From a Presence Culture to a Culture of Trust - acatech IMPULSE
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acatech IMPULSE From a Presence Culture to a Culture of Trust Seven Theses on Mobile and Hybrid Working presented by the Human Resources Working Group Joh. Christian Jacobs, Henning Kagermann, Stefan Oschmann (Eds.)
acatech IMPULSE From a Presence Culture to a Culture of Trust Seven Theses on Mobile and Hybrid Working presented by the Human Resources Working Group Joh. Christian Jacobs, Henning Kagermann, Stefan Oschmann (Eds.)
The acatech IMPULSE series This series comprises contributions to debates and thought-provoking papers on strategic engineering and technology policy issues. IMPULSE publications discuss policy options and are aimed at decision-makers in government, science and industry, as well as interested members of the general public. Responsibility for the contents of IMPULSE publications lies with their authors. All previous acatech publications are available for download from www.acatech.de/publikationen.
Contents Foreword 5 Project 6 1 Starting position 8 2 Most urgent action areas 9 2.1 Corporate culture 10 2.2 Leadership 11 2.3 Infrastructure and facilities 12 3 Outlook 14
Foreword sible for good, creative and productive work to be done remotely
or in hybrid models. There is a core belief that employees are
the best experts when it comes to designing their own working
We need a massive leap in productivity in Germany over the environment. As responsible individuals, they should have the
coming years, notably to cope with the economic consequences opportunity and autonomy to co-design the digital transforma-
of the coronavirus crisis and the challenges of demographic tion, rather than just “going with the flow”. Placing more trust in
trends. Digitalisation will be key to dealing with these issues. employees in this sense requires a rethink from both managers in
Alongside technological change, we are seeing changes in the the company and from business partners and legislators.
working environment. In the course of the digital transformation,
work processes and management and organisational processes in Against this backdrop, this thesis paper summarises some of the
companies are being radically redesigned, permanently changing key results of our work and is designed to contribute towards
our understanding of work and the nature of work. open political and social discourse on the future of work, irre-
spective of the policy approaches of parties, trade associations
The coronavirus crisis has further accentuated these trends. or trade unions. To that end, the HR Working Group would like
Employees and organisations had to react promptly and at un- to engage in dialogue with other stakeholders in politics and
precedented speed, shifting their work processes and operations administration, business, science and society.
into the (partly) virtual environment where possible, working from
home, making increased use of digital tools and finding a new
work-life balance. It will be crucial to derive long-term benefit Joh. Christian Jacobs
from the opportunities presented by the promptness and speed of Managing Partner
change we have seen recently and to use the experience gained Joh. Jacobs & Co. (AG & Co.) KG
from the crisis in the future. Companies, employees and business
partners want to work together in partnership to shape the Henning Kagermann
transformation. Chair of the acatech Board of Trustees
acatech’s Human Resources Working Group (HR Working Group) Stefan Oschmann
is therefore looking in depth at how opportunities for innovation acatech Vice-President and Senator
and good work may arise from digitalisation and how it is pos-
5Project — Zhengrong Liu, Beiersdorf AG, Member of the Executive
Board, Human Resources, Labor Relations Director
— Dr. Thomas Ogilvie, Deutsche Post DHL Group, Member of
Project leads the Board of Management, Human Resources
