. Sustainable Technology

In a world where the environment and atmosphere are at risk from human activities, introducing sustainability into the mix ensures responsible business growth. Sustainable technology encourages the idea of producing and promoting technology solutions that minimise risk to the environment by using biodegradable materials and renewable resources, avoiding contamination, and ensuring efficient use of energy, among other things. Gartner believes that the organisations of the future will adopt environmental, social, and governance technologies to build a sustainable business that meets customer expectations.

Sustainability will definitely be one of the top topics in 2023 from many perspectives. Technology solutions which help to support sustainability (in so different areas as “smart logistics”, ESG management or e-mobility solutions) will probably profit from this trend. On the other hand, for more and more candidates, the sustainability profile of a potential new employer is a relevant point to check in the selection process. Accordingly, the sustainability profile (as Equality, Diversity and Inclusion) should be part of the employer branding.

The world of technology witnesses new innovations and improvements in the way processes are run every day. Businesses that make use of the latest technology offerings and trends keep up with the fast-changing world around them, ensuring growth, competitiveness, and sustainability.

The post Top Tech Trends for 2023 And What They Might Mean For Recruiting first appeared on Horton International.

The pandemic has accelerated the global digital transformation immensely. But some of the industry’s big players have drawn unrealistic conclusions from the special effect pandemic. But does this mean the IT & digitalisation sector is in a global depression? Not at all – the picture is much more diverse. The situation depends strongly on the sub-segment: there’s globally a strong need for managers with a background in Cyber Security, Supply Chain Solutions and AI. Furthermore there’s global need for true leaders who are able to shape and bind a team in volatile times. Apart from that there are strong regional differences in the industry climate.

Exclusively issued by Horton International, this report can offer interesting and data-backed economical insights to help you understand the long-term trends and topics in the IT & digitalisation industry. You’ll not only see differences in the economic climate but also in the importance of organisational and cultural aspects (such as diversity & inclusion, demand for remote work etc.).

We hope you’ll enjoy the insights provided in this report; we appreciate any feedback or discussion points you may have!

The post Digitalisation & IT Sector Global Report Q1 2023 first appeared on Horton International.

While “pure-play” companies are subject to the same economic pressures as the industry as a whole, they do seem to be experiencing significant stress from high-interest rates and the general economic turndown, though unsurprisingly, the workers they let go are finding it relatively easy to secure new roles in other sectors – 80% of those laid off find new tech jobs within three months.

However, the phenomenon has thrown additional light on how traditional organisations might capitalise on the increased availability of top tech talent by attracting and retaining new recruits.

A recent publication by McKinsey addressed this issue. The report “HR rewired: An end-to-end approach to attracting and retaining top tech talent” offers valuable insights into strategies for effectively recruiting and retaining high-quality technology talent, emphasising the need for organisations to adapt their human resources practices to address the unique challenges and demands of the tech industry. Some of its main points include:

Traditional organisations should adopt an end-to-end approach to HR that emphasises technical talent’s needs throughout the talent journey encompassing planning, attracting, onboarding, talent development and management.
HR should take the opportunity of experimenting with new approaches to sourcing and supporting talent. Skills should be more important than history, and deciding which roles are the most valuable to the organisation is essential.
The three main elements of an end-to-end approach to HR are sourcing, supporting, and scaling. While this is not a radical departure from more traditional approaches, it is worth gleaning what we can from their subtle emphasis changes. So let’s look at these three elements.

Sourcing – a skills-based approach to recruitment

When seeking talent for critical roles, businesses should focus on skills rather than what McKinsey calls “pedigree”. In other words, a skills-based approach to technical recruitment involves evaluating candidates based on their specific technical competencies and abilities rather than focusing solely on their qualifications, degrees, or work experience.

This process involves identifying which roles are the most valuable for the organisation and then determining the skills needed to fulfil these roles. Critical steps include:

Identify the specific technical skills and competencies essential for the roles for which you are hiring. This process may include programming languages, software proficiency, data analysis, system administration, network management, or other job-specific skills. These skills should be identified before starting the recruitment process.
Develop a robust assessment process to evaluate candidates’ technical competencies. This can include specialised tests, coding challenges, case studies, or simulations that measure their ability to solve real-world technical problems relevant to the role. The assessment should be tailored to the specific skills and tasks required for the position.
Provide candidates with practical assignments or projects to showcase their skills. This challenge can involve asking them to complete coding exercises, build prototypes, or analyse technical problems. This approach allows candidates to demonstrate their abilities in a real-world context and provides a more accurate assessment of their technical expertise.
Alongside technical assessments, conduct behavioural interviews to evaluate candidates’ communication skills, teamwork, problem-solving approaches, and ability to adapt to different scenarios. While the focus is on technical skills, assessing candidates holistically is important to ensure they possess the necessary soft skills for the role.
Continuous Learning and Adaptability: Assess candidates’ willingness to learn and adapt to new technologies and tools. The tech industry evolves rapidly, so finding candidates with a growth mindset and a proactive attitude towards acquiring new skills and staying current with industry trends is crucial.
While technical skills are important, evaluate candidates for fit within the organisation’s culture. Assess whether their values, work style, and collaboration approach align with the team dynamics and company culture.
Supporting – empowering people and streamlining processes

Supporting technology talent during the sourcing and onboarding processes is vital. McKinsey suggests that the most appropriate way is to streamline recruitment by leaning heavily on digital tools and processes, including generative AI and psychometrics.

These technologies should be applied during onboarding to advance new employees’ learning curve regarding critical activities. Furthermore, this approach should be equally used to assess the existing talent pool, introducing training and progression as appropriate. It could be sufficiently fine-grained to provide appropriate training before employees attend specific meetings with customers or suppliers and, when relevant, to planned process changes.

Some important strategies include:

Provide detailed and accurate job descriptions that outline the responsibilities, required skills, and qualifications for the role. This helps candidates understand expectations and ensures alignment between their skills and the position.
Streamline the application process making it user-friendly and efficient. Simplify the application form, minimise unnecessary steps, and provide clear instructions. This enhances the candidate experience and encourages top talent to apply.
Maintain transparent and timely communication with candidates throughout the recruitment process. Promptly acknowledge receipt of applications, provide updates on the progress, and offer feedback whenever possible. Clear and open communication helps build a positive candidate experience and fosters a good impression of your organisation.
Develop comprehensive onboarding programs specifically tailored to technology talent. Provide an orientation that introduces them to the company’s culture, values, processes, and tools.
Promote a collaborative and inclusive work environment where technology talent can collaborate with colleagues, exchange ideas, and contribute to cross-functional projects. Encourage knowledge sharing, organise team-building activities, and facilitate interactions with experienced team members to promote learning and growth.
Regularly provide constructive feedback and performance evaluations to support the growth and development of technology talent. Establish clear performance goals and guide areas of improvement. Regular check-ins and ongoing communication ensure that employees feel supported and valued.
Scaling – reskilling and upskilling individuals and teams

Arguably, the rate of technological change has significantly exceeded what most people predicted just a year ago. For instance, generative AI is changing the whole technical landscape unpredictably. Thus a proper learning infrastructure is needed to keep pace with these changes. The ability to respond rapidly to new and developing technologies is essential; otherwise, organisations will rapidly fall behind the innovative technology leaders.

As top talent relishes being at the forefront of advancing technology, they are likely to become alienated by the threat of such outcomes rapidly. They will likely take the first opportunity to move on to more exciting players.

Some steps organisations can take to stay ahead of the game include:

Reskilling:

Evaluate the existing skill sets within the organisation and identify areas with skill gaps. Determine the skills needed to meet evolving business demands or to adapt to emerging technologies.
Assess individual and team training needs based on the identified skill gaps. This process may involve surveys, interviews, or skills assessments to gauge the specific areas that require reskilling.
Develop targeted learning and development programs to reskill employees. This can include in-house training, external workshops, online courses, mentoring programs, or cross-functional projects. Customise the programs to meet the unique needs of each individual or team.
Foster a culture of continuous learning and growth within the organisation. Encourage employees to pursue self-directed learning, provide resources such as access to learning platforms or subscriptions, and recognise and reward individuals actively engaging in reskilling efforts.

Upskilling:

Identify employees with the potential to take on additional responsibilities and grow within the organisation. Look for individuals willing to learn, adapt, and face new challenges.
Work with employees to create personalised development plans that align with their career goals and the organisation’s needs. These plans can include a mix of formal training, on-the-job learning, stretch assignments, and mentoring opportunities.
Provide mentoring and coaching programs to support the upskilling process. Pair employees with experienced mentors who can provide guidance, share knowledge, and offer advice on career advancement.
Encourage employees to gain exposure to different teams, projects, or business units to broaden their skill set and expand their knowledge. Cross-functional collaboration enhances their understanding of different roles and perspectives.
Regularly provide feedback on employees’ performance and progress towards upskilling goals. Recognise and reward individuals who actively engage in upskilling and demonstrate growth.
Conclusion

This holistic approach to attracting and retaining top talent can accelerate progress in times where top technology talent is most valuable, which certainly applies to our current economic and technological situation. There is little time to delay – the vast majority of tap technical talent let go by the pure-play organisations found new and lucrative jobs within weeks or months. Competition for top talent is rarely more intense.

Of course, every organisation is different, and as McKinsey advises, experimenting with the most appropriate way for your organisation to achieve its recruitment and retention goals is a valid approach. However, powerful technologies are available that can help the process and ensure that you are not left bereft of top talent in the future.

The post Attracting And Retaining Top Talent first appeared on Horton International.

Despite these headwinds, the manufacturing industry remains optimistic regarding the industry’s future. There is a desperate need within manufacturing to hire and retain talent that will drive recovery and renewal. Indeed, those that survive and thrive will reap the rewards as the economic climate eases and moves onward into sustained future growth. While there will be both winners and losers, the following industry trends seem set to dominate growth throughout and beyond 2023. We will examine the following trends:

• The need for talent
• Current technology trends
• Supply chain considerations
• Sustainability

Talent

There is a desperate talent shortage throughout the industry, and attracting and retaining top talent is highly competitive and demanding. The manufacturing industry will have 2.1 million unfilled jobs by 2030 equating to financial losses of around $1 trillion a year.  Already 85% of engineering and manufacturing businesses in the UK report huge skills shortages which are holding them back.

This talent shortage has been described as a perfect storm. Some reasons include older generations leaving the workforce, often prematurely; the younger generation still lacking the relevant experience to fill the vacancies left behind; and the evolving technologies of Industry 4.0 changing the traditional workplace and demanding new and scarce skills and talents. In addition, worker life choices such as improved work-life balance and higher pay levels play a part.

However, in manufacturing, the shortfall is uneven across states. While there is a deficit of top-level workers in Europe, Japan and the United States, there is a surplus in China and Russia. The most significant skill shortages in Europe will be felt in the UK and Germany.

The shortage will likely boost the trend of using automation to replace the jobs of lower-skilled workers, though this will also increase the demand for highly skilled creative people.

Talent pipeline

In response to these looming talent shortages, companies are creating talent pipelines by hiring future workers fresh out of school and college. These recruits are less costly to hire and can also be trained in ways more appropriate to the company’s ethos and culture. Constant training is likely to be crucial and focus on the ever-changing future of work. The olden days when workers were trained and then worked yet failed to keep up with the changing technology environment, thus becoming surplus to needs, are hopefully banished.

To remain a credible talent, workers must stay continually updated with the individual taking responsibility to ensure this happens. New ways of working are likely to emerge. Labour markets will become more fluid, recruiting staff for specific projects rather than creating a large permanent workforce.

