Own development program for executives established
The industrial world is turning faster and faster. To keep up with the pace of development here, companies must act as a unit at and across all decision-making levels. The aim is to leverage as much potential as possible for joint success. A dedicated multi-year development program for executives provides decisive impetus for the future development of the Global Business Unit Heraeus Electronics.
Heraeus Electronics was formed in 2015 from several entities with headquarters in Asia, Europe and the USA. Since then, various initiatives have driven the growing together of the Global Business Unit. For the further development of the internal structures, those responsible from the Human Resources department of Heraeus Electronics started a separate program in 2018 for the approximately 250 managers within the workforce with about1,400 employees worldwide. Among other things, this was intended to promote leadership quality, decision-making competence, and cross-site cooperation.
"To this end, we have developed a development program for our managers at all five levels, from top management to team leaders, which focuses on individual support, virtual training and the cross-hierarchical expansion of teamwork through dialog," explains Manuel Fischer, Global Head of Human Resources at Heraeus Electronics. "Due to the international field of participants, we relied heavily on online training from the very beginning, which also proved to be an advantage with regard to the pandemic."
Key figures document clear progress
Since its launch in the second quarter of 2018, the program has successfully pursued a top-down approach. By the end of 2020, the first four management levels had completed the program because most managers belong to it. In 2021, it will be extended to team leaders and shift leaders at the fifth management level. By 2020, clear progress had already been made on the basis of key indicators: the recommendation score for the Global Business Unit among employees had improved significantly. Regular short surveys per quarter plus large annual surveys among all employees also confirmed the clear positive development of important team values in terms of information sharing, structure, involvement and effectiveness. By 2020, approval ratings had risen to at least 75 percent everywhere. And the number of meetings has increased significantly to at least one team meeting and two one-on-ones every month.
Crucial to the program's success to date is also its strong position within the company. In 2020, it quite naturally ranked alongside product projects as one of Heraeus Electronics' top ten internal initiatives with the highest priority. When it is completed at the end of 2021, refresher measures for the various management levels will follow directly starting in 2022. In order to be able to continue to set important impulses in the future, effective leadership will also become an integral part of the Competence Development House of Heraeus Electronics, which will be established in the company from the beginning of 2021.
- published: October 2021 -