Work longer, learn longer
Article from TÜV SÜD Journal 4/2010
 | The half-life of knowledge is falling while the importance of further training is rising. TÜV SÜD Personalberatung GmbH is responding to this trend: It is dedicated to the comprehensive and individual growth of employees. The aim is to create contemporary personnel development. |
Systems developers who increasingly have their eyes fixed on environmental policy goals, managers who have degrees in physical education or physicians who manage budgets – the modern working world demands a great deal of flexibility from each member of the workforce. The demands on management and employees change as quickly as new products, services or technologies come onto the market. The workers of tomorrow must be more flexible and assume more individual responsibility. They will work in different teams, be constantly involved in new projects and will increasingly work for different employers.
But it is not just work procedures that are changing. Entire occupational profiles are in flux as well. There are currently 349 occupations in Germany that require formal training. In the past 14 years alone, 229 have been modernized and 82 new occupations have been added. People who are determined to succeed in the job market of the future and do not want to become a has-been will not be able to rely on their knowledge alone. Instead, they must continually acquire new qualifications.
»The economies of industrialized nations are in the process of evolving into knowledge economies. Strategic competitive edges are increasingly being created by leads gained in knowledge and expertise as well as by creative problem-solving skills, and not just by the newest production technology,« says Ulrich Schnabel of the Fraunhofer Institute of Industrial Engineering. There are many reasons for this evolutionary process: globalization and shifts in the international division of labor, global and especially dynamic competition as well as the shortened half-life of technological knowledge. Today, technological expertise remains current for a maximum of five years. »As the half-life of knowledge decreases, demands grow for employees to regularly expand their knowledge base and expertise,« Schnabel explains. In the process, the continual willingness to learn as well as the desire to constantly reflect on job performance and pursue professional development will become a core skill for employees, he says. In the course of demographic change, these skills will become especially important. As the workforce increasingly ages, life-long learning gains a higher priority. Skilled workers must be able to perform at a high level even at an advanced age. Ulrich Schnabel estimates that learning at age 55 will become a part of everyday life in many companies. »The motto is: live longer, work longer, learn longer.« Because the number of highly qualified workers in the national job market is shrinking, programs to attract specialists and workers from other countries will be needed.
Knowledge translates into job security
This has an impact on each individual employee: Particularly in times of crisis, when a company is in financial difficulty or parts of its business must be restructured, routine professional development pays off. Well-trained employees are more likely to keep their jobs because, in difficult times, they can best help a company get back on its feet and move forward. In the event of layoffs, they are the employees who will quickly find new work.
TÜV SÜD Personalberatung acts as a valuable partner thanks to its experience in the professional development and placement of workers. »Our strength: We have an outstanding partner by our side in the form of the TÜV SÜD Academy, which has been successful in this market for more than 25 years,« says Managing Director Werner Kraus. Moreover, the company has good contacts to many firms. This type of network also benefits customers, when they commission TÜV SÜD Personalberatung to search for specialists and executive staff as well as employees, whose personality and qualifications fit the specific job requirements to a T.
Modern personnel development
This can also work through the targeted professional de-velopment of motivated applicants and employees, i.e. modern personnel development. In this case, TÜV SÜD Personalberatung acts as an external personnel consultancy firm that provides knowledge and assists in creating a modern knowledge economy: from training needs analyses to worker qualification matrices and knowledge transfer. »Professional-development programs that draw on the expertise of external partners create a knowledge-based strategic competitive edge for companies because new knowledge is acquired. Companies that invest in the resources of intellectual capital will increasingly maintain and expand their leading positions in the face of international competition because this investment will enable them to stand out from the competition and gain a lead in innovation,« Ulrich Schnabel maintains. TÜV SÜD Personalberatung is not just responsible for personnel development in companies. It also acts as a transitional company that facilitates professional reorientation. In the event that a company reduces its workforce or files for bankruptcy, transitional companies can provide significant help to both employers and employees. The reason is clear: Using agreements that dissolve work contracts, personnel laid off by a company can work at the transition company for up to 12 months. During this period, the temporary employees are advised, coached, trained and, if possible, placed in a new company. »Generally, it's easier to look for a new job as an employed worker than as an unemployed worker,« says Dr. Axel Deeke of the Institute of Employment Research. Compensation for the reduced hours in the transitional company and the professional-development measures are financed by the German Labor Office and the employees' former company.
The affected companies also profit from the creation of so-called organizationally independent units: The em-ployees are directly transferred to jobs with TÜV SÜD Personalberatung. »The transitