So far in 2018, there are more than 44 million people in employment in Germany. The clear majority of them work full or part-time. But what ideas and regulations are new with regard to working hours?
Full-time is defined as working between 36 and 40 hours per week. The rule is to work 8 hours 5 days a week. If there is no overtime. With 1.7 billion hours of overtime in 2017, Germany is one of the leaders in terms of overtime.
However, too much work can have psychological as well as physical consequences. This fact has not been a secret for a long time. Already more than half of the employees complain about back and joint problems. Exhaustion is in second place. Third place goes to headaches.
But what can be done about it? Is it possible to reduce working hours by 20 per cent while keeping the salary the same? One study already says that about 18 million people in this country would like to give up working hours.
This is exactly what a New Zealand company tested for two months. They introduced a four-day week. A team of researchers from Auckland University monitored the trial. The only condition for the workers was that they had to meet their weekly work targets.
The result of this test was clear. The workers were more productive and satisfied than before. Stress levels also dropped sharply.
At first glance, it admittedly looks paradoxical. Some problems can be hidden in a four-day week. For example, personnel costs increase because more employees are needed. Nevertheless, researchers assume that savings are possible.
Another way to reduce the working hours of a full-time job is to introduce a six-hour day with full pay. Because people can be just as productive in six hours as in eight hours. Studies have already shown that many people can only really concentrate for a few hours a day.
Some companies have even tried a six-hour day. And with success. Their turnover increased.
But here, too, a major disadvantage is the higher personnel costs.
The second form of working time is part-time. You can find out morein the next article.
After graduating as an automotive engineer and industrial engineer, he began his career in the automotive industry in the areas of sales, development and marketing and also spent a year in Japan with one of the largest automotive suppliers.
He then moved to a world-renowned premium car manufacturer, where he was responsible for product marketing in Japan and South America and marketing strategy in North and South America.
In 1994 he decided to become self-employed and founded a personnel consultancy in Munich, where he has been driving development and expansion for over 20 years. As managing director, his industry focus is naturally on the automotive world as well as mechanical and plant engineering.
With his doctorate in the field of aptitude diagnostics, he ideally rounds off his fields of competence, especially with regard to personnel and management consultancy. The dissertation deals with the identification and proof of typical personality traits of engineers as well as the definition of development areas for a successful professional career.
These are scientifically derived and presented in the book "Eignungsdiagnostik im Praxiseinsatz".
At the same time, his focus is on building networks and cooperation models as well as the continuous further development of systems and processes in HR consulting.
Within the last 20 years in personnel consulting, he has developed several brands that are still successful on the market today.
In order to reach the next career level, some requirements have to be met. Do the skills of an employee exceed his or her previous job? Or are they willing to change their place of residence if necessary?
In order to be able to answer the last question, the HR experts of HR Consult Group AG wanted to know in a candidate survey with more than 10,000 participants what the situation is with regard to the willingness of our candidates to move.
In the evaluation, one notices that basically two thirds of all candidates are willing to move. As many as 24 per cent would be prepared for an international move. Exactly one quarter would not like to leave Germany for the next career step. Only 18 per cent would like to stay in their current federal state.
This means that if you have a vacancy where a candidate would have to change their residence, access is limited to 67 per cent of all candidates.
The remaining 33 per cent are not willing to move.
After graduating as an automotive engineer and industrial engineer, he began his career in the automotive industry in the areas of sales, development and marketing and also spent a year in Japan with one of the largest automotive suppliers.
He then moved to a world-renowned premium car manufacturer, where he was responsible for product marketing in Japan and South America and marketing strategy in North and South America.
In 1994 he decided to become self-employed and founded a personnel consultancy in Munich, where he has been driving development and expansion for over 20 years. As managing director, his industry focus is naturally on the automotive world as well as mechanical and plant engineering.
With his doctorate in the field of aptitude diagnostics, he ideally rounds off his fields of competence, especially with regard to personnel and management consultancy. The dissertation deals with the identification and proof of typical personality traits of engineers as well as the definition of development areas for a successful professional career.
These are scientifically derived and presented in the book "Eignungsdiagnostik im Praxiseinsatz".
At the same time, his focus is on building networks and cooperation models as well as the continuous further development of systems and processes in HR consulting.
Within the last 20 years in personnel consulting, he has developed several brands that are still successful on the market today.
Experience shows that many companies do not include their business partners in their compliance programme. An omission with high risks.