— Prof. Dr. Manfred Prenzel, Head of the Centre for Teacher
Education at Universität Wien / acatech Member
— Dr. Joh. Christian Jacobs, Joh. Jacobs & Co. (AG & Co.) KG, — Prof. Dr. Steffi Robak, Leibniz Universität Hannover,
Managing Partner / acatech Senator Institute of Vocational Education and Adult Education,
— Prof. Dr. Dr.-Ing. E. h. Henning Kagermann, Chair of the Executive Board
acatech Board of Trustees — Petra Scharner-Wolff, Otto (GmbH & Co. KG), Member
— Dr. Stefan Oschmann, acatech Vice-President and Senator of the Group Executive Board, CFO, Controlling, Human
Resources
— Corinna Schittenhelm, Schaeffler AG, Member of the Board
Members of the HR Working Group of Managing Directors, Chief Human Resources Officer
— Martin Seiler, Deutsche Bahn AG, Member of the Manage-
— Filiz Albrecht, Robert Bosch GmbH, Member of the Board of ment Board for Human Resources and Legal Affairs
Management and Director of Industrial Relations — Prof. Dr.-Ing. Dieter Spath, Director of the Fraunhofer
— Sabine Bendiek, SAP SE, Chief People Officer and Labor Institute for Industrial Engineering IAO and IAT University
Relations Director of Stuttgart / acatech Member
— Birgit Bohle, Deutsche Telekom AG, Board member for — Prof. Dr. Isabell M. Welpe, Technical University of Munich,
Human Resources, Labor Director Strategy and Organization Professorship / acatech Member
— Dr. Elke Eller, TUI AG, Member of the Executive Board, — Prof. Dr.-Ing. Katja Windt, SMS group GmbH, Member of
Human Resources Director the Managing Board / acatech Member
— Dr. Elke Frank, Software AG, Member of the Management
Board responsible for Global Human Resources, Talent
Management, Global Legal, Global Information Services Working Group on the subject of
and Transformation
“Mobile and Hybrid Working” from the
— Jochen Hanebeck, Infineon Technologies AG, Member of
the Management Board and Chief Operations Officer companies in the HR Working Group
— Michael Heinz, BASF SE, Member of the Board of Executive
Directors, Site Director of Ludwigshafen, responsible for Working Group leads
the divisions Global Engineering Services, Corporate
Environmental Protection, Health & Safety, European Site — Dr. Elke Frank, Software AG
& Verbund Management, Region South America, Industrial — Michael Heinz, BASF SE
Relations Director (until March 2021) — Prof. Dr.-Ing. Dieter Spath, Fraunhofer Institute for
— Dr. Immanuel Hermreck, Bertelsmann SE & Co. KGaA, Industrial Engineering IAO and IAT University of Stuttgart
Member of the Executive Board, Chief Human Resources
Officer Experts
— Dr. Doris Höpke, Münchener Rückversicherungs-Gesellschaft
AG, Member of the Board of Management responsible for — Tanja Albrecht, Software AG
the Europe and Latin America Division including the Finan- — Dr. Lisa Drahmann, BASF SE
cial Lines, global responsibility for Human Resources in the — Inge Könneker, Otto Group Holding
reinsurance field of business, Labour Relations Director — Franziska Manko, Software AG
— Ilka Horstmeier, BMW AG, Member of the Board of Man- — Tanja Tekin, Deutsche Post DHL Group
agement, Human Resources, Labour Relations Director — Victoria Christin Peuker, Bertelsmann SE & Co. KGaA
— Dr. Joh. Christian Jacobs, Joh. Jacobs & Co (AG & Co.) KG, — Sebastian Ritter, Infineon Technologies AG
Managing Partner — Dr. Helen Schropp, Schaeffler AG
— Prof. Dr. Henning Kagermann, Chair of the acatech Board — Miriam von Wallis, Münchener Rückversicherungs-
of Trustees Gesellschaft AG
6
— Dörte Wickenhagen, Bertelsmann SE & Co. KGaA Authors
— Corinna Wolf, Infineon Technologies AG
— Uta Wonschik, ERGO Group AG — Luise Ortloff, acatech Office
— Katharina Winkler, acatech Office
Other participants
Support
— Dr. Josephine Hofmann, Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial
Engineering IAO and IAT University of Stuttgart acatech thanks Dr. Joh. Christian Jacobs and the companies of
— Marc Wagner, Fiducia & GAD IT AG the members of the HR Working Group for their support.
