Sebastian Kolberg is the Change Manager for Digital Transformation at Bayer AG. In this role he supports people and teams to journey together and shape digital transformation. As a #ChangeAgent, he is particularly interested in promoting collaborations, establishing trusting networks and jointly challenging the status quo with a view toward the customer. Good reasons to introduce him here.
Dr. Elisabeth Keßeböhmer & Nicole Vogler
The world is becoming more complex every day, and organizations are facing the challenge of responding smartly. In particular, the banking industry is strongly affected by change and urgently needs to reorient and innovate. While many banks in Germany appear uncertain and are on the decline, Hamburger Sparkasse relies on good networking and is thus definitely one of the pioneers in the banking industry. With the introduction of the internal Tandemploy software as an internal networking platform (christened “FlexWorkz”), they show how flexibilization and networking can look in a modern working environment. They use Tandemploy software to better network all employees and pave the way for new modes of working. Within HASPA, employees can now easily find job sharing, knowledge sharing (expert knowledge and career tips), reverse mentoring and lunch dating. We talked with Dr. Elisabeth Keßeböhmer (Head of Human Resources) and Nicole Vogler (HR Manager & Project Manager for Tandemploy SaaS at HASPA) about the great importance of networking in the context of digital transformation, their tool “FlexWorkz,” and their first success stories.
The best software in the world can only change organizations as much as people and culture allow. That is why at Tandemploy we do not only believe in the tandem principle when it comes to our job: through our new partnership with nextexitfuture, we’re changing and guiding companies sustainably – and with their cumulative startup and corporate experience. Together, the 8 founders of nextexitfuture have an impressive 160 years of experience in large companies: in top management, on executive boards and supervisory boards, and as investors. They know big hierarchical constructs, silo mentality, and the “but culture” of some internal stakeholders like the backs of their hands.
What role do networks play in digitalization? How can the digital transformation be designed effectively and how can employees be helped along the way? What else is there to digitalization apart from the buzzwords? And do we really still need HR?
Every day, we get many exciting visitors at the Tandemploy office. So, we thought we would invite these digitalization experts, role models, New Workers, digital leaders and difference makers to our Yellow Couch and ask them these and other questions. Yellow Couch Talks – our new Tandemploy format for inspiration, questions, and discussions.
© Hendrik Lüders
Tijen Onaran is a businesswoman, presenter and speaker. With startup affairs, she advises companies on PR and publicity, as well as on building and maintaining communities, and, with her Global Digital Women initiative, is committed to the networking and visibility of women in the digital industry. In addition, Tijen Onaran regularly publishes as a member of the Handelsblatt Expert Council, as well as a columnist for Lead Digital. She has been appointed to the Faculty Board for Digital Leadership of the Management School St. Gallen and to the jury of the Digital Leader, Corporate Culture and PR Report Awards. Before becoming self-employed, Tijen Onaran worked for members of the European parliament and the Bundestag, the Federal President’s Office, and for associations and a university in leading positions. In the interview, we talked about New Work, “tomorrow’s world of work” and the key skills needed in a digital and connected world.
At Gärtner Datensysteme GmbH & Co. KG New Work is “old news.” Since their founding in 1992, they have been thinking of many New Work principles organically and without using such labels. Of the 16 almost exclusively male (!) employees, 9 work part-time. Part time near to full-time, home office, a 4-day work week, a consistent salary level and various open-space formats – these are all standard at Gärtner. In addition, there is no classical budgeting and no target agreements; numbers are communicated transparently and decisions are made during collective conversations. These are some of the many good reasons to introduce Christine Müller and Gärtner Datensysteme here as #ChangeAgents. We talked to Christine – a partner at Gärtner Datensysteme – about prejudices against part-time work, New Work and the new world of work.
Since May 25, 2018, the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has been in effect. Many companies are affected by these new legal regulations. There are still questions in many places. To get a better overview of the changes, apart from hard-to-understand legal explanations, we spoke with Marco Tessendorf, external data protection officer and director of procado Consulting, IT & Medienservice GmbH from Berlin.
Magdalena Rogl heads the department of Social Media and Internal Communications at Microsoft as Head of Digital Channels. Her passion is to connect people and build networks. She is a mother of four children and is committed to the topic of work–life balance and digital education. As a lateral entrant (she is a trained educator), Magdalena can also tell exciting stories about the importance of lifelong learning. We talked to her about mentoring, sustainable work and her view on digital transformation.
For two years, Nicole and Johanna have shared the position as Head of Tactical Planning at Beiersdorf. Find out how they met each other, how they organize their everyday job sharing, and what they like about this model.
