Leading Positions 2.0 – Changes and Their New Challenges

Change is good and important for progress. Without change we would get nowhere. Today, change primarily means internationalization and digitization. But change can also bring a lot of difficulties and problems. At the very least, though, it means different requirements for your new employees and adaptation for your existing ones.

Changing requirements

While until this day features like assertiveness, autonomy and a lot of self-confidence were important for management personnel, in order to have authority over your employees, today other qualities are required. Employees want leaders that respect and value them, that include them in working processes and to who they can look up to. Communication skills are valuable, leaders have to be able to work in a team and be role model and incentive for their employees all in one person.

On the other hand, the shortage of qualified management personnel makes it necessary for you as an employer to become the most attractive choice for employees in order to be able to compete on the market.

Also, digitization and internationalization bring challenges. Digitization means that a lot of workers have to learn to work with new technologies and adapt their processes. Moreover, a lot of money is going into digitizing the workplace. The even greater challenge, though, is internationalization. This may seem simple for most: Offer English classes for employees so they will be able to communicate with people all over the world and make those classes mandatory, if necessary. But there is a lot more to the process. Where people from different countries work together – whether it is just a short phone call or a big project – there are always cultural differences to be considered. And while employees from different cultures working together enriches the working atmosphere in many ways, it can also be a source for misunderstandings and conflict. Therefore it is important to lay the grounds and offer employees intercultural trainings.

Become more attractive for qualified employees

In order to be able to attract qualified employees, who are interculturally trained, who know how to work with new and renewing technologies, who are leaders and role models, and who are able to communicate well, you need to step up your game. One thing to do that, is to offer flexible working hours and the possibility to work from home every now and then. A sufficient work-life-balance becomes more and more important for everyone, and for qualified management personnel especially. They need enough time off of work to spend with their families and relax in order not to face a burnout sooner or later. Family is another aspect. A lot of employees worry that they will have to decide between their career and having children, especially when considering applying for a position in management. Make sure potential applicants know that there will be enough time for their families and that you as an employer will support childcare, for example by providing daycare centers at work or subsidies for employees with children.

You can advertise with these aspects and also offer a positive work atmosphere as well as an exciting and fulfilling job? Then you shouldn’t have any trouble finding the right person for your company.