71 Starting position working and of organisation should be more strongly promoted
and facilitated. Uncertainty about legal issues and economic
consequences is preventing the adoption of appropriate solu-
The digital transformation and the coronavirus crisis will result tions which also meet operational requirements. These include
in lasting change in work processes and organisational processes issues relating to working hours, tax law, and balancing work
in companies and therefore in the nature of work itself. A key with family life.
element of many companies’ crisis strategy has been allowing
employees to work from home in order to reduce personal contact In this context, work must be reorganised and regulations
and slow the spread of coronavirus. Hybrid working models or a adapted. The changes affect all business segments, the entire
flexible mix of various forms of work and organisation both within management and the organisation. If business processes and
and outside the company will continue to be seen in the long models are transformed, the customer interface will, for example,
term.1 In response to surveys, around 70 percent of human re- become more digital, more spontaneous and more flexible. These
sources managers indicate that they will be offering more mobile developments require employees and employers to adjust their
working2 after the pandemic than was the case before the crisis. behaviour and be constantly willing to learn. This usually results
Many decision-makers have recognised the useful potential for in a significant skill shift. The transformation must be designed
flexibility, work-life balance and resilience. Adopting a flexible so that companies and employees both derive benefit from it
approach to where and when work is done and giving employees (resulting in a win-win situation).
the freedom to organise and design their own work schedules
result in a win-win situation for employees and companies. Not
only does this increase the attractiveness of employers and result
in greater employee loyalty and more applications from (urgently If we seize the opportunities presented to us by digital-
needed) qualified staff, it also leads to higher levels of employee isation, we will ensure prosperity and employment in
satisfaction and motivation. Many employees are indeed demand- Germany. Employees will be able to adopt a more flexible,
ing assurances that companies will offer them individual flexible autonomous, independent and creative approach to the
packages. way they work. A prerequisite for the transformation is
a new governance which promotes the willingness to
In addition to the opportunities offered by mobile working, it is change and creates the freedom to experiment – within
also important to take its limitations into consideration. Adopt- companies and with regard to regulation. Trust in the
ing a systemic approach, an increasingly important role is being motivation of employees and in their self-management
played in business by new forms of work organisation and work skills is key here. We have to trust people more and take
culture, the expansion of digital infrastructures, the profession- them seriously as responsible designers of their own
alisation of digital collaboration and the issue of health and/or working environment.
health maintenance. Among policymakers, these new forms of
1 | In line with Fraunhofer IAO, we take the term “hybrid working” to mean that it is expected there will be a greater blend of presence-based working/
collaboration and remote working/collaboration in the future, and this will be seen as more of a matter of course. Many organisations are currently
devising visions and examining options for combining the positive learning experiences from the past twelve months with earlier ideas on implementing
presence-based work and cooperation. The assessment as to which elements of work and collaboration in the future should be presence-based and
which should be remote will change with time, depending on the nature of the contacts, the specific work content and the objective of the cooperation,
as well as on the level of trust that has been built up, the IT equipment available, and the corporate culture in the individual organisations. Hybrid
working offers the opportunity to combine the best of both worlds and to achieve additional goals such as sustainability and a better work-life balance.
2 | In general, “mobile working” means working temporarily and on an irregular basis in places other than the main place of work defined in the employment
contract. Such places of work may be diverse: at a client site, on a train, in a hotel, but also at home. The terms for this form of working vary and
include mobile work and flexible work(ing).
8Most urgent action areas
2 Most urgent action The transformation into a corporate culture which facilitates
and promotes hybrid working will only succeed if management
areas and employees are involved in the process of change from an
early stage. In crisis mode during the coronavirus pandemic,
pragmatic solutions and ad hoc decisions were often the order
To make good, creative and productive work possible when work of the day, but how can we find durable medium to long-term
is being done remotely or in hybrid models, three action areas approaches based on our experience of the pandemic and on the
in particular should be at the forefront of operational considera- solution processes and operational processes that were devised
tions. In addition to a corporate and management culture which during the crisis?
encourages independent autonomous working, tailored spatial
and technical solutions are required. We can still see room for Digitalisation and the experience gained during the corona-
improvement in this area in Germany if we also wish to remain virus crisis have meant that performance is taking on a new
attractive as a location for innovation. meaning, with a move away from a presence culture towards a
Figure 1: An overview of mobile and hybrid working (shutterstock/Inspiring and acatech)
9results-oriented culture. This gives employees the opportunity Possible solutions / Vision of the future
to work flexibly and from any location if they have access to
appropriate information and communications technology. In
future, performance and productivity will correlate less strongly Thesis 1: Each individual employee should be
with presence in the office. Furthermore, there will be a need involved in designing and living the corporate
to maintain employees’ motivation and (mental) health and to culture.
strengthen identification with the company even from a physical
distance.