Legal provisions such as the German Commercial Code or the Stock Corporation Act stipulate that companies, but also individual executive bodies and employees, can be held liable for the unlawful conduct of business or contractual partners.
A practical example shows the basic problem: a company uses external sales partners who are remunerated on a commission basis. Their earnings thus depend on the sales they broker. If a sales partner now commits fraudulent acts in order to successfully broker business - such as bribing the potential client - the behaviour of the business partner falls back on the company, even if it has not itself acted unlawfully here. The company is threatened with financial and criminal consequences as well as a serious loss of reputation.
Business partners are often not included
Many companies are only inadequately prepared for this risk. The study "Compliance Management - the entrepreneurial challenge" by AGAMON Consulting GmbH(www.agamon-consulting.de) shows the deficits of medium-sized companies in this respect. In the majority of the companies surveyed, 100% of their compliance programmes are directed at managers and employees. Suppliers and subcontractors are included at about 75%, while business partners are only considered at about 25%. It is known that external parties are at least involved in about half of the economic offences.
An often underestimated risk
"The risks that can emanate from business partners such as intermediaries, sub-dealers and advisors should not be underestimated. Their compliance violations can lead to fines and claims for damages. Further consequences can range from exclusion from public contracts to criminal prosecution. Companies jeopardise their image and reputation if they do not choose their partners carefully.
The compliance programme of every company should therefore also include business partner compliance management in the sense of a holistic approach.
Eckart Achauer
Studied law and business administration, postgraduate studies to become a Master of Business Administration (MBA). In-service training to become a European Quality Manager (DGQ), a mediator specialising in business mediation and a Certified Compliance Manager (TÜV).
Eckart Achauer worked for about 10 years in the international insurance industry in the management of a Swiss insurance group in various functions (claims department, sales, assistance) before switching to management and business consulting in 1997.
As a consultant and managing director of various consulting companies, Mr Achauer has specialised thematically in organisational and process optimisation as well as in the development and implementation of management systems - quality management, risk and compliance management.
For the HR Consult Group, Mr Achauer is responsible for the area of compliance management. Within the framework of compliance audits, he analyses their organisational "compliance fitness", he sensitises and trains the management, executives and employees and supports the companies in setting up and implementing individual compliance management systems. In doing so, he always takes into account the specific risk situation of the companies. Due to his many years of experience as a manager and consultant, he is very familiar with the entrepreneurial challenges from practice.
Eckart Achauer, studied law and business administration, postgraduate studies to become a Master of Business Administration (MBA). In-service training to become a European Quality Manager (DGQ), a mediator specialising in business mediation and a Certified Compliance Manager (TÜV).
He worked for around 10 years in the international insurance industry in the management of a Swiss insurance group in various functions (claims department, sales, assistance) before moving into management and business consulting in 1997.
As a consultant and managing director of various consulting companies, Mr Achauer has specialised thematically in organisational and process optimisation as well as in the development and implementation of management systems - quality management, risk and compliance management.
At Senator Executive Search Partners, Mr Achauer is responsible for the area of compliance management. Within the scope of compliance audits, he analyses their organisational "compliance fitness", he sensitises and trains the management, executives and employees and supports the companies in setting up and implementing individual compliance management systems. In doing so, he always takes into account the specific risk situation of the companies. Due to his many years of experience as a manager and consultant, he is very familiar with the entrepreneurial challenges from practice.
Would you currently be willing to change employers if you were offered an interesting job? This is one of the key questions that HR service providers ask potential candidates, because the willingness to change jobs is a core factor in daily business. It is therefore hardly surprising that the HR experts at HR Consult Group AG asked precisely this, among other things, in a recent survey. The aim of the study, with more than 500,000 respondents, is to adapt the offers and services of personnel consultancies as precisely as possible to the wishes and needs of candidates.
The result: at 84 percent, the vast majority of survey participants say they are open to changing jobs.
New tasks as motivation to change
There are many reasons why employees are willing to change jobs. The most frequently expressed wish (66 per cent) is for a new, exciting job. Only in second place (53 per cent) comes an improvement in salary. Slightly less than half of the survey participants (48 percent) say they want to take the next step on the career ladder. If this is not possible in the current company - for whatever reason - the only option is to change.
This is followed at a considerable distance by a shorter commute, the need for more flexibility and other (private) reasons.
