Dusseldorf Mareike Steinröver, partner at the management consultancy Bain and Company, described the board meeting, which was streamed live from Düsseldorf on Thursday evening, as a “provocative counterpoint to the eternal Thomas cycle”. After all, Thomas is still the most common first name in the management ranks of listed German companies.
Moderated by Handelsblatt Senior Editor Hans-Jürgen Jakobs, they discussed three top issues that are currently on every board in Germany: New Work, sustainability and resilience. In a representative survey, Bain determined in advance that these are the key future tasks for board members.
It is becoming increasingly important for employees that their job is flexible, interesting and secure, reported Steingröver from the Bain study. The core task for companies: to shape the future of work in such a way that everyone benefits from it.
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Impulses were provided via a clip by Belén Garijo, head of the pharmaceutical company Merck and also part of the FAB. According to her, a people-oriented working environment consists of three building blocks: conveying meaningfulness by means of a clearly defined purpose statement, focusing on innovations and customer needs, and establishing an agile culture.
“Change is the only constant. We have to remain curious and lead the way as pioneers,” was the CEO’s appeal.
Ilka Horstmeier also spoke up with a clear position. She is annoyed that New Work is often reduced to the number of working days in the home office. Flexibility, emphasized the BMW labor director, means much more than a blanket judgment of the presence culture.
Encounters in the office are still important, especially with regard to identification and creativity. She sees executives in a key role in enabling networking: “The principle of ‘one size fits all’ doesn’t work,” said Horstmeier. Based on a defined framework and certain rules of the game, managers and their teams should work together to determine which way of working suits them and their function and how they can achieve the best results.
“The ‘one size fits all’ principle doesn’t work.”
(Photo: Tim Frankenheim for Handelsblatt)
In terms of process optimization, Vonovia board member Helene von Roeder can see something positive from the crisis. She advised maintaining the “digital drive” that the pandemic has created.
The three Board members agreed that leadership is becoming more demanding. It is important to lead “two-handed”, i.e. to shape long-term transformation on the one hand and to respond to current needs on the other. Everyone longs for purpose, and companies should make an offer here.
Telekom manager Claudia Nemat emphasized that spatial changes also have an effect on cooperation. Using an example from her own company, she described how merging offices can also tear down intellectual walls between departments. The office of the future therefore relies on collaborative spaces.
2. Sustainability at the heart of the strategy
Whether employees, customers or investors: Sustainability has recently moved up the agenda. In addition, the legislature is introducing stricter reporting regulations. The topic represents an enormous challenge for Vonovia, as Helene von Roeder admitted. The construction sector is responsible for around 40 percent of CO2 emissions throughout Germany.
In order to become climate-neutral by 2045, the big goal has to be broken down into small steps, emphasized the head of transformation in her keynote speech. New technologies and investments in research are also needed. Above all, however, is: “Sustainability must become part of business reality, of the business model.”
Instead of treating climate protection and social commitment as isolated topics, both should be fundamentally woven into the corporate strategy, said von Roeder. You have to get away from the question: “What do we have to do without in terms of sustainability?” and instead think: “How can we use sustainability to take on a pioneering role?”
The demands of the three board members were also directed outwards: “The political and administrative infrastructure often still stands in our way,” criticized von Roeder, naming hurdles in building permits as an example. BMW manager Horstmeier agrees energetically. Industry is dependent on green energy, and expanding it is a key issue.
3. Resilience requires diversity – at all levels
Climate change, two years of pandemic and now the war of aggression against Ukraine, which overshadows everything else: The high density of crises is having an increasing impact on companies. In view of these circumstances, it is hardly surprising that strengthening resilience, i.e. inner resilience, and carefully weighing up risks are also high on the to-do list for board members.
Claudia Nemat provided valuable insights into this. “Resilience has always been a success factor,” said the Telekom board member. “But now we have arrived at a time where the ability to do so is crucial to success.” She named three key aspects: Forward-looking investments both in technologies and in the skills and working methods of employees: “The all-knowing hero is dead,” she stated. A diverse team that does not have rigid hierarchies can face crises more robustly.
However, a functioning ecosystem within your own company is not enough, which led Nemat to the second point: You can only win together with your partners and suppliers. And thirdly, you simply need attitude: “In times of crisis, people surpass themselves,” said Nemat. At Telekom, this was observed during the flood disaster in summer 2021 in the Ahr Valley: employees from all over Germany, some even from abroad, traveled to the Eifel to set up damaged antennas again.
“In times of crisis, people surpass themselves.”
(Photo: Tim Frankenheim for Handelsblatt)
The group was able to agree that greater resilience is primarily about practiced diversity, both in one’s own workforce and in the supply chain. BMW Labor Director Horstmeier referred to the dangers of major dependencies, for example in semiconductor production, which is largely concentrated in individual regions of Asia.
She sees a need for strategic control at both national and European level in order to avoid such vulnerabilities. Diversity creates resilience – this message carried by all three also has a political component, which Claudia Nemat emphasized: “It is the more successful model not only for companies, but also for states if they allow diversity.”
The FAB itself also appeals to the value of diversity. Because so far, Dax board members are still a rarity. The discussion at the first board meeting of the women’s board showed once again that this needs to change.
More: Career with a migration background: “I don’t give a damn whether someone earns their money with doner kebabs or lipstick.”