The key question at the heart of the ongoing development of
corporate culture is how we can transfer existing strengths into
2.1 Corporate culture tomorrow’s world. Existing strengths should continue to be en-
hanced efficiently based on established business, while at the
Practical challenges same time allowing free space for the creation of visionary
solutions and innovations. In the course of the transformation,
Established structures and processes in the company need to good practice will not fundamentally be called into question, just
evolve in order to satisfy the growing need for flexibility and refined in individual cases. One-to-one mapping of a presence
autonomy. The conflict here between the need for flexibility culture with established processes, communication patterns and
and the need for stability is nothing new but has always been workflows onto a (partly) virtual environment is neither possible
the focus of corporate activity. However, as a result of the recent nor effective. Employees and management must play an active
developments described above, the need for greater flexibility role in co-designing the transformation of the corporate culture.
of time and location has gained enormously in importance,
compared with the need for stability. This is set against reser- The quality of hybrid forms of working will continue to improve
vations expressed by management, executives and employees as a result of regular communication between management and
that mobile working may lead to a loss of identification and employees. To promote social cohesion, they need sufficient scope
cultural affiliation with the company and qualms that social and opportunities for informal interaction and networking.
contacts and networks may not be as easily maintained when Regular feedback (bottom-up and top-down) and continuous
working virtually. There is also a concern that remote working will dialogue are becoming increasingly important. Models geared
mean that employees’ performance will be insufficiently creative towards individual control must continue to be developed into in-
and innovative. The company will need to adopt appropriate tegrated feedback tools for work teams and project teams. Above
strategies in response and find the right balance. Experience all, these should promote and place even greater emphasis on
during the pandemic has shown that hybrid forms of working collaboration and creativity. In tandem, there is an increasing
entail a different and greater need for (formal) communication focus on teambuilding measures which involve all team members
to compensate for the absence of informal communication. The in the change process, irrespective of whether the employees are
lack of chance meetings and the greater difficulty involved in working mainly remotely or are physically present. Ongoing dia-
establishing relationships and networks in the virtual environ- logue with business partners allows for a constructive approach to
ment require a continuous cross-team flow of information and addressing concerns and for the consideration of different needs.
conscious steps taken by employees and management to counter
the problem, so that they remain connected and continue to inter-
act. Cross-functional collaboration and flexible cooperation need Thesis 2: As key elements of corporate
to be strengthened and internal silos torn down. When employees culture, openness and trust form the basis
have greater flexibility as to where and when they perform their of employee empowerment.
services, this presents companies with greater challenges.
The aim must be to create a corporate culture which is a catalyst Flexible and hybrid working models require a balance between
for productive hybrid working and takes a holistic approach to trust and transparency when considering overall team perfor-
the changed parameters. This goes hand in hand with a greater mance. Team spirit, creativity and employee identification with
need for employees’ independence and personal responsibility. the company are based on open exchange and dialogue. This
10Most urgent action areas
requires mutual trust, even if employees no longer work in a single a manager’s job will change and become more the role of an
place or at the same time. The issue of trust is important not intermediary. Rather than being an instructor, the manager will
only for management, but also between co-workers. Clear and become a facilitator.
transparent communications provide the necessary framework
here. Other requirements are a strong feedback culture and clear Another challenge of hybrid collaboration is the need to engage
agreement on objectives. These should focus on results achieved extensively with fostering employees’ talent and personal de-
rather than individual activities as the basis of employee perfor- velopment in line with these latest requirements. Here, managers
mance assessment. Where possible, the assessment of individual need to have sufficient time and capacity to be able to advise
performance should not be linked to the number of hours the employees remotely, providing guidance as they work, in order
employee is present or to attendance at a place of work. to boost their employees’ potential and/or identify their devel-
opment needs and initiate appropriate personnel development
The openness to change which is crucial for the transformation measures.