A change of employer is always a big step that needs to be well thought out. Nevertheless, times have changed. It is no longer common to spend several decades or even your whole life with the same employer. Changing jobs and employers always offers the potential for personal development. With every change, the candidate gets to know something new. Be it the difference in the size of the company and its structures or national and international fields of activity.
After graduating as an automotive engineer and industrial engineer, he began his career in the automotive industry in the areas of sales, development and marketing and also spent a year in Japan with one of the largest automotive suppliers.
He then moved to a world-renowned premium car manufacturer, where he was responsible for product marketing in Japan and South America and marketing strategy in North and South America.
In 1994 he decided to become self-employed and founded a personnel consultancy in Munich, where he has been driving development and expansion for over 20 years. As managing director, his industry focus is naturally on the automotive world as well as mechanical and plant engineering.
With his doctorate in the field of aptitude diagnostics, he ideally rounds off his fields of competence, especially with regard to personnel and management consultancy. The dissertation deals with the identification and proof of typical personality traits of engineers as well as the definition of development areas for a successful professional career.
These are scientifically derived and presented in the book "Eignungsdiagnostik im Praxiseinsatz".
At the same time, his focus is on building networks and cooperation models as well as the continuous further development of systems and processes in HR consulting.
Within the last 20 years in personnel consulting, he has developed several brands that are still successful on the market today.
In the last part of our 3-part series, we will today look at the right outline and the advantages of a change of perspective.
The negotiation as such
A negotiation often begins with one party submitting its negotiating position in writing to the other or having sent it beforehand. This document may be a prefabricated draft contract or it may be in the form of key terms of the transaction. Such key terms would be, for example, in the case of a company purchase, the purchase price and the warranty provisions. In the case of a licence agreement, they are the type of licences, the scope of the know-how, the amount of the licence fees and the duration of the contract.
1. exploring:
Find out what the other side thinks
Explore the interests of the other side
Take the perspective of the other side often
2. communication:
Ask questions
Listen actively
Briefly summarise statements made by your negotiating partners in your own words
Use examples and use the meta-level communication tool (this is not aimed at what we talk about, but how we talk to each other).
3. the counterpart:
Consider possible personal backgrounds
Pay attention to how the person(s) is/are involved in the company
4. individuality:
Pay attention to fairness
Use humour (appropriate and in moderation)
5. the argumentation:
Compare what is comparable
Argument of reciprocity - putting oneself in the other person's shoes and vice versa ("tit for tat").
Outline
In the context of preparing for the negotiation, it has already been explained how important it is to structure the negotiation material correctly. Now, at the stage of the actual negotiation, this results in yet another advantage: As a rule, the parties argue about the content, but not about the form, because in the latter substantive issues do not seem to arise yet. Therefore, the other side is much more likely to agree to an outline proposed at the beginning than to be persuaded by anything of substance.
In this context, it is very helpful to go to the meta-level and talk about issues, not content and details. In this way, the topic gains formal leadership over the content and you have influence over when you address certain topics. It is helpful to divide the negotiation into sub-sections according to the figure below.
"Perspective taking"
There is a way to separate the two levels more easily: Put yourself in the other person's shoes and look at the negotiation from their perspective.
With "perspective taking" it is easier to recognise,
how the other side reacts to its own offers,
whether their arguments are conclusive, and
whether what she says and what she really means are consistent or contradictory.
If one uncovers contradictions that are based solely on the other party's presentation, it will be very difficult for them to defend themselves against it. You beat them with their own weapons, i.e. with their own arguments, and thereby also gain legitimacy.
In order to understand the other side's point of view correctly, you should let them finish and listen attentively. For listening and understanding does not mean agreeing with a specific opinion. Rather, one gains the opportunity to transform personal attacks into a factual discussion.
Listening attentively and letting others finish helps the other side to vent aggression in conflicts. And these dissipate extremely quickly if they are met with interested silence. The other party expects contradiction, which it can process into "ammunition" itself. If this is missing, even the sharpest attack fizzles out very quickly. The possible escalation of conflicts is thus avoided, emotions are channelled and controlled.
Please consider: In few other areas can so much be gained so quickly, but also lost, as in international negotiations. In the next issue we will present further relevant aspects of an international negotiation with the help of a case study on licensing.
This 3-part series has presented valuable suggestions for successful international negotiation and shown what is important in detail. Please always remember: In few other areas can so much be won, but also lost, as quickly as here.