Technology

Throughout 2023 and into the foreseeable future, we can expect more of the same technology trends we have seen over recent yours. These include the continuing advance of artificial intelligence as it takes on an increasing role, cloud computing, 3D printing, edge computing, cobots, and more. While the fully integrated smart factory remains a step too far for most organisations, we will see further development and integration across the manufacturing sector. Drilling a little deeper:

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence (AI) and its partner, machine learning (ML), are transforming the industry. Its benefits include improved quality, reduced operational costs, rapid decision-making, predictive maintenance, enhanced design methods, increased human safety, and always-on manufacturing.

Cloud computing

Cloud computing has been transformational across multiple industry sectors as businesses discover the benefits of removing the need to invest in expensive IT infrastructures and staff. Using cloud computing as-a-service is highly cost-effective and brings many additional benefits that will drive demand through 2023. Its benefits include increased security and resilience, the potential to leverage AI and ML cloud services, creating no-code and low-code applications and websites, and multi-cloud and hybrid cloud solutions for increased agility and scalability.

Edge computing

Processing large volumes of data in real-time at the point of use rather than utilising network resources has many potential advantages, such as real-time analytics, reduced latency, and faster processes. As data volumes continue to explode, the demand for edge computing will similarly expand. Technology is also advancing in the automotive industry, where edge computing is seen as the way forward to develop safe autonomous vehicles.

3D Printing

3D printing and related additive manufacturing methods are revolutionising how items are manufactured. The market is predicted to triple, reaching $44.5 billion by 2026, as the benefits of manufacturing parts locally and on-demand are realised. Currently, 3D printing is used mainly for prototyping and product development; the ongoing trend is for it to take an increasing role in the production of jigs and fixtures along with higher volume applications. The technology is also making inroads into health and dental services.

Cobots

Cobots, or collaborative robots, are becoming increasingly mainstream. Such devices can work side-by-side with human beings, thus requiring far less real estate than conventional industrial robots. As a result, they can be used for many different tasks across various industries. While their primary use has been in the automotive industry, they are now being used increasingly in the food and beverage industry, the electronics industry, healthcare, and hospitality. As a result, the cobot market is anticipated to increase three-fold by 2026, with 50% of the world’s units being shipped from China.

Supply chain

Keeping supply chains running smoothly has proven highly challenging over recent times,  yet doing so is critical for many businesses. The current focus of supply chain management is supply chain improvement by incorporating technologies such as robotics, IoT, and blockchain. Supply chain trends include:

• The creation of circular supply chains that rely on recycling used products, breaking them down to their raw materials
• Supply chain partnerships and integrations with third parties
• Globalising operations with multi-country manufacturing to reduce transportation needs Supply chain as a service to outsource supply chain management
• Flexible logistics that allow supply chains to expand and shrink on demand
• Improved supply chain transparency and visibility
• Blockchain technologies to streamline the whole supply chain
• IoT to improve supply chain visibility
• Robotic automation, including drones and driverless vehicles
• Automation using artificial intelligence and augmented reality
• Greater supply chain agility through supply chain modelling

Sustainability

Business sustainability continues to gain importance and significantly influences stakeholders’ decisions. According to Greenly, 80% of investors prefer to invest in sustainable businesses, 71% of consumers prefer to buy from sustainable companies, and 70% of employees prefer to work for sustainable employers. Following COP27, sustainability will remain a key priority through 2023 and beyond.

Many manufacturers will need to implement operational changes to maintain compliance with evolving regulations. Some areas this is likely to impact include:

• Waste management – this is gaining increased importance year after year. Recycling will become a priority for many different industries in the manufacturing sector.
• Supplier diversity –  companies are likely to be held responsible for their supplier choices. This includes establishing supplier compliance and diversity and is a significant aspect of supply chain strategy. In addition, more attention will be paid to minimising the import of carbon footprints by sourcing items from non-compliant suppliers.
• Product lifecycle – manufacturers are increasingly taking responsibility for their products throughout their lifecycles, including design, choice of materials, production, packaging, logistics, purchase, use, end of life, and recycling. Establishing and optimising product lifecycles provides a huge opportunity to impact cost reduction and sustainability significantly.
• Intelligent buildings and carbon-neutral manufacturing = all aspects of manufacturing, including lighting, heating, and cooling, will continue to target net-zero resulting in significant cost savings and greener credentials. In addition, net-zero power sources will improve sustainability; many organisations have already transitioned.
• Fleet electrification – electrifying transport can have a significant impact on sustainability. Doing so can also provide long-term cost savings.

Finally

Despite the current headwinds of high inflation and interest rates, overall, the future for industry is bright for forward-looking companies. However, only a strong and motivated workforce can enhance competitiveness and lead industry to a successful future. No doubt, we will see some business struggle for survival. Even some established mega-organisations seem to have drifted off-course, perhaps only temporarily. But in their wake, tremendous opportunities are likely to arise.

The trends that we have highlighted will influence their success. The future will bring a good time for employees willing to bring the best of their skills and talents forward and meet the many challenges that lie ahead.

The post Industry trends 2023 first appeared on Horton International.

Daniel began his professional career in brand management in the consumer goods industry. There he learned one thing above all in countless market research projects: to understand people and their personal motivations.

After that, he worked for another four years in a strategy consultancy and supported companies in the development of new, digital business models.

In September 2016, he joined Horton International Germany as an executive search consultant, where he was promoted to senior consultant just under a year later and to manager in 2019.

Since 1 January 2022, Daniel has been responsible for the IT Services & Operations business unit.

In the following interview, we asked him 7 personal questions to find out more about him as a person.

How do you start the day?

As a family man – our two boys are one and five years old – I have discovered the morning hours for myself.

My “me time” starts Monday to Friday at 6 a.m. – when everyone else is still slumbering peacefully – with meditation, journaling and jogging, alternating with fitness. This gets me into a positive frame of mind and ready for whatever the day brings.

Then an oat milk shake, get the kids ready and walk to the nearby daycare centre.

Then it’s off by car to the office 20 minutes away – for the first calls or podcasts, such as IT News or Steingart’s Morning Briefing – where the first espresso and the morning team meeting are waiting.

What would your colleagues say about you?

That I’m usually in a good mood, genuinely interested in them and “on the pitch”.

Where the light is, there is also shadow. What can annoy others about you?

That I always prefer to tackle problems and to-dos immediately, if only to get them out of my head. My follow-ups can be annoying.

What is your favourite question in interviews that you ask candidates for clients?

I consider it a great privilege to be able to enter the world of my interview partners with confidence.

Accordingly, in interviews, I like to ask about my counterpart’s personal recipe for success.

This also enables me to better assess whether the person and the company on whose behalf I am looking for talent can be successful together…. …and I always learn something new along the way.

Why are you a personnel consultant?

I see my role as a “marriage counsellor for managers”.

At its core, it’s about understanding people and organisations and it fulfils me to literally “bring together what belongs together”.

Do you have a quirk in your private life?

I always meticulously stock the fridge (whether at home or at work) according to a special system: according to categories, best-before date and with the packaging facing forward.

My professional background is in consumer goods marketing and certainly can’t be completely denied….

Which three things would you not want to do without?

My family, my running shoes and my smartphone – just because of the podcasts!

Tell us one more thing about you..

I see myself as a truly global citizen. Since my childhood I have lived in the USA, Denmark and Austria. I have worked in France and studied in Ireland where I fell in love  -not only with the Irish pub culture- but most importantly, with my wife who has Polish roots.

The post Daniel Kutschenko new Business Unit Manager – Horton International Germany first appeared on Horton International.

Some repetition never gets boring, no matter how often you encounter it. It is exactly the same with the award as BEST PERSONNEL CONSULTANT 2021, which Hager received in December for the fifth time in a row. Hager was voted Germany’s best headhunter in a total of seven categories this year. In doing so, the series of awards does not simply continue. With five stars in each category – the top mark in WirtschaftsWoche’s ranking – Hager has impressed in a total of seven categories this year, once again surpassing its own performance in previous years.

As Germany’s leading business magazine, WirtschaftsWoche has enjoyed the highest reputation for almost a century. In doing so, “WiWo” convinces through the use of many years of expertise in various rankings, such as the choice BESTE PERSONALBERATUNG, and has made a name for itself as an advisor in central entrepreneurial decisions.

Particularly noteworthy is the fact that the repeated evaluation as BEST PERSONNEL ADVISORY was not based on abstract criteria or complicated algorithms. As a basis for the ranking, WirtschaftsWoche again used a questionnaire developed by the renowned professor for international management at the IU International University of Applied Sciences in Erfurt, Christel Gade, in 2021. The evaluation of the answers from around 3,000 personnel decision-makers provided information on the assessment of the performance provided by a total of more than 1,000 consulting firms and thus a practice-related assessment basis for the subsequent ranking. Aspects such as frequency of mention, satisfaction with the cooperation, awareness of the consulting firm and its image were included in the survey.

As a result, Hager achieved the top rating in the form of five stars in seven of a total of 15 categories. WirtschaftsWoche attests Hager Unternehmensberatung top performance in:

– Consulting/Professional Services

– Digitalisation

– Energy

– Financial Services

– Real Estate

– IT

– Machinery Plant engineering (with industry and metal)

“2021 was a very special year in many areas,” recalls Martin Krill, managing partner of Hager Unternehmensberatung. “Qualified executive search consulting has once again proven to be an important strategic support, with the help of which companies have been able to maintain or even expand their position in the market.”

As important bodies of the industry, the Federal Association of German Management Consultants (BDU) as well as the Association for Professionals and Executives (DFK) – both supporters of the WirtschaftsWoche survey – are optimistic about the future. After a challenging year in 2020, companies are again increasingly relying on consulting, especially when it comes to filling management positions and making companies fit for the various challenges of the future.

With growth of around 15% forecast for 2021 in the field of personnel consulting (cf. “Personalberatung in Deutschland 2021”, industry study by the BDU), the selection of the right partner is the first and often decisive hurdle facing companies willing to seek advice. With the ranking BESTE PERSONALBERATUNG 2021, WirtschaftsWoche provides a valuable decision-making aid.

“We are proud of the renewed award and are pleased to have convinced clients from additional sectors this year,” emphasises Martin Krill. “The results of the WirtschaftsWoche survey confirm us in our efforts to continuously develop. For the next few years, we have set ourselves the goal of convincing in further categories and establishing ourselves as a holistic executive search specialist across all industries.”

The post Best Personnel Consultant 2021 Award – Horton International Germany first appeared on Horton International.

With ‘Hager Board Services’, Hager’s experts support investors such as private equity companies, family offices and other investment companies in their search for suitable industry experts, starting in the pre-investment phase. With their industry expertise, they assist in the evaluation of potential target companies within the framework of commercial and technological due diligence. Following the successful takeover of companies, the companies receive support in filling advisory board positions in the portfolio companies.

The filling of advisory board functions is also undertaken for family businesses. Although not always required by law, experienced advisory boards create enormous added value for family businesses in leading the management team, developing strategy and many other challenging business situations.

The ‘Hager Board Services’ division assists in filling industry experts and advisory boards as well as appointments for statutory supervisory and control bodies in companies, with suitable personalities for the supervisory board (DE) or the board of directors. (CH).

“Boards of directors and supervisory boards are increasingly in the spotlight because investors, regulators and the media expect them to build and maintain strong corporate governance and achieve success in the marketplace. As companies increasingly go global, effective business leaders need diverse talent to support growth against a backdrop of constant technological and economic change,” says Managing Partner Martin Krill.

Hager Board Services brings together global experts and advises owners on how to select the best advisory or supervisory boards, taking into account their existing talent and the company’s objectives.

With the increased focus of this line of business, we support owners in optimising the effectiveness of their control body and thus also the effectiveness of their management,” Krill continues. 

The post Axel Gester responsible for the new ‘Hager Board Services’ division first appeared on Horton International.

The workplace of the future is already actively in use in many areas and will continue to evolve at a rapid pace. The workplace, as well as employee sustainability, will become even more important key factors for companies in the fight for the best talents in the future.

At the beginning of the Corona phase, when the new workplace concepts and mobile working were introduced across the board in practice, there were many reservations and concerns about the future performance of employees. After these working models became established and practice also proved that it could work smoothly, it became clear that employee productivity did not take a step backwards. In fact, the opposite was often the case.

With digital transformation in focus and agile working as the working standard, employees will move from so-called ‘managed services’ to ‘managed outcomes’. This working model gives them a stronger sense of belonging – they realise much more directly that they are contributing to business outcomes.

These work formats give companies access to specialists regardless of where they live. This is also a great advantage with regard to the changing world of work. Because in the future, diverse work will be standardised and also be part of the norm.

“In many companies, employees will work more agilely within the company in the future. They will be ‘placed’ internally through a company’s own talent pool or talent cloud. They store their talents and skills in profiles so that managers can put together members for the teams from the talent pool. At the technology company IBM, this is already practised today. The departments book experts from the company for their projects. In the working world of the future, we will have to depart from many old thought patterns. In Executive Search, we also see our business model in a highly transformed format. This has reinforced our actions to adjust our view forward and to deal with the new challenges in order to be able to implement them in the best possible way “, says Martin Krill, managing partner of Hager Unternehmensberatung, which specialises in executive search.

Horton International Germany looks back with great pride on 25 years of successful company history. But we’re not only looking to the past, but also to an exciting future with its now 110 employees.

Together with one of Germany’s most renowned futurology institutes, the think tank 2bAHEAD, headed by Sven Gábor Jánszky, Hager Unternehmensberatung,  our Horton International partner in Germany, has taken an extensive look into the big crystal ball and addressed the topic of the working world of the future. If you are interested in more information about the changes in the world of work, please feel free to contact us.

The post Do You Already Know How Your Team Will Work In The Future? first appeared on Horton International.

Oliver Badura joined the executive search specialist Hager Unternehmensberatung, our Horton International partner in Germany, on 1 August. In his function as Chief Operating Officer (COO), he is responsible for the areas of marketing, IT, recruiting and training, among others.

In addition, he is pushing the continuous growth course of the successful consulting firm. Badura looks back on a long career in the field of human resources and knows the executive search trade from the bottom up. In 2002, he founded AQUINIUM GmbH, one of the leading providers of training and further education for executive search consultants and recruiters.

He is also the author of specialist articles on HR topics, gives expert lectures and is a recognised expert on HR trends for well-known magazines such as Focus Online.

Oliver founded the executive search company in 1996 together with Ralf Hager, who gave the company its name. The founding phase and the growth at that time were decisively shaped by him. Now he is returning to his roots and will support Hager Unternehmensberatung in its goal of becoming one of the top executive search consultancies in Germany and preparing it for the challenges of the working world of the future.

“We are very pleased to welcome Oliver Badura back to our team. He will further support our continued growth in his role as COO and drive our own digital transformation. I and Hager Unternehmensberatung are connected not only by our very successful start-up phase, but also by a long-standing collaboration in which he accompanied me and my team as an external trainer and consultant. Furthermore, we are connected by our personal and friendly contact, which we have always maintained,” says Ralf Hager, founder and CEO of the company.

The post Oliver Badura New COO at Horton International Germany first appeared on Horton International.

Consumers always make decisions with their own quality of life in mind. Thus, their own actions oscillate between individual convenience and satisfaction of needs on the one hand and the increasing desire for social responsibility and justice on the other. Consumer ethics has arrived in the social and economic reality of life. The market has established itself, but the frame of reference is shifting. “Bio” is now only one facet of the topics; other aspects are gaining importance: regionality at the product level, social responsibility at the corporate and production level, alternative ownership models at the overall economic level.

As a result of the deceleration that consumers already experienced in the first lockdown, many good intentions were reinforced: living more consciously, eating healthier, buying more regionally and only as much as is (really) needed, etc. For the consumer, benefits and social responsibility are primary, and a higher price is also acceptable.

Sustainability in agribusiness is about the need to increase resource efficiency, protect the environment, ensure economic viability and guarantee social compatibility. To meet these requirements, agricultural businesses need not only practical new technologies but also modern organizational structures and skilled and agile employees and leaders.

A paradigm shift in the minds of entrepreneurs is called for: Business must be aligned with people, not the other way around. If you rethink business, you will also find ways to implement it.

This paradigm shift will also be necessary in the search for the decision-makers of 2030. Hager Unternehmensberatung, Horton International’s partner in Germany,  has collaborated with one of Germany’s most renowned future institutes – the think tank 2bAHEAD – on a study to find out what the world of work will look like in 2030.

The research result casts a surprising light on the working world of tomorrow, in which executives will be the managers of diverse, global, decentralized teams. The decision-makers of the day after tomorrow will be human and approachable, mastering the use of artificial intelligence as a matter of course, making decisions based on data rather than gut instinct.

The future, according to the study “Executives 2030. How they work and where to find them” is in many respects more mobile.

Instead of seeing work as an activity for earning money, more and more executives will seek one thing above all in their work: purpose.

And here we come full circle again: consumers are looking for ethics, sustainability, etc., and tomorrow’s executives are looking for a sense of purpose in what they do and how they do it.

In the white paper “Executives 2030. How they work – and where to find them”, Hager Unternehmensberatung also sheds light on the question of how exactly the talents of the day after tomorrow and their dream employer will find each other, which technologies will help both sides in the process, up to and including genetic analysis, and what role executive search will play in 2030.

The white paper is available on request from Hager Unternehmensberatung here.

The post The Change In Agribusiness And The New World Of Work first appeared on Horton International.

Likewise, the prevailing prejudice in many cases was that those who wanted to work from home did not have a strong interest in a career. But all these are now relics of a bygone era. Since all companies have sent their employees to the home office and also manage and lead them from there, most of the doubts are outdated.

If you go about it the right way, you can certainly pursue a career from home. The best chances are for those who manage to stay in touch in many ways, even virtually, and to build and maintain their networks with the right decision-makers. In order to remain visible, digital attention should be drawn to one’s own performance and competence. In doing so, it remains important not to remain alone in the domestic comfort zone, but to position oneself externally.

External means actively contacting everyone from the home office: Customers, superiors and colleagues. A regular exchange with the management, a daily meeting with the team and active communication via messaging apps as well as a regular exchange with customers are simple ways to avoid being forgotten. It is particularly advisable to hold conversations via video conference. Being able to look your counterpart in the face during the conversation creates closeness and a much more personal atmosphere.

As everyone is working remotely these days, it is highly recommended to stay visible and to ‘network’ actively. Most of our clients are also in the home office and it is completely normal to exchange information via video conference and to discuss open issues in a quasi personal exchange. We also do this with regular frequency with our own teams at Horton International Germany. Many business units even arrange to meet every day for a coffee break or small talk, just to be able to see each other briefly and exchange ideas – just like in the coffee kitchen.

This is much more personal than just picking up the phone. And so far this has done no harm to our careers, either in our own ranks or with our clients. On the contrary, since the Corona pandemic, we have become acquainted with many new career paths for our clients. Especially in the field of IT and digital transformation, there has been a lot of movement in recent months.

The post A Career Is Equally Possible In The Home Office first appeared on Horton International.

From the money they earn in this way, they can feed their families, send their children to school, and pay for medicine and medical care. Often, such small businesses also create new jobs, so that even more people can seize the opportunity for a better future.

“Even in economically difficult Corona times, it is important for us to maintain our commitment. Because life beyond Corona goes on. We have to look to the future. And with ‘Entrepreneurs for Entrepreneurs’, we are making our contribution to sustainable development on the ground,” explains Ralf Hager, founder and managing director of Hager Unternehmensberatung.

Young people in Benin successfully complete training

Another Oxfam co-project supported by this contribution has already come to an end this summer: The “Project for Strengthening Social and Vocational Self-Reliance of Particularly Vulnerable Youth in Urban Areas of Benin” aimed to bring 75 young people from one of the very poorest countries in the world through vocational training. In doing so, it has given young people in the West African country of Benin an economic perspective to be able to feed themselves and their families.

The theory and practical examinations for hairdressing, tailoring, printing and welding took place in the first week of June, two months late because of Corona.

All 83 project participants passed their exams. This exceeded the original target of 75 successful graduates.

“We are ourselves a training enterprise and are pleased therefore that we can give young people in a structure-weak region vocational perspectives with our donation, said Ralf Hager.

Should you also wish to support the Oxfam entrepreneurial network, please visit: https://www.oxfam.de/english

The post Horton International Germany, Supporting the Oxfam Entrepreneurial Network first appeared on Horton International.

Crime in one’s own company will increase in the coming years: around two thirds of the questioned agreed with this statement in a recent study by the auditing company KPMG. About 1,000 companies from different industries were surveyed. The study showed that the theft of in-house data is a major problem for four out of five companies (around 80%). This can be copyright infringement, unauthorized access to financial accounts or the disclosure of trade secrets and confidential information about customers and employees. Even if no company wants to accuse its employees bad intentions, according to KPMG-survey, more than half (56%) of the “violations of trade secrets” can be traced back to their own employees.

80 percent have to adapt their authorization concept

Many companies do not have an overview of the access rights that each employee in the company has to different data because the IT department has no central management system. Furthermore, the right tools to identify risk factors and compliance vulnerabilities are often lacking

In order to prevent unauthorized access to in-house data in the future, the authorization concepts must be revised. It is important to determine who needs access to which areas of the company, so they can do their work properly, and which data are to be classified as particularly critical. For example, access to employee files is only allowed to HR managers, while only the accounting department can review the company’s finances. KPMG advises around 80% of the companies surveyed to urgently adapt their authorization concept. Many companies are already assigning high priority to this issue.

Also see the danger from within

Due to Corona, many topics were left behind and neglected. However, in view of the worrying number of increasing incidents of digital crime, which can certainly originate from within, these must not be postponed. Of course, nobody wants to admit that the danger can also come from their own ranks. Nevertheless, it is an essential task of IT management to uncover security gaps and to promote a corresponding authorization concept.

As an Executive Search consultancy, we constantly work with sensitive data from customers and candidates. Therefore, protecting this information is our top priority. At Horton International Germany, the IT department controls the access rights of all company members. Although we have great trust in our employees, such role management is essential in this digital world.

The post Prevent internal data theft through central management first appeared on Horton International.

AI is probably the technology with the greatest potential for disruption. What does this mean?

MK: AI will fundamentally change our lives. And I am absolutely convinced that both the economy and our society will benefit. Technology has developed so much in recent years that there are now many processes that AI-controlled computers can handle just as well as humans. One area in which this technology is advancing rapidly is, for example, image recognition. Simply scanning an image instead of having to enter specific data makes work easier in many areas.

Cognitive tasks can also be supported by AI. A very good example is the translation software DeepL. Here, current translations are further optimised by regular applications, so that AI helps to implement new terms or to express complicated facts well. This was not the case with Google Translator. Another example is ‘Process and Task Mining Software’, where AI identifies inefficient processes in the company and automatically finds out where processes can be improved.

What significance does AI and automation have for Executive Search?

MK: It is clear that executive search does not work completely automatically – neither now nor in the foreseeable future. There are some areas where AI provides valuable support in our industry. This can be a professional pre-selection of suitable candidates and also the comparison of CVs with other digital tracks. Pre-selection is all about identifying skills and attributes – Active Sourcing, which is well-known among HR professionals. We are all familiar with the search functions in social networks, but semantic searches were not familiar to us for a long time in the networks. Just like logical connections and related results, this is a new world in which AI helps us identify the skills we are looking for.

A digital comparison can also be made; is the information in the profiles also consistent with the other digital ‘footprints’ of a candidate. Does the environment, living situation etc. fit the mandate sought?

AI and especially professional automation is also very supportive in our own internal processes. Executive search lives from large amounts of data. In our company, for example, data is automatically read into the database. This means that the consultant only has to give permission for the data to be stored without actively accessing the system. Thanks to our excellent IT, we have also introduced process automation in other routine activities. And here again, it is not that all employees have nothing more to do; on the contrary, this supports us all and ultimately also avoids sources of error.

It is often said that AI, robots and algorithms take jobs away on the one hand and create employment on the other. How do you see this?

MK: In general, it can be said that there are hardly any professions that will be able to avoid the issue of digitisation. In almost all jobs, skills and abilities with and at the computer are in demand. Many routine jobs will sooner or later be taken over by software programs or computers. But one thing is for sure, hardly any job description can be completely automated, there will often be a shift or upheaval. Above all, it is important for both employees and employers to stay on the ball and to permanently improve their qualifications and be open to new ideas. During the German economic miracle in the 70s and 80s, many up-and-coming companies and employees fell by the wayside because they had ‘bathed’ in the upswing without looking ahead.

How can companies prepare themselves for the AI and robotics age? What should be taken into account?

MK: It is important first of all to find out what the customer needs, which processes can be improved and which technological possibilities exist on the market. Often it is also worthwhile working with smaller start-ups to introduce processes and not to build the tools completely in-house. However, it is particularly important to have specialists and also managers in your own ranks who understand what will ultimately be automated and how the process should work.

We have many customers who ask experts for exactly this in order to have decision-makers in the company on the one hand, who can also convince the board of directors of new ideas. On the other hand, however, they should be sufficiently well-versed in the subject matter to push the issues accordingly. Unfortunately, these are precisely the talents that are often fought over despite the current Corona situation.

The post AI the investment in the future first appeared on Horton International.

Dr. Monika Becker, Business Unit Director of Horton International Germany & Hager Unternehmensberatung, a consultancy that specializes in executive search, has more than 20 years of experience as a headhunter, especially in the IT industry. How to optimally plan your career (think one step ahead) and why a management job is overrated (the future belongs to teams of experts)? A twelve-step guide

The post What Do Headhunters Recommend to Their Friends first appeared on Horton International.

The seal stands for outstanding quality and professionalism in personnel consulting. It provides both customers and applicants alike a useful orientation aid when it comes to choosing a service provider.

FOCUS Business presented the award on the basis of a study carried out together with Statista experts. Last autumn, the statistics portal asked personnel managers from companies and personnel service providers as well as candidates about their favourites.

The surveys were conducted online via XING and an online access panel. Using a list of 1,000 personnel service providers, a maximum of ten entries per category were possible. Participants evaluated the quality and selection of candidate profiles, service quality, value for money and speed of placement. In addition to the HR experts, job seekers who have had contact with HR service providers in the past three years also had the opportunity to name their favourites – ten per category. They assessed the quality and selection of the positions offered, communication during and after the placement, and also the quality of service during the application process.

Only those who excelled in all categories and received a minimum number of ‘good’ or ‘very good’ evaluations, as well as a minimum share of recommendations, were included in the circle of the ‘Top Personnel Service Providers 2020’.

This repeated success at these awards is a reflection of Hager Unternehmensberatung’s commitment to maintaining the best-possible quality of service. The company offers professionalism and competence at the highest level. For the 110 employees of Hager Unternehmensberatung, it is our constant goal to meet these demands.

Ralf Hager, founder and Managing Director of Hager Unternehmensberatung, on the results: “The numerous awards reflect our high quality standards and our many years of competence in executive search consulting. The FOCUS list of top personnel service providers is special because it represents an independent and credible guide and reflects the opinion of an entire market in addition to the opinions of our clients and candidates. My partners and I are extremely proud to have achieved this coveted position in the latest FOCUS BUSINESS ranking again this year and we would like to express our sincere thanks to all our employees who have made this joint success possible!”

(2847 Zeichen inklusive Leerzeichen)

The post Hager Unternehmensberatung: Executive Search with seven quality seals first appeared on Horton International.

With around 124,000 unfilled positions (Bitkom, 2019), the IT sector was one of the most seriously affected by the shortage of skilled workers last year – and it continues to be so. The auditing firm Ernst & Young (EY) reached a similar conclusion in its recently published SME Barometer 2020. According to this study, one in three medium-sized companies complains about vacancies in the IT sector.

Due to the lack of employees with adequate digital competence, increasing numbers of companies are dependent on external service providers. In 2020, providers of IT consulting and implementation services are expecting revenue growth of around 10.8 percent. This was the conclusion reached by market researchers at Lünendonk following their 2019 survey of 70 consulting and systems providers and 140 managers working in large and medium-sized user companies.

The demand for IT services is particularly high in the industrial and financial sectors – especially in automotive and banking. Overall, the service providers generated almost half of their turnover in the industrial and financial sectors.

Shortage of knowledge workers in application companies

One of the main reasons for the sharp rise in demand is the pressure companies are under to push ahead with digitisation. Many of them lack the necessary know-how to successfully implement the digital transformation under their own steam. To make sure they don’t fall behind the competition in the latest IT trends, many companies are seeking help from outside. The main focus is on topics such as big data analytics, IT security and agile software engineering. Furthermore, a lot of companies’ agendas also include the orchestration of cloud solutions, AI-based applications and the micro-services approach.

Of the IT service providers surveyed, 89 percent expect growing demand for implementation services in 2020. Primarily because the flood of new software solutions and digital products is also driving the need for integration into the customer’s existing IT environment.

Agile development methods are becoming increasingly important in software development. Mario Zillmann, partner and author of the Lünendonk study: “We’re seeing increasing numbers of cases where (agile) software development and integration is being outsourced to a service partner as a complete package in an attempt to prevent interface breaks and to keep the implementation speed high.” [original quotation in German: „In immer mehr Fällen wird die (agile) Softwareentwicklung und -integration als Gesamtpaket an einen Dienstleistungspartner vergeben, um Schnittstellenbrüche zu vermeiden und die Umsetzungsgeschwindigkeit hochzuhalten“.]

Zillmann believes that another topic that will shape the IT industry and demand in the coming years is the switch to SAP S/4 HANA, the latest business suite from SAP.

Skills shortages also affect service providers

In some cases, the increasing number of orders is pushing the consulting and system houses to their absolute limits as they are also faced with a shortage of skilled workers. As a result, they have sometimes had to reject customer orders in the past because they were unable to provide the required manpower for projects. Recently, medium-sized service companies have been more severely hit by this than large, international companies such as Accenture or Capgemini. Where necessary, firms like these have been able to call in consultants from other national companies or draw on external support, for example by working with freelancers.

Summary

The shortage of IT specialists and the associated economic problems are not new, but the situation on the market is becoming more acute. If urgently needed know-how is not available – either internally nor externally – digitisation projects that have already started quickly grind to a standstill. The lack of IT specialists is now seen as one of the greatest risk factors contributing to the loss of Germany’s competitiveness on the international stage. To counteract this, the Federal Government has initiated a recruitment offensive. The aim is to attract more IT professionals from abroad. What has long been normal in Silicon Valley could, therefore, become standard in Germany from March this year.

The post Shortage of skilled workers – not only internally, but also externally. first appeared on Horton International.

We asked Monika for her thoughts on being included:

“I feel very honoured being part of the 40 over 40 list. But even more, I feel inspired by all these extraordinary women. They are changing the world and they are paving the way for the countless female talents under 40.“

Congratulations to Monika from all of the Horton International group!

The post Dr. Monika Becker, Sector Head IT & Digitalisation at Horton International named one of Germany’s most inspiring women. first appeared on Horton International.

In the HR sector, where AI is still in the ‘arrival phase’, the development is continuing to pick up speed. One thing that’s clear is that artificial intelligence will change the rules of the game – but it’s still unclear to what extent.

It is becoming increasingly difficult in the recruitment industry to find exceptional candidates with the necessary key qualifications. This is where AI-based tools that support the so-called ‘candidate attraction process’ come into play. These tools scan the data pools of social media channels for potential candidates with the aim of making them aware of companies or to assist HR personnel in identifying them.

With the help of this kind of preselection, the next steps in the recruitment process can then be initiated.

Where to next? Does Mr Watson have to wait?

In applicant management and administration – as well as in the sounding out of suitable candidates – digitisation can be quite useful and, at the same time, project the professionality of the searching company’s working processes to the outside world.

AI-based processes make a great deal of sense in recruiting when there are a large number of candidates that need to be filtered intelligently. Whether it’s a realignment of entire departments or sought-after trainee positions in attractive global corporations. Using AI tools, the preliminary work can be carried out much more efficiently during the candidate search and identification phase. This – and this is a win-win for all parties involved – not only accelerates the appointment process, but also shortens the duration of the application procedure for the candidates.

Personality is in demand

No matter which industry segment you are currently looking at, new jobs are being advertised everywhere and completely new job profiles are being posted on Internet platforms. However, in the candidate market, there is already a saturation of online job offers. Many candidates no longer want to be simply flooded with job offers. They much prefer personal contact or a direct approach than a permanent flood of e-mails with proposals. Confronted by the abundance of possible ‘dream jobs’, they are often spoilt for choice and can’t choose from the multitude of opportunities. Ultimately, this is rather stressful and they simply feel overwhelmed.

For them, personal contact represents respect, personal attention and individuality. Even digital natives, who have grown up with electronic communication, attach greater importance to interpersonal exchange.

People’s needs often exceed the limits of the technical possibilities – not everything that already works (from a purely technical point of view) corresponds to what people actually want, and for that reason is often not welcome or even accepted. The company has the choice of finding the right balance between AI-supported acceleration of the process and the use of personally conducted, empathetic conversations that cannot be replaced by computer-based instruments.

Summary:

Sophisticated algorithms can support recruiting. However, when it comes to making contact and conducting personal discussions, Mr Watson should be a little more restrained. As far as this is concerned, it is important to use a personal approach to show respect and appreciation for the candidate and to emphasize the individuality of the company.

The post Trends in the digital age first appeared on Horton International.

Paradigm shift in the digital age

Competition enlivens the market and is a key driver for companies to innovate. In the digital age, many services can be offered globally, but also locally with a strong focus on one’s target group. Many start-ups are taking this opportunity.

Established market pioneers, meanwhile, find themselves reacting to this situation by quickly lobbing new business models and offerings at what they perceive as a threat.

But the key to success is not just a rapid response, but also customer orientation. The main criteria are customer focus, simplicity, and the customer experience, which ultimately means customers will decide whether a company’s digitalisation has been a success. Customer expectations and how they act have changed significantly as a result of digitalisation.

For example, they expect aspects that have become standard in one industry to be present in every other industry, too.

Ultimately, entrepreneurial efforts and innovation should be driven primarily by customer expectations, not just sales targets or technology.

Increasing customer orientation among IT managers

US-based market researchers at Forrester have also named this trend of increased customer or end user orientation. This shift has expanded the requirements and tasks that some companies have to fulfil; this applies to IT departments, too. The position of the IT manager as an interface to the customer as well as the necessity of aligning internal processes to the customer’s requirements is shifting the primarily internal focus on IT expertise into a position that is broadly entrepreneurial that has to think and act on matters far beyond strictly IT issues.

While it has always been important for IT managers to be technically savvy, this position now often requires a broader set of skills. In some companies, they need to be able to evaluate customer behaviour based on their expertise, for example on the company’s website, online shop, social media channels, etc. They may need to analyse and process such data for the company to use in developing its strategies. These strategies and the vision behind them as well as the relevant method of implementing them must be clearly and concisely communicated to decision-makers at top management level. The balance between technology expertise, analytical skills and leadership skills, as well as a good level of communicative strengths are now key success factors that IT managers need in order to drive a company forward in a customer-oriented and technology-driven manner.

Conclusion:

Trends shape the focus of IT. For a long time, IT departments and infrastructure were organised in a functional way with concepts such as “plan, build, and run” the main nomenclature. “Demand, supply, and governance” has also undergone a long evolutionary phase in IT and shaped IT organisations. Meanwhile, the trend has shifted to a customer focus: in pre-sales, post-sales, service, and maintenance. The customer is the focus and not only in the customer-specific departments. In many companies, IT managers must also be able to devise entrepreneurial strategies from the customer journey and provide suggestions for their technical implementation. And this, of course, is also reflected in the corresponding organisational forms.

The post Digital thinkers and leaders wanted first appeared on Horton International.

The New Work topic is not only trending among employees, but also arises on many executive conversations.

“Digitization is New Work’s driver. Digital technologies enable mobile and self-determined work regardless of schedules and locations”, says Bitkom’s President Achim Berg.

Many professionals connect their personal wishes with social demands in these new working concepts.

The corresponding spatial concepts are becoming increasingly prevalent, and one in ten office employee do not even have an assigned desk any more. New Work focuses on employees’ requirements, with employers benefiting from increased innovation and employee engagement, leading to increased long-term competitiveness. For meeting employees’ requirements calls for a change in management style, as well as the introduction of the latest technologies and modern workplaces.

Digital leadership culture 

New Work stands for flat structures, the breaking up of traditional hierarchy organisations, and the democratisation of employment relations. At the same time, this also means increased self-determination and participation.

For executives, this entails a major mindset change and, therefore, a new understanding of leadership. Supervisors should become networkers in the digital age. Employees, who often work disregarding schedules or locations, demand agile and flexible team steering. Trust and courage are key prerequisites to build a pleasant working atmosphere. Each team member should be managed individually.

Along the same lines, there must be an open culture where mistakes are allowed and suggestions welcome. Rigid structures and silo thinking should be shelved and replaced by contemporary concepts.

Digital Leadership – only through a trusting cooperation will employees be empowered to develop their own full potential in decentralised structures and to successfully take the next steps together as a team.

Conclusion:

Leadership in the age of New Work should, more than ever, be understood as a service of sorts characterised by support, frameworks, and the opening of open spaces. Conversely, this also means that executives must give up control and power. Control is replaced by trust and empathy. A leadership style that cultivates an open culture of error, in which critical issues can be dealt with and existing approaches questioned, draws much closer to a modern and agile leadership style.

Granting employees ample leeway to operate allows a far more powerful deployment than that arising from a rigid top-down approach.

The post What impact does New Work have on leadership culture? first appeared on Horton International.

The post Search for German visionaries first appeared on Horton International.

New ways of thinking and acting within the framework of digital transformations do not arise simply from the fact that a process plan is created and delegated bottom-down according to a scheme. The first step is to take stock step by step and focus on the employees. If the employees are emotionally on board, an essential foundation stone is laid in the process, because only with motivated employees can the introduction of new processes be successful.

Even company directors and those responsible for digitization should make preparations before sending their employees on the digital journey. Are there workflows that have to be adapted organizationally because they originated in analogue time? How does the cooperation between the individual departments work, are the processes fit for a new format? What about existing routines, are they still effective or should they be given a new polish?

Employees themselves are often the first to be concerned. How can the company deal with this? The employees can discuss your scepticism, your questions or suggestions with the division and department heads in advance. It is advisable to outline any reservations that may arise and remove the content or proactively prepare the answers, perhaps even distribute them as information material.

All employees find the topic of digitization exciting? Yes and no. We find many of the topics that accompany digitization interesting and arouse our curiosity. But the fear of failing in our everyday work because we cannot understand new things quickly enough and put them into practice is something that no one can take lightly.

It is therefore advisable to take any concerns employees may have about upcoming changes seriously. Here, well-prepared communication measures can be helpful to rebut these fears and to give the employees planning security and to take them with them instead of losing them.

Digitization initiatives that are in the planning stage should be prepared through focus groups so that organisational change is not only strategically planned but also well prepared for employees. It is in the nature of people that we burn for issues in which we are involved from the outset. So the employees of every company that will implement digital transformations should also include them from the outset in order to gain their commitment before the rollout.

Digital innovations can only be introduced with employees. Those who are fully involved themselves will want to fill new processes with life and implement them quickly. In times of an empty job market, a healthy company approach – not a top-down approach – in which large catalogues of measures look like surprise eggs, is highly recommended. The art is to motivate employees in such a way that they feel involved and support the measures with conviction. Companies that manage to do this are at the forefront of digital transformation.

The post Take employees with you on the digital journey first appeared on Horton International.

Can we Homo Sapiens also claim from ourselves that our digital intelligence is getting better and better? Not really. According to a recent study by Bitkom, the digital competence of applicants and employees in Germany is rather mediocre.

This makes it difficult for companies that want to introduce CI-controlled solutions to find the best of the best in an empty labour market. Because one thing applies to all companies: Even in a digital environment, nothing works without employees. Or who should introduce digital processes and AI?

On the one hand, the demands on digital skills are increasing, on the other hand it is necessary to recruit suitable employees, to keep them on board or – if they are already on board – to give them relevant skills for the future digital journey.

If many top talents are to be found, nothing is possible without appropriate incentives. Companies must not only think in monetary terms, but must also create an adapted corporate culture in which digital maturity is also feasible. This can be a turn in established Org charts – it can also be to put supposedly good processes aside. In the age of digital upheaval, the old wisdom is that those who can adapt best will survive. Charles Darwin once said: “Neither the strongest nor the most intelligent species will survive, but the one that adapts best to change”.

Digital transformation is reshuffling the cards. As with any market transformation, companies must take a different perspective – they must not only invest in new technologies, but also in talent and their own corporate culture. This is often unfamiliar. But to become digitally more mature, employees need to become digitally fitter and culture more flexible. This not only plans a strategy but ultimately also reaps its rewards..

Summary

Unfortunately, the open labour market leaves little room for manoeuvre to win the digital ‘cracks’ It is important for business leaders to plant the appropriate culture in their corporate DNA in order to allow for upheavals and attract talent.
Here, wise advice and support from outsiders can often work wonders or – as Antoine de Saint-Exupéry says – “To see clearly, a change of perspective is often enough”.

The post Where is the digital competence? first appeared on Horton International.

What does swarm intelligence mean?

The concept of swarm intelligence is not new. Aristotle already named it ‘collective intelligence’ in his summation thesis. Since then, this topic has been thoroughly investigated and further developed. The basic idea that describes swarm intelligence is: a group is more intelligent than its brightest member.

This does not necessarily mean that groups are more intelligent than individuals. However, when certain framework parameters of group composition and organization are taken into account, groups often come up with better solutions than individual members, especially in the case of complex problems.

Swarm intelligence in the company

Almost all companies have understood that their future success depends on the scarce resource of employees. Accordingly, companies are engaged in a tough battle for the best specialists and managers. Many companies still focus less on the idea of which innovations can produce the best results when employees work together. Digital start-ups in particular, however, also rely on swarm intelligence for the optimal organization of their employees.

By means of modern digital possibilities such groups usually organize themselves independently and bring along different creativity abilities. However, this usually only works if the group or swarm meets certain requirements and can develop optimally through innovative leadership concepts.

Swarm intelligence cannot be established in the company overnight; it also requires a corresponding corporate culture that allows a basis for swarm intelligence capability. The hierarchies should be flat and the degrees of freedom pronounced. Employees need a high degree of flexibility and should be brought together in unusual conditions in order to be able to connect and exchange ideas intelligently. In companies this is comparable to crowdsourcing. Here, too, many ideas from a group (the crowd) come together, which ultimately reveal solutions or inventions through a kind of swarm intelligence.

Every herd needs a lead animal!

However, it is not enough for companies to put together a colourful mix of heterogeneous employees and offer them unlimited Internet access in order to tackle the task at hand. Swarm intelligence also needs leadership and management – but not through a silverback that authoritatively dictates the course of action. Employees need a manager who can keep an eye on the big picture and the overall process, who can set the tone in an emergency, but still create an atmosphere in which creative freedom works and can be developed. The individual team members must understand their role as team players, but also have the courage to produce themselves as individuals and must not allow group pressure to arise.

Corporate culture must fit

Swarm intelligence requires modern management concepts and a ‘free’ working atmosphere in order to be successful.  There are some prerequisites for successful ‘swarming’:

– The composition of the ‘swarm’ should be very heterogeneous.

– The manager’s task is that of a role model, role model and facilitator, not an authoritarian, omniscient decision-maker.

– The leadership style is rather anti-authoritarian, more in the form of a leading animal character than that of a classical superior.

– The decision-making paths must be short, the hierarchies very flat and the corporate culture must be characterised by equal rights.

– The creativity of the individual is encouraged and mistakes are tolerated.

– The flow of information is unhindered and employees take responsibility for results.

– A digital networking of all participants is ‘state of the art’.

Conclusion:

In the digitalizing age, the question does not arise whether a company should rely on swarm intelligence, but rather how it should be questioned. Due to the continuing shortage of specialists and managers, it is time for companies to deal with new concepts in order to remain successful and not be overtaken. A new and attractive corporate culture as well as new work models ultimately benefit employer branding and strengthen employee loyalty.

The post Swarm intelligence first appeared on Horton International.

The continuous expansion of the company and the increased expansion in southern Germany were the reasons for the opening of a new location. With its increasing presence, Hager Unternehmensberatung is focusing on client proximity and creating the conditions for further growth as one of the leading consultancies in the executive search sector in Germany.

Ralf Hager, founder and managing director of Hager Unternehmensberatung: “The opening of our new office in Munich is an important step for us and a consequence of the constantly growing customer base in the Munich region. The Bavarian capital is home to a very large number of branches of industry. Companies from the automotive and mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, software and IT industries are just as strongly represented here as companies from the start-up scene. With this new location, we can also continue to take our own growth into account. With our company size of more than 100 employees and our continuous expansion, this will not be our last location opening”.

Hager Unternehmensberatung is a partner of Horton International and offers customers at over 40 locations in the globally most important economic regions solutions for issues throughout the working life cycle: Employment Lifecycle Solutions®.

These targeted solutions for the working life cycle are mirrored in our individual divisions: in the placement of the right candidates, the evaluation of staff potential, during training to develop the personal skills of employees and supporting individual change processes.

With nearly 100 employees in Germany working in small specialist teams, a fully digital workflow and over 20 years of experience in the technology sector as well as other innovative markets, Hager Unternehmensberatung brings together the performance and process quality of the industry’s big names with the speed and flexibility of a start-up.

Hager Unternehmensberatung is one of the top 10 recruiters in the DACH region and the well-known executive search consultancy for digital transformations.

The post Hager Unternehmensberatung continues its expansion course first appeared on Horton International.

Companies such as Google, Amazon and Facebook have shown the way and earned many billions with their data treasures. Companies must develop an individual digital business model in order to use the recovered treasures profitably. This requires true experts.

In order to keep track of the flood of data and ultimately to use the data profitably in the company, it requires a pronounced affinity for numbers, coupled with a healthy, well-dosed portion of creativity. A key role in data evaluation is played by highly competent data scientists, whose environment is located between Big Data, Analytics and Business Intelligence, the so-called data scientists.

The data scientist cannot be compared to the typical IT nerd, nor does he sit in a dark room to collect and analyse data. The main task of a data scientist is the presentation of future-oriented analyses – which can then be presented to top management in strategic plans. The data specialist digs through vast amounts of data in order to derive qualified conclusions. Ideally, these results flow directly into the business plan. Such a role in the company should not be regarded as a mere staff function, but rather as a creative impulse generator to define new business potentials and optimize existing processes as required.

In order to be successful, the data scientist must master a number of challenges and possess the appropriate skills. Below is an excerpt of the key competencies required:

– Statistical understanding and affinity for numbers

– healthy curiosity

– IT expertise

– entrepreneurial thinking

– consulting skills

Data Scientists are able to target complex issues both to top management and to the employees affected at work level. These all-rounders are therefore also good storytellers, and they needed this ability in order to present the entrepreneurial processes to all stakeholders in a targeted manner and to convey them visually well. The professional everyday life of the data scientist is highly heterogeneous, because data management is a sensitive topic on the one hand. On the other hand, data that flow together from completely different areas must be linked in a technically meaningful way.

Data science is also of great importance for top management, because data that has been competently prepared, evaluated and focused on potential business options is now a decisive factor in strategic corporate decisions. Examples are the big players in the industry such as Apple, Google, Uber, and Airbnb. These companies have based their procedures and technical developments primarily on data-supported analyses.  With the help of Data Scientists, companies can analyze the needs and inclinations of their customers and position themselves accordingly.

However, more than in other areas directly related to Big Data, etc., there is a massive shortage of professionals and executives. This is all the more true as the majority of Data Scientist courses in Germany were only founded in recent years. So today’s senior specialists and executives are lateral entrants. In addition, the special combination of skills – which the Data Scientist combines – once again describes the often quoted needle in the haystack. Here, outside advice can be worth its weight in gold.

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When everything is interconnected and communicates with each other

The rapid spread of networked devices and sensors generates large amounts of data and in some cases provides new insights. Based on this, processes can be improved, and new business models developed.  The flip side of this is that new security gaps are also emerging that offer cybercriminals new targets to cause major damage. The seemingly unlimited networking also presents new challenges in the area of cyber security. The frequency of attacks and other threat scenarios, which can affect the economic success of a company in particular, continues to increase. The most relevant cyber threats today are still malware (in the form of malware and viruses), followed by ransomware (in the form of blackmail through data encryption) and social engineering, the exploitation of interpersonal relationships. The extent of the risks and damage potential of cyber attacks – whether through theft or manipulation of business and customer data or through limited availability of IT services – is significant and should be a top priority for business leaders.

Not all companies are adequately protected against cybercrime

The topic of IT security is often missed during the conception of IoT solutions. It should be conceived as ‘Security by Design’ from beginning to end. Depending on the field of application, different security levels are required, which should not be considered during implementation. Often there is also a lack of security management, which is stringently responsible for, accompanies and implements this topic.

The security management, the CISO or the IT security manager manages the IT security of a company in the truest sense of the word. From the development of imaginative security solutions to the implementation of guidelines and training procedures.

Although the technical skills of the security manager can take a back seat, they are the driving force behind your company’s security measures. While awareness of IT security requirements has grown, implementation is often sluggish. The first universities have established a professorship specializing in IT security. Some companies recognise the seriousness of IT security, but have a hard time upgrading their staff to bring qualified staff on board. Currently, there are only a few experts in the field of IT security available on the job market.

Employers have so far made only limited compromises when recruiting suitable employees in the IT security sector. It is highly advisable to make concessions when recruiting and not to insist on a 100 percent accuracy of fit. Rather, companies should invest in skills and offer tailor-made training for any gaps.

Companies that deal with the topic of the Internet of Things and work out concepts to improve processes or expand business should not ignore the topic of IT security either. Security should be on the agenda right from the start. It is precisely the security gaps that can arise in the area of IoT as a result of networking and connecting the individual machines and controls that offer hackers great potential for attack. In order to give this topic the necessary entrepreneurial relevance, the role of an IT security manager should not be trivialized, but should be located in the C-level area or at least have a direct reporting line.

The post The Internet of Things and Cybersecurity first appeared on Horton International.

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Today, no industry is immune to fake and fraud. In recent times, we have observed more and more frequently that highly qualified candidates – especially in the C-level and HR area – are being approached by smaller or start-up personnel consultancies who want to exchange information on a supposedly suitable new “challenge” with a client in order to ultimately use the contact for acquisition purposes.

Being called by a headhunter initially awakens a positive feeling for one’s own ego. The called personreceives the impression that his or her own qualifications and expertise are attractive. In addition, the personal profile seems to draw the attention of external personnel consultants or someone from their own network seems to be convinced of this and has therefore passed on a recommendation.

This positive atmosphere inspires the called person and he or she is willing to discuss his or her own curriculum vitae and the motivation for a change. In this introductory phase of getting to know each other, a trustworthy basis for becoming a consultant is created relatively quickly, provided that one is halfway likeable.

Ultimately, one believes in the good faith that this relationship will advance one’s career. This is the usual and common way that professional recruitment consultancies take with potential candidates in order to discuss further steps of the candidate for the mandate to be filled and to support them as a trustworthy sparring partner.

Unfortunately, this trust is occasionally misused by ‘black sheep’ in the personnel consulting industry in order to exploit it for their own purposes. A scam is the one with an acquisition-related background: Once the candidate has taken the initiative and is ready for a personal interview with the client, the mandate has unfortunately already been filled elsewhere or the client has assigned the position internally. The supposedly suitable candidate often has to struggle with personnel bottlenecks in his own working environment; often overload is an important reason for the motivation to change.

After the first contact with a personnel consultant, the next step is for the consultant to inquire about the personnel situation in the candidate’s current company. This bypass makes it easy for the headhunter to be informed about any new mandates in the candidate’s company. This way is easier than to get new mandates through complex acquisition talks. What remains is the extremely unpleasant aftertaste of unprofessional working methods, which in case of doubt has an effect on the entire industry.

Unfortunately, there is no way against this methodology to turn it off. Some of my long-time clients contacted me and told me that they had been contacted by competitors via such a ‘humanly disappointing’ channel. In the end, these seemingly serious discussions were misused as an acquisitional optimization strategy for one’s own company. This not only damages the reputation of the respective personnel consultant, but also our entire industry. I sincerely hope that these supposed ‘colleagues’ will realise that they may be endangering their own existence because sooner or later almost everyone will be exposed as a fake.

Candidates who are contacted should check whether a contact by a personnel consultant is a concrete mandate before agreeing to further discussions. If a legitimation of the alleged position to be filled is not presented, the person concerned should only agree with caution to a further exchange.

A brief search about the consulting firm in question and a look at its website can also help to avoid unpleasant surprises.

The service life of a personnel consultancy is also an important criterion in distinguishing newcomers from well-networked consulting firms.

Normally, addressing a headhunter is a positive confirmation of the person’s personal vita and usually also an active support for further career steps. If it doesn’t fit for the first mandate, the candidate should be able to be saved in the consultant’s database in order to be available for further vacancies.

We were able to help many of our placed candidates with their next major career step. It didn’t always fit the first time we contacted them, but the data we already had enabled us to bring both parties together successfully at short notice.

The post Working with fake mandates first appeared on Horton International.

Meanwhile, AI is often used in cybersecurity

Many IT decision-makers see AI as the only ideal way to successfully upgrade against attacks. However, AI is only in its infancy in security technology in order to serve suitable fields of application. With the help of AI, the detection and defence against cyberattacks can be significantly improved and AI will soon play a major role in prevention. However, there are limits and it would be almost negligent to rely solely on artificial intelligence. The algorithms have a narrow focus and work with standardized sets of rules. Clever cybercriminals are able to introduce new scenarios that are completely new to the algorithms in order to break new – not covered – ground. Identified viruses should be classified and examined by humans in order to avoid unnecessary false alarms.

In each case, it is important to check whether AI should only be used as a tool in the corporate IT security strategy or whether it should increasingly cover the security area. If necessary, the entrepreneurial focus must be directed more towards the necessary human resources. From today’s view, successful and therefore secure anticipatory action, just like forensic thinking, is still reserved for human intelligence.

In many large companies and corporations, the position of the IT security officer is deliberately located in the management team.

Hazards and risks are cross-sectoral, all companies are subject to the same attack patterns. But how can companies protect themselves? Security as a tailor-made product from the catalogue does not exist and there are still limits to AI.

Sufficient defence against cyberattacks should normally be the responsibility of the company management. It is essential to set up a functioning IT risk and IT security management system in the company to minimize the attack possibilities for hackers. Security measures must be developed, implemented and executed and also constantly monitored, reviewed and improved.

What skills does a cybersecurity expert need?

Security specialists need to be much broad-based in terms of their qualifications and profiles than mere IT experts. They focus on implementing and executing a sustainable and resilient ISMS along with data protection and physical security measures to achieve comprehensive security solutions and operational risk and crisis management. Effective prevention work and the planning of potential attack scenarios are also standard tasks. Such planning requires – in addition to pure programming languages – several years of relevant professional experience in the area of information security, certification such as CISSP, CISM, CISA as well as very good knowledge in the area of security and network and also cryptography.

In addition to the knowledge in the field of encryption with a mathematical focus and a specialist course such as in economics or MINT, a sound professional experience in IT security (threat response/analysis and intelligence), CERT, conception of intrusion detection and prevention systems is also required. Solid knowledge in the fields of anti-malware software, network administration, IT security or IT forensics and the common scripting and programming languages are just as important prerequisites as a pronounced skill in communication and documentation.

Conclusion:

In the coming years, it will be increasingly important for company managers to understand the topic of cybersecurity as a brand attribute and not just wait for this problem to resolve itself. Responsibilities must be reorganized and established. AI is an option but not the only way to combat cybercrime. Those who acquire the desired and suitable specialists and managers with this knowledge in due time already have a clear competitive advantage.

The post Fighting cyberattacks with artificial intelligence (AI)? first appeared on Horton International.

It was also one of the top topics at this year’s CeBIT. Many companies showed the different application possibilities that the Blockchain has to offer. Especially in the area of IT service providers, many scenarios were presented to the visitors and the resulting benefits of the technology were explained.

In addition to the disruptive potential of the blockchain, CeBIT visitors were able to get to know the latest applications of the decentralized and forgery-proof database.

This technology is used as a certification platform in many application scenarios. The data is fed into the block chain and can then no longer be changed.

In the digital age, the blockchain can also offer great support in the recruiting process. The recruiting company can rely on the authenticity of the certificates for digital applications and the applicant can be sure – in addition to simplifying the application process – that his documents will not get lost and reach the recipient.

Over the last two to three years, this technology has also attracted interest outside the Community from users of the digital currencies in which it originated. Now, thanks to a unique combination of its properties and the enormous possibilities it has to offer, it has become one of the trend themes among the innovative technologies.

I was pleasantly surprised by the development of the topic of blockchain. Due to our long-standing customers in the financial sector, we have known the topic of blockchain and its origins as a decentralized accounting system for the crypto currency Bitcoin since the very beginning. I was very pleased that blockchain was one of the trend topics at CeBIT.

The post Blockchain – the chain in the digital economy first appeared on Horton International.

The late physicist Stephen Hawkins has described the visions about the possible effects of artificial intelligence as & ‘the worst event’ in the history of civilization. So far, the topic of artificial intelligence, in which a working environment with robots that one day will be more intelligent than humans, has not yet arrived. At the moment, the idea of such a scenario is fascinating but worrying for many.

Regardless of any horror scenarios, this ‘non-human intelligence’ also offers many new opportunities and possibilities in most areas of our lives. Artificial intelligence is not a current trend or hype, it is more of an industrial revolution. Renowned technology giants such as Microsoft, Google, Apple, Amazon or IBM invest billions of euros in this intelligence. If these developments were not promising, significantly lower investments would be made.
AI is still in its infancy and still needs many development cycles before the colleague ‘robot’; can move in everywhere. The problem is not the infrastructure, it already exists to a large extent. There is a lack of know- how and human capital. The technology is developed faster and more advanced than the required specialists and managers have ‘grown back’. According to a representative survey by Bitkoms, many specialists and managers with an IT background are still missing.

“There is currently a shortage of around 55,000 IT specialists in Germany. Whoever has vacancies for computer scientists or engineers competes with a large number of companies for the same candidates – and start-ups generally cannot pay the salaries offered by established companies”, says Bitkom President Achim Berg.

It is not only the lack of IT specialists that is currently stalling technical developments in the field of AI. Many companies lack visionaries and strategists who are able to plan and implement the new technologies in an entrepreneurial direction right up to the end. But visionaries do not fall from the sky, they are rare and must be ‘identified’. The best IT specialists are not necessarily successful without an existing vision. The same applies to suitable managers, this market is also empty. In order to achieve entrepreneurial success, it is essential to have a qualified leader on board who is able to take visionaries on board and give them the freedom they need to plan and implement ideas right to the end. IT specialists also need a ‘chief’ to take the necessary steps to business success with AI. These many puzzle pieces are essential to have more than just an entrepreneurial idea with AI.

The post Colleague AI has to wait – Artificial intelligence comes to a standstill due to personnel vacancies first appeared on Horton International.

Huge potential for new business ideas

The technical possibilities are numerous and offer extensive opportunities in all sectors for changing existing business models. Many companies, however, are not aware of the advanced value creation potential that is available thanks to IoT. The technology behind IoT serves primarily as an enabler to make new business models possible.

Often, IT decision makers consider the Internet of Things only from a technical perspective. They often have a hard time convincing other stakeholders of the sense of what is technically possible and that digital innovations may de facto even lead to new business models (ergo to increased sales).

The Industry 4.0 vision of the future requires thinking outside the established framework and thus also means seeking new partners in other industries to explore potential new fields for value creation.

The transformation of many business processes – and increasingly within existing production areas – creates a well-founded basis for diverse collaborations which go far beyond the hitherto existing fields of business. For many companies, a changed value creation strategy may indeed be a decisive advantage over competing low-wage countries. Here the focus is no longer solely on the product or the sale of high-quality products, but rather digital marketing based on the associated merits, i.e. services, software applications (if required) plus regular updates, fast and flexible local availability as well as a guarantee of customer-friendly use.

Innovative thinkers required

Along with innovative business ideas and sophisticated value-creation chains, it is also important to have the right kind of thinkers on board. These are not only technically savvy professionals and executives, such as: chief digital officers, data architects, digital project managers, data engineers, chief customer officers, chief Internet of Things officers, data scientists, or chief analytics officers. Professional or segment-external strategists are quite able to plan new and innovative business models and to see them through the maturation process. They have an unbiased eye for potential outside the already existing value creations.

Summary:

Technical change doesn’t just happen on its own. It must be implemented and expedited by innovators, technically implemented by the IT staff and supported by all employees.

The post Industry 4.0 – state of affairs: New value creation models call for fresh new thinking first appeared on Horton International.

Frankfurt, 29.11.2017 (PresseBox) – Changes in customer behaviour, new competitors and a number of new regulations are causing a high dynamic of change in the market.
Anyone who hesitates – or even stagnates – will quickly lose ground in the digital race. Therefore, a consistent end-to-end digitization may represent the successful basis for future-compatible realignment. Isolated solutions are usually not sustainable and cannot meet the requirements in terms of customer focus and efficient processes. When it comes to implementation, several departments or divisions need to work together, with IT taking on a key role as a business enabler.

Customers demand digital services
Our daily life is becoming ever more digital. Most people appreciate the information and transaction opportunities that the Internet provides. They make use of the permanent availability of product and pricing information and customers can now even design their own products online according to their own wishes. In addition, they rely increasingly on intermediaries and comparison websites and transfer these expectations to almost all sectors with which they have contact.

Companies need to digitise products and processes throughout
New competitors are breaking into the markets and disrupting existing value chains, sometimes changing them dramatically. Many companies have already responded to the divide between digital customer requirements and existing offers. However, some have concentrated so far often on individual measures and have still not realised the enormous potential of end-to-end digitization or, in some cases, even recognised the need for it. Examples of such individual measures are activities like the modernisation of the website or the introduction of apps. These measures are useful for many companies, but as long as many complex processes continue to be carried out manually and companies remain stuck in the past, they will continue to fail their customers’ digital expectations.

Understanding customer expectations and needs
If one takes a closer look at the type of convenience that customers want, the processes of some innovative business models suddenly come to the fore. Good examples of successful implementation are Airbnb and Uber. Neither company has reinvented the wheel; but they have, however, created very convenient digital management of their business models for their customers and made use of the available digital opportunities of the post-Google phase.

Most innovators agree that it is important to put customer needs – i.e. seen from the perspective of the customer – at the centre. What is new, however, for many is the opportunity to implement this in an end-to-end digitization and thus provide increased customer penetration and stimulate growth increases by delivering an improved customer experience.
The process, however, should not occur in isolation: companies need to seize the opportunity to realise the paradigm shift offered by modern technologies.

Various approaches to end-to-end digitization
The established market players, in particular, have very different views on the best approach: some rely on parallel implementation in completely new set-ups and others on embedding digitisation in existing structures. Some argue for an integrated multichannel transformation of existing business, using new tools, such as, for example, robotics in production processes. While others prefer a parallel build-up of purely digital business channels to replace existing processes.
This second option has much to recommend it: because in the digital age, speed is a success factor that should certainly not be underestimated.

In addition to this, companies should consider recruiting neutral ‘digital talents’ during end-to-end digitisation. They are often able to offer the company an unprejudiced and completely new vision and can contribute significantly to the success of digitisation. These talents can fill either the role of Change Manager or CDO, but at the same time also act as a ‘catalyst’ for the other staff members.

Summary:
The success of digitization presents many companies with major challenges. The digital conversion of individual processes and departments should be implemented consistently as an end-to-end solution to ensure success in the digital competition with other companies. One thing should be clear to everyone: doing nothing is not an option when it comes to digitization. It is also important to implement these challenges not merely with the existing team but to bring in new and neutral specialists and executives (even from completely different industries) to get new perspectives. Such people are not always easy to find, but professional personnel consultants know where to look.

Authors:
Martin Krill has been working for Hager Unternehmensberatung for more than fifteen years and was made a managing partner in 2004. He fills top sales and management positions in the technology industry as well as a number of other sectors.

Hager Unternehmensberatung GmbH

Hager Unternehmensberatung is a partner of Horton International and offers customers at over 40 locations in the globally most important economic regions solutions for issues throughout the working life cycle: Employment Lifecycle Solutions®.

These targeted solutions for the working life cycle are mirrored in our individual divisions: in the placement of the right candidates, the evaluation of staff potential, during training to develop the personal skills of employees and supporting individual change processes.

With nearly 90 employees working in small specialist teams, a fully digital workflow and over 20 years of experience in the technology sector as well as other innovative markets, Hager Unternehmensberatung brings together the performance and process quality of the industry’s big names with the speed and flexibility of a start-up.

Hager Unternehmensberatung is one of the top 15 recruiters in the DACH region and the well-known executive search consultancy for digital transformations.

The post End-to-end digitization first appeared on Horton International.

There are many companies that have already failed with their digital transformation. The reason for their failure is often that they set no concrete long-term goal or tried to stick to a project plan that was simply too inflexible. Digital transformation should be applied as a holistic change project to ensure the right balance between innovation and maintaining ongoing business operations, but still retain enough scope for preserving agility.

Instead of working out an excessively detailed long-range plan, which can be outdated after as little as a year due to the short cycles in modern business, it is better to move ahead with small steps and to keep things in ‘motion’.

Change in all business areas

Digital transformation in companies work according to different rules than classic innovations. In the process, profound changes affecting several areas at the same time – such as technology, products, services, customer experience, business processes and business models – must be included and project managers needs to be able to respond at short notice as well as flexibly as demand requires. Also, a successful digital transformation without the support and understanding of top management is difficult to impossible.

Large organisations rely heavily on standardised and efficient procedures and processes, which often leads to a greater specialisation and focus for entrepreneurial innovation. However, the disadvantage of this typical set-up is that – due to the size of the company and the level of standardisation – there is less flexibility and scope than, for example, in less hierarchically networked start-ups. A large number of short-term and fast agreements and decisions are required to be able to act at the pace that digitization brings with it. This agility is difficult to integrate into everyday working life in many large companies.

Proven concepts suddenly diminish in importance in the wake of the digital transformation

Instead of formulating comprehensive digitization strategies and creating long-term projects, the focus should rather be on agility when it comes to strategic digitization. The prerequisite is that new processes are defined and also implemented; however, the classic project launch and the scheduled end is initially outlined rather as a provisional project charter. Creating a rigid, irrevocable time frame runs contrary to the logic of an agile digitization. The development of new business areas should be planned in short cycles. Individual project phases, which can also be subject to adjustments based on customer feedback, are easier to change than large-scale plans. An excessively long timescale often restricts those responsible for achieving the set goals. For example, prototypes used as interim results (in order to benefit from feedback loops and customise project phases) can be much more promising and motivating than rigid project plans. Benchmarks often lead to a bottlenecking of investment and build up ‘debts’ for the future. In the worst case, companies delay investments that have been necessary for a long time just so they can meet benchmarks. Due to the high rate of change of asymmetric growth in changing markets and the impacts of digitization, conventional decision-making processes are losing their validity.

More agile structures required in the company

In a highly volatile and dynamic environment, increasing the agility of the organisation is a critical success factor for companies. For an accelerated and successful introduction of new products and services in the market, motivated and dedicated teams using efficient and simplified processes are a decisive prerequisite.

Companies should focus on encouraging their employees to think and act in an even more entrepreneurial manner, and extend the individual scope for decision-making. Also, the willingness for permanent changes should be increased. All of this is supported by a pronounced performance-oriented culture, based on open feedback and the recognition and rewarding of outstanding results.

The most important basics in every company undergoing digitization are a clear overall strategy as well as well-networked measures and permanent responsibilities within the organisation. On the other hand, it also crucial to ensure that sufficient flexibility and freedom remain for responding to and accommodating short-term considerations.

In summary: The complexity of the topic of digitization and its possible, and sometimes inevitable, results mean that implementation cannot be based on rigid, long-term projects. For a successful implementation of digital transformation, it is essential to define a holistic approach that runs like a common thread throughout the corporate realignment, to stay agile and not to integrate corporate strategy in slavishly defined project phases. Moreover, during change processes it is important to involve, educate and qualify staff. Without the support of senior management, any transformation of the company is difficult, if not impossible.

Digital transformation works according to different rules, in which classical decision-making mechanisms often simply do not work.

The post Agility and Digitization – Two Sides of the Same Coin first appeared on Horton International.

The expectations on managers in respect of their digitisation skills are increasing, and this is expressed clearly in the vacancies that are waiting to be filled. And not just in the IT-related job descriptions: requirements are also tending increasingly towards digitisation in many positions quite unrelated to IT. Most specialists are classically trained and have not experienced digitisation in a focused manner or via training. In their leadership role, they are now being tested in a new and completely different manner.

What is digital competence?

The most important thing is the ability to continuously acquire and implement new knowledge. It is also crucial in a complex world to keep track of the situation, identify problems and work towards solutions. With regard to the strategic alignment of a company, executives are in demand from the planning stage onwards: to set the course of the company with their expertise and know-how. Once digital transformations are implemented in the company, managers need to be able to support the strategy, lead the employees and, in the best case, to inspire them even.

A “digital” executive needs certain skills

Helping employees adapt to the new situation is one of the most important tasks of a manager in the digital environment. Specifically, this means that they need to ensure that their staff receive additional training quickly and reshape tasks so that the full potential of an employee comes into play.