to succeed requires processes that permit precisely this type of
openness. The reorientation of operational performance man- Possible solutions / Vision of the future
agement has a critical role to play here. Modern performance
management must be able to take a holistic view of employees’
performance and incorporate qualitative feedback from their Thesis 3: The management role model must
environment. Static annual performance assessments are re- be refined – moving away from transactional
placed by continuous, transparent ad hoc feedback, which takes management towards a transformational
account of peer feedback and is employee-driven rather than management culture.
management-driven. This process strengthens collaboration and
team acceptance.
Fundamental norms and values of management culture, some of
An open and trusting corporate culture also offers opportunities which have been established in companies for decades, must be
to share information on preventive work in the area of mental brought into line with the new working models. The paradigm of
and physical health, thus expanding the healthcare options top-down management is outdated, although bottom-up manage-
available. In hybrid working models, if employees have no per- ment (alone) will not succeed either. A promising modus oper-
sonal contact or this is severely restricted, the employer’s duty of andi would be first to define the desired vision for management
care becomes more difficult. Other (digital) situational prevention and then to derive further measures taking the status quo as a
measures include IT-supported processes for external assessment starting point. The meaningful question to focus on here should
and self-assessment, the provision of virtual courses and digital always be “Why?”. This is how corporate identity can be reconciled
toolboxes. with the new view of management. The employees should be
involved at an early stage in this cultural change process and
changes should continue to be communicated in a transparent
2.2 Leadership manner.
Practical challenges Trust-based management models require not only adjustment to
existing management models but also extensive support for the
Managers have a key function in the transformation of existing change in culture through measures designed to develop talent
working and organisational processes. This does not mean that and personnel. This is the only way in which management can
employees require less management in hybrid working models, drive the changes forward in a credible and competent manner,
but that there must be a rethink of the role of managers and “leading from the front” and creating the right conditions for
the value added by management. Looking towards the future, change to take place in their company. Training as well as com-
managers will continue to devise rules and structures. They must municating with other managers will facilitate reflection about
set clear rules for productive collaboration and prioritise issues. current and future roles. The revised “good management” crite-
At the same time, decision-making powers and responsibility for ria should be applied in the course of the selection and induction
decision-making must be credibly delegated and employees of new managers. Lifelong learning is one of the success factors
given enough freedom to perform their duties. There has to be for changing the management culture and must be one of the
a productive balance between transparency and control. Overall, strategic considerations right from the start.
11On the one hand, managers should play an active part in chang- key performance indicators and to determine how results and
ing the culture and should live their (partly new) role. On the progress will be managed. In a hybrid working environment, this is
other hand, they must also fulfil their function as role models. based on trust rather than control. This greater level of autonomy
Various coaching and mentoring measures may help managers is crucial for the empowerment and self-organisation of employ-
to relinquish control and allow for a greater level of trust, so that ees and makes a participative working environment possible.
they are able to create an environment based on self-organisa-
tion and to support employees’ ability to handle flexibility and However, establishing a common framework cannot succeed in
responsibility. a fixed one-off development process. Instead, companies should
adopt an error culture, in which errors are allowed and there is a
willingness to learn from those errors, and where adjustments are
Thesis 4: Trust-based collaboration between possible and everything is continuously questioned. To do this, pe-
managers and employees requires a new riods of time for review and feedback loops can be agreed, since
framework system; team charters support the there is no master plan for designing the working environment of
change. the future which could anticipate all conceivable developments
and establish appropriate regulations. Transformation will come
mainly from experimentation.
In parallel with the changes in how management is viewed, team
structures must also be transformed. A joint collaboration frame-
work comprising guidelines can be formulated. The creation of a 2.3 Infrastructure and facilities
team charter helps the team enter into agreements and initiate
a design process from the new type of collaboration for which Practical challenges
the employees themselves are responsible. A forward-looking
approach for managers in the company and for business part- Existing workplace concepts in companies are still too heavily
ners would involve adopting the motto “providing employees based on the rationale of the five-day office week with hierarchi-
with free scope to act and with accompanying guidance”, cal structures and workflow rules. To be able to depict adequately
rather than adopting a “control and secure” principle. Drafting how reorganisations and hybrid working models would operate,
guidelines which work across hierarchies reinforces the common workspaces must be flexible and individually customisable.
understanding and commitment of the team members and takes Considerations relating to technical equipment and connectivity
various business perspectives into consideration. The basis for both in companies and in the course of mobile working should
drawing up a team charter should be the purpose defined by the focus more heavily on new business practice. Digital collabora-
company management: i.e. the one common idea and the com- tion tools should be suitable for agile, creative working in teams.
mon goal. This focus on the meaning attached to the company’s Reinvestment in digital solutions is necessary. Particular attention
activities improves employee motivation and the identification of should be paid here to the professionalisation of digital col-
employees with the company, especially in the course of the trans- laboration. Overarching security issues and technical issues as
formation of the existing corporate and management culture. well as the individual skills and qualifications of employees are
key prerequisites for success. The aim here must be to avoid a
A key element of a team charter is the practicability of and com- double digital divide – between large and smaller companies on
mitment to collaboration. Pragmatic solutions and arrangements the one hand and between highly-skilled and low-skilled workers
for (hybrid) collaboration must be devised within the teams. Clear on the other.
and transparently communicated rules for work in the office
and outside the workplace, such as how team members may be Possible solutions / Vision of the future
reached in the course of mobile working, should be an integral
element of the agreed arrangements. Systematic knowledge shar-
ing is required, even when work is being done remotely. The use Thesis 5: The role of the “office” must be
of planning tools and tools for interaction and communication rethought. No longer simply a place where
provides support for reliable collaboration regardless of location work is done, it will become a key place to
and time. As well as establishing the way in which work will be meet and with which to identify.
performed, managers should work together with employees to
arrive at a precise definition of the company’s objectives and
12Most urgent action areas
The office will continue to be an important anchor for every em- Employees’ digital skills play a key role here. An ability to handle
ployee. However, the type of work done on corporate premises will digital technology and media confidently is indispensable. Given
be different. In future, employees will increasingly use the office the increased amount of work being done using hybrid working
as a place for social interaction, agile project work and creative models, being able to handle digital tools to make virtual and
work. Flexible workspaces such as those in co-working spaces are international collaboration possible is becoming ever more impor-
also suitable for project work. For concentrated, focused work tant. Key competences, which will become increasingly important
and routine work, employees will be encouraged increasingly to in future, continue to include creativity, problem-solving skills,
work from home or an in places other than on company premises. the ability to collaborate and also a capacity for self-manage-
ment and self-directed learning, a willingness to embrace change,
In future, office design will therefore be based on providing and independent thinking and decision-making.
optimal support for activity profiles, with a focus on social
interaction, collaboration and innovation. It will be possible to
book rooms for quiet working as required or for employees to Thesis 7: To make good, productive work in
work together with others in flexibly designed meeting rooms and the hybrid model possible, employees and
project rooms and in collaborative open workspaces and commu- managers should be supported by appropri-
nication spaces. Office concepts are thus increasingly adopting a ate guidelines and clear parameters.
differentiated approach similar to the concept of activity-based
working. Hierarchical or workflow issues fade as a result into
the background. In addition to clear and transparent regulations and answers to
key questions from employees (such as “What financial support
Alongside an increasingly flexible attitude to where work is done and incentives are there to enable me to work from home? Who
comes a similar attitude to when it is done. This creates greater is insured and how? How do I record my working hours?”), other
opportunities for achieving a better work-life balance: e.g. by requirements include ergonomic, functional equipment at the
engaging part-time workers. office premises and at home, efficient IT and good training op-
portunities. Each business needs to look at the extent to which
it is possible and sensible for the employer to provide equip-
Thesis 6: Successful work /collaboration and ment components for work that is flexible in terms of location,
the successful use and design of workspaces or whether the employer should provide subsidies or whether
will increasingly be achieved in the future pooled purchase orders should be submitted. Companies’ support
through targeted use of tools and analytics packages will include tips on how to stay healthy when working
applications. from home, checklists for employees on how to set up an office
at home and guidelines for managers, in particular on how to
design lasting solutions for mobile working.
Digital booking systems can be used to help manage work
capacity and space available in a cost-effective manner and as Rules of conduct for communication and common work pro-
needed. Here, (intelligent) technologies and digital tools are cedures are crucial to team collaboration. These include, among
enablers and drivers of the flexibility and multifunctionality other things, clear communication between employees and man-
of premises; it must also be possible to book workspaces on a agers about their availability and about the balance between syn-
temporary basis and they must be available for special events. chronous and asynchronous communication. Regular community
Suitable collaboration tools are crucial here. Creative and agile formats to exchange internal best practice about hybrid work
forms of work and complex problem-solving must also increasingly formats will create added value.
be able to be depicted digitally, while always respecting the right
of the individual to informational self-determination.
133 Outlook at the same time meeting operational requirements, the deci-
sion in favour of mobile working should be taken in consultation
between employer and employee. Ultimately, employers must be
Business, government, social partners and employees need to able to decide whether and how mobile working can sensibly be
play an active role in co-designing the transformation of the incorporated into everyday operations.
world of work, in order to create and exploit opportunities for
growth, prosperity and employment. In addition to operational However, if one takes into account mental wellbeing, identifi-
approaches and an environment where employees have greater cation with the company, and social connections with bosses
autonomy and share responsibility for good, productive, mobile and colleagues, as well as the sharing of expertise in a personal
working and working in hybrid models, government can also sup- setting to promote creativity in the development of ideas and
port and underpin the commitment of employees and companies. solutions, it is clear that a total or permanent shift of all oper-
In this context, revising existing working time regulations would ations to working from home or mobile working ought not to
be a helpful initiative, to ensure greater flexibility in actual work- become the norm.
ing conditions. Adjustments to digital infrastructure and also
to existing statutory and legal requirements within the altered In the course of digitalisation, activity profiles are changing very
framework must be discussed; international expertise should rapidly into their information-processing and knowledge-pro-
also be taken into account here. On the basis of this thesis paper, cessing components. This opens up new opportunities for the
the HR Working Group will focus even more strongly on the topic expansion of forms of work which are flexible in terms of location.
of mobile and hybrid working. Many companies are currently trialling new forms of work organi-
sation and work culture in experimental zones. Pilot studies are
Another aspect to consider here are the opportunities and lim- being conducted, looking not only at opportunities for virtual
itations of mobile working, because we are well aware that collaboration between various locations (remote collaboration),
not all employees have access to mobile working or, due to the but also increasingly at the potential for automating processes
nature of their professional activity, not all employees are able and at the use of (intelligent) digital technologies for servicing
or willing to work from home or at another location outside the and maintenance. Enhanced time synchronisation of research
office, at least some of the time. It is therefore mainly employees and practice can help here.
in knowledge industries and employees working in administration
who have the option of performing (some or all) their activities This gives rise to a number of basic questions, which need to be
on a mobile basis. This may but should not be equated with considered by entering into social dialogue. How can hybrid team-
requests from the employee or from the company that the em- work in the company be enshrined as a fundamental principle
ployee work from home, dependent on the availability of suitable without exacerbating the problem of a “two-tier society”? How
space and equipment. On the other hand, employees who work can management culture, working processes and organisational
in an industrial operating environment, who may for example processes help here?
be engaged in shift work, are much more rarely able to work
from home, due to the activities they perform or their working Jointly, we want to engage in this dialogue.