Sara-Lena Eisermann has been Customer Happiness Manager at Tandemploy GmbH since 01.02.2018. Previously, she was HR Specialist at Spreadshirt in Leipzig. During this time, she had already started to study the Working Out Loud (WOL) method. She is currently in the middle of a 12-week WOL Circle. In the interview, she talked about her experiences with WOL and what added value this method can have for companies.
Vera has been working at Beiersdorf’s production plant in Berlin for several years. She is currently on parental leave with her third child. She spoke with us in an interview about her previous journey at Beiersdorf, her experiences with part-time work, and her wishes for the future.
Andrea and Cindy work in a job tandem as the Senior Medical Marketing Manager in Medical Management of the Business Unit Pharmacy Germany. They told us in an interview what makes their arrangement special, how they organize themselves, and what job sharing means to them.
Nathalie is currently responsible for the project management of the annual international employee survey at Beiersdorf’s Center of Excellence (CoE) Development / Employee Engagement. She works part time and is very interested in job sharing. We talked with her about the benefits of flexible work and about two:share.
Sepideh and Dorothe have been working in a job share for Global Product Development Lip Care at Beiersdorf since 2014. In the interview, they talked about why they opted for job sharing, how they organize themselves, and how their work has changed because of the job-sharing model.
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Gesa and Rixa work for Beiersdorf AG in the Category Test Team of Eucerin/Health Care. They have been in a tandem since May 2017. In the interview, they talk about how they found each other, what job sharing means to them, and how a good job-sharing organization works.
Kerstin and Katrin share the position of Marketing Manager of NIVEA Face Care & Deo at Beiersdorf. This is their second time working together in job sharing already. They told us in an interview what makes them so enthusiastic about this model and how they organize themselves.
Gabriel Rath is responsible for Social Media & Social Collaboration at OstseeSparkasse (English: Baltic Sea Savings Bank; hereafter “OSPA”) Rostock. In an interview, he told us why OSPA is, in many ways, different than most savings banks, what changes their OSPA-Connect project has brought, and why they also engage in Working Out Loud. Read more
Julia Schwebel works for Merck in Darmstadt and is responsible for B2B in Asia/Pacific. This means that she and her team take care of electronically connecting customers when it comes to catalogs, orders or invoices. Not only are their customers international, but Julia’s team is also spread over four countries on three continents. Julia herself works very flexibly and passes this flexibility on to her team. She is especially concerned with the issue of compatibility. As a #ChangeAgent, she lives up to the change she wants to see in the work world.
Marion with her job-sharing partner, Christian.
Marion Hellebrandt started as an intern at Tandemploy more than two years ago. She now works in the Product Team and, together with her tandem partner Christian, forms the interface between IT and the rest of the team. Marion never imagined that she would be part of the IT department. In the interview, we discussed the path to their current job, the different stations, and the advantages of job rotation.
Elly Oldenbourg and Sabine Georg © Andreas Rentz/Getty Images
SabElly – that’s Elly Oldenbourg and Sabine Georg, who are in a Creative Agency Manager tandem at Google Germany. Sabine and Elly told us in an interview how they found each other, what makes them enthusiastic about job sharing, and how they organize their everyday work in the tandem. They also give a few tips on how working flexibly can function and explain why you should worry much less about the issues of close teamwork and the possible slowdown of your corporate career.
Sabine Kluge is Global Program Manager for Learning and Development at Siemens AG. She is passionate about social learning, social networking and new forms of organization. She is also an expert on Working Out Loud and has gained a lot of hands-on experience. As a #ChangeAgent, Sabine shows that “Work. Different.” can also work in a corporation.
bio verlag publishes the customer magazines Schrot & Korn, Cosmia and Ö-Magazin, among other things. Since 2011, bio verlag has dealt with three things: capital, decisions, and success. Participation and responsibility are the basis for their cooperative work, along with family-friendly working time models and a lot of commitment. All good reasons to have a longer #ChangeAgent interview in this case. We spoke with their managing director, Sabine Kauffmann, about the history of the publishing house, employee participation, decision-making processes, and the working world of tomorrow.
Brigitte Abrell has been working as a manager for a large German insurance company for many years – part-time. In addition, she also works as a certified business coach, gives lectures and advises companies. She is convinced that part-time leadership is a working model for the future and has written a book about it. We talked with Ms. Abrell about her personal experiences in her career path, the challenges faced by part-time managers, and her book.
Michael Eckstein is the managing director of the IT and web service provider 3m5. He believes in work that meshes with life and is currently on his own 6-month parental leave. At his company, he’s setting an example for what he hopes to see in the working world as a whole: more flexibility, more friendship and letting go of the 40-hour full-time mindset, even for managerial jobs. Clearly a Change Agent for us!