The classic skills such as empathy, assertiveness and complexity management remain important, as well as technical skills. But in an environment where new jobs are being created constantly with new, modified requirements, digital competence is vital.

Going digital – getting there

Most companies offer their employees training, professional change management with external support. This gets employees fully involved and, at the same time, provides them the freedom to make and implement innovations. In doing so, they create new and sometimes unexpected opportunities. There is a downside, however: there is often too little space, time and budget available, and no one really knows for sure how much time remains for the transformation. This is certainly the greatest risk – not being fast enough. But where it succeeds, digitisation will bring more flexibility into the labour market. The workplace itself plays an ever-smaller role, because nowadays it is possible to exchange data almost everywhere via digital channels. And this exchange remains very important – even in the digital age – because a manager still works in close cooperation with his or her employees, regardless of whether they possess these digital skills or not.

The post The digital side of leadership first appeared on Horton International.

According to the industry association Bitkom, 43,000 IT posts are currently vacant in the face of the continued positive development on the IT labour market. “The job prospects for IT professionals are excellent, and the growth in the number of jobs will continue in the current fiscal year,” says Juliane Petrich, head of education policy and the labour market at Bitkom.

Not only the ICT sector itself has seen a rising number of vacancies due to the growing requirements of digitisation; IT professionals are also being increasingly sought in industries such as banking, manufacturing, healthcare and other sectors to meet the needs of the digital transformation.

Companies are actively searching for digital professionals

Nowadays, companies are increasingly looking for IT specialists for positions involved in the support of digitisation. From lead architects or cybersecurity managers, all the way up to fully-fledged digitisation professionals (CDO, etc.). And that is most likely the reason why exactly these positions are highly sought after by IT managers. Here, CIOs see the greatest potential for professional development.

Changing roles are creating new job profiles

Along with the new requirements, the necessary competencies and soft skills have also changed for IT specialists and executives. Good IT specialists/executives are capable of finding their feet quickly, on the basis of existing and newly acquired knowledge, in new subject areas and in the face of new requirements and employ a solution-oriented approach. Furthermore, they exhibit high levels of empathy and a good sense for different situations and people. Competent specialists/executives work through problems and take the necessary steps. The balancing act between business and innovation is mastered. Anyone who is looking to follow a new career path should bring precisely these skills.

Due to the increased professionalisation of the ICT sector, as well as its products, it is often difficult to for career changers to gain a foothold, because expertise is a prerequisite.

Requirements for managers and teams

Digitisation leads to increased demands, not only on companies but on all employees. In particular, a high willingness to learn when it comes to discovering and evaluating the possibilities and implementing initiatives is required. The ability to efficiently implement larger numbers of complex issues in parallel is a key success factor even for small teams. Agile working methods support efficient cooperation and continuous improvement. Alongside financial expertise, the key competencies are a strong customer focus and communication skills, especially technical understanding and experience of software and digital processes in companies of different sizes. Proper prioritisation, smart, efficient working practices, and self-organization are as indispensable as self-confident and interdepartmental cooperation and new ideas to better solve existing challenges.

Comfort zone was yesterday – digital change is today

The most successful teams see changes due to digitisation as an opportunity, not a threat. They have fun developing new things for internal and external customers, in simplifying cumbersome processes and making them more efficient, or analysing complex relationships in large quantities of data. And they are also able to achieve very good results in uncertain and changing environments.

Conclusion:

The success of digitisation in companies depends on the employees. They should be appropriately involved in the digitisation processes and also supported at every stage.

The post Digitization only works if you have IT knowledge! first appeared on Horton International.

IT has become an important competitive feature

Agility in programming has gained in importance over the years. A study by Capgemini has seen a rise of 3 points in the agility index since 2014. To meet the wishes of customers, the IT industry is moving away from acting according to fixed schedules and towards the highest possible flexibility. While IT previously held a position as an implementer in the company, the requirements today are for the independent development of innovative approaches to problem-solving. In this role change for IT, the changes to the requirements at IT management level are justified: “While IT decision-makers have hitherto only been ‘business partners’, digital change now means they must become business drivers who innovate and have corresponding multiple functions. In times of digital transformation, the IT manager is the decisive force in the battle for competitive advantages,” says Andreas Wartenberg, Managing Director of Hager Unternehmensberatung.

Companies are actively searching for digital professionals

The future is clearly in the hands of digital companies that continue to blur the classic roles of the IT professional and the ‘specialist department’. The boundary between those who have, up till now, provided the data and those who use the data is no longer so clear. “Nowadays, companies are especially looking to fill IT positions involved in the support of digitisation. From lead architects or cybersecurity managers all the way up to fully-fledged digitisation professionals (CDO, etc.),” continues Wartenberg. And that is most likely the reason why exactly these positions are highly sought after among IT leaders. Here, CIOs see the greatest potential for professional development.

Changing roles are creating new job profiles

Along with the new requirements, the necessary competencies and soft skills have also changed for IT specialists and executives. Good IT specialists/executives are capable of finding their feet quickly, on the basis of existing and newly acquired knowledge, in new subject areas and in the face of new requirements and employ a solution-oriented approach. Furthermore, they exhibit high levels of empathy and a good sense for different situations and people. Competent specialists/executives work through problems and take the necessary steps. The balancing act between business and innovation is mastered. Anyone who is looking to follow a new career path should bring precisely these skills.

The post Changing job profiles in IT first appeared on Horton International.

In many companies, the constant transition and the rapid change cycles in the business areas and the company environment present the IT department in particular with major challenges. The current business of a company must remain stable. At the same time it needs to be innovative, to try out and integrate new things. This applies even more in times of digitization. It’s a balancing act with consequences – and not only for IT.

Stability puts the brakes on innovation

IT is responsible for the reliability and security of company data. The stable operation of IT is the lifeblood of the company, and any disruption can easily lead to a major collapse.

This is why IT is often viewed as an innovation blocker, standing in the way of innovative services from the Internet or new software, or at least making things more difficult. Digitization and innovation are comparable to change or transformations: applications, cost/benefit, feasibility and much more need to be investigated and often also tested.

This puts two different IT worlds in competition with each other. On the one hand, there is the part of IT that focuses on efficiency, safety, process compliance and cost reduction. On the other hand, it is the driving force behind IT that is keen to establish the ideas and requirements from the departments in new services and applications quickly. It is a trade-off, which is not easy to solve and requires highly qualified personnel.

Some companies set up “Digitization LLCs” for this purpose, while others establish departments and teams to deal with the issue and the necessary implementation projects within the company. However, the focus of all these approaches is usually only on digitization itself and the related technologies.

Bimodal IT brings two IT worlds together

In larger companies, this requires two types of IT that run parallel to each other. One approach is offered by the research and consulting firm Gartner with their concept of “bimodal IT”. With bimodal IT a company operates in two different modes.

Gartner’s bimodal IT distinguishes between the IT organization in mode 1, the traditional IT planning and working mode, which includes most of the important core tasks, and mode 2, the so-called agile mode. The teams in mode 2 develop innovative products using agile methods and the latest technologies. The higher fault tolerance makes it possible to work more quickly and effectively on innovations.

It is in mode 2, the part of IT that uses techniques such as prototyping, design thinking, iterative approaches and proximity to the customer (even for customers within their own company), where the uniqueness of the company is also reflected in IT. This is also where the competitive advantages arise.

The two modes need to be closely coordinated; you could compare it with the left and right brain. Time to market is, in this case, a decisive factor.

Harmonising these two, very different, requirements is hard enough. Many IT organizations already fail at the first hurdle – defining the IT processes and responsibilities in the transition from traditional and agile IT towards a bimodal IT.

Challenges for the bimodal manager

The concept is simple, but the implementation raises questions: how to transform an organization into a bimodal business? Where should one begin? Which employees fit in an agile environment?

How do I manage a bimodal construct?

The bimodal manager of a major company is faced with the challenge of merging these two worlds. This new bimodal IT architecture has consequences for the entire IT organization itself.

The bimodal manager must not only be able to recognize innovations, but also to understand and implement transformations and changes. To this end, project management skills, among other things, are indispensable. What is more, the manager must be enthusiastic and communicative and able to adapt to the most diverse human character traits. This can be both the ‘revolutionary’ and inventive young guns be and the classic IT personalities with decades of experience. The bimodal manager must be able to moderate between the two profiles to create a cohesive IT unit at the end of the day. They also need to make quick decisions and set priorities, such as: What is trivial? How do we deal with large volumes of data? What steps are indispensable? How do we treat redundancies in the system? What does the customer of tomorrow want? Via which platforms will we offer our products to the next technological generation?

The bimodal manager must master quite a few challenges and have the appropriate skills to succeed. Here is a selection of just a few of the required competencies:

• Project management skills

• Ability to make changes within the company

• Ability to moderate

• Compatibility with different processes and methods

• Innovative thinking

• Technological understanding & imagination

• Create links between interpersonal differences

Accordingly, the greatest requirement is rather in the personality related skills. It has much less to do with computer centre administration, software programming and in-depth computer science skills. In the context of digitization, the bimodal manager will be an innovation leader whose influence extends throughout Germany and far beyond.

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Purely digital or disruptive business models are not the solution

As a result of this trend, many companies are busy working to develop large-scale digitization strategies and make every effort to implement them accordingly. But purely digital or even disruptive business models are not enough in themselves. For one thing, large corporations and established companies cannot simply throw their existing business models out of the window overnight. And for another, any realignment should be implemented as part of a holistic approach. Many German companies that are currently involved in digitization have no main controller, a so-called Chief Digital Officer (CDO), to manage and push ahead with the process.

It starts with a digitization strategy

And this should preferably come from the company itself, and not just from the marketing department, because it affects the entire enterprise.

Many companies set up “Digitization LLCs” or push the issue completely into the lap of the IT department, and thus directly to the CIO. In some companies, departments and teams are established to deal with the issue and implement the necessary projects in the company.

In companies that have already created a digital officer position, this is usually located at management level. Typically, a Chief Digital Officer (CDO) is responsible for the digitization process for the country where his company operates.

Support from HR required

Usually, the Chief Digital Officer is directly responsible to the Board of Directors or the Executive Board. The HR department should be involved in the digital transformation in key areas. Initially in the area of enterprise development. This digital transformation requires well-designed and professionally organised change management. This should be accompanied by HR, ideally with professional support, to implement the new strategy and orientation throughout the entire workforce.

The human design of the digital business model and the resulting derivation of new staffing roles and responsibilities, as well as relevant job profiles, also require competent and professional support.

What does a Chief Digital Officer actually do?

Big-name international companies such as McDonald’s, Toyota, Starbucks, Nestlé and L’Oréal already have a Chief Digital Officer on board. Numerous German companies are currently considering whether to recruit anew addition at board level.

The Chief Digital Officer is the one who develops, drives and is ultimately responsible for the online strategy and the digital transformation. This role requires a strategist, an implementer, a change manager and a motivator all in one person. To ensure that he has the required capacity, he should be a board member as digitization often enables new business models, while rendering other processes and even entire lines of business obsolete.

One of the Chief Digital Officer’s essential tasks is to identify the business potential resulting from digitization, and also to take advantage of this for the company. This includes the development of new digital products and services that, on the one hand, can bring new sources of revenue for the company and, on the other hand, also mean an increase in customer satisfaction. In addition, he must consider in his planning what kind of employee know-how is required for the digitization process, what expertise the company already has and how to go about recruiting the experts that are needed.

Ultimately, all parts of the company are affected by digitization: from the staff and internal processes and structures to the development of new sales opportunities and communication channels.

Various qualifications required

The Chief Digital Officer needs to have many skills, because much is demanded from him. He is not a pure IT manager who has only a technical background; rather, he can come from all kinds of areas: business administration and national economics, communication, IT, management, product development, services and many more. The most important thing is, however, that he must unite highly diverse skills.

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