conditions. To design solutions tailored to the individual while
14acatech – National Academy of Science and Engineering acatech advises policymakers and the general public, supports policy meas- ures to drive innovation, and represents the interests of the technological sciences internationally. In accordance with its mandate from Germany’s federal government and states, the Academy provides independent, science- based advice that is in the public interest. acatech explains the opportunities and risks of technological developments and helps to ensure that ideas become innovations – innovations that lead to greater prosperity, welfare, and quality of life. acatech brings science and industry together. The Acad- emy’s Members are prominent scientists from the fields of engineering, the natural sciences and medicine, as well as the humanities and social sciences. The Senate is made up of leading figures from major science organisations and from technology companies and associations. In addition to its head- quarters at the acatech FORUM in Munich, the Academy also has offices in Berlin and Brussels. Further information is available at www.acatech.de.
Editors: Dr. Joh. Christian Jacobs Dr. Stefan Oschmann Joh. Jacobs & Co. (AG & Co) KG acatech – National Academy of Science and Engineering Neuer Jungfernstieg 17 Pariser Platz 4a 20354 Hamburg | Germany 10117 Berlin | Germany Prof. Dr. Henning Kagermann acatech – National Academy of Science and Engineering Pariser Platz 4a 10117 Berlin | Germany Series editor: acatech – National Academy of Science and Engineering, 2021 Munich Office Berlin Office Brussels Office Karolinenplatz 4 Pariser Platz 4a Rue d‘Egmont / Egmontstraat 13 80333 Munich | Germany 10117 Berlin | Germany 1000 Brüssel | Belgium T +49 (0)89/52 03 09-0 T +49 (0)30/2 06 30 96-0 T +32 (0)2/2 13 81-80 F +49 (0)89/52 03 09-900 F +49 (0)30/2 06 30 96-11 F +32 (0)2/2 13 81-89 info@acatech.de www.acatech.de Board acc. to § 26 BGB: Karl-Heinz Streibich, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Johann-Dietrich Wörner, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Jürgen Gausemeier, Prof. Dr. Reinhard F. Hüttl (currently on leave of absence), Dr. Stefan Oschmann, Dr.-Ing. Reinhard Ploss, Prof. Dr. Christoph M. Schmidt, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Thomas Weber, Manfred Rauhmeier, Prof. Dr. Martina Schraudner Recommended citation Jacobs, J. C. /Kagermann, H. /Oschmann, S. (Eds.): From a Presence Culture to a Culture of Trust. Seven Theses on Mobile and Hybrid Working presented by the HR Working Group (acatech IMPULSE), Munich 2021. Bibliographical information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek. The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographical data is available online at http://dnb.d-nb.de. This work is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. This applies in particular to the use, in whole or part, of translations, reprints, illustrations, photomechanical or other types of reproductions and storage using data processing systems. Copyright © acatech – National Academy of Science and Engineering • 2021 Project management and editing: Luise Ortloff, Katharina Winkler Translation: Jeannette Jennings Layout concept, conversion and typesetting: GROOTHUIS. Gesellschaft der Ideen und Passionen mbH für Kommunikation und Medien, Marketing und Gestaltung; groothuis.de Illustrations: shutterstock/Inspiring and acatech The original version of this publication is available at www.acatech.de
Many companies are facing the challenge of making sustainable use of the digitalisation push and retaining and strengthening the opportunities presented to employees and companies by mobile and hybrid forms of working even beyond the duration of the coronavirus pandemic. Experi- ence has demonstrated which areas of potential for flexibility and resil- ience are useful here. However, this requires a transformation into an organisational and management culture which promotes autonomous and independent working. Moreover, designs for office premises and opportunities for (digital) collaboration have to be adapted and refined. acatech’s Human Resources Working Group (HR Working Group) has addressed the issue of how good, creative and productive work can succeed on a mobile basis or in hybrid models. In this area, we can still see room for improvement if Germany also wishes to remain attractive as a location for innovation. This acatech IMPULSE publication presents seven theses on the collaboration of the future, which we see as a pro- posal to the various stakeholders in the digital transformation. The theses are designed to facilitate future-oriented organisational development and to promote productivity, innovation and good working practice in Germany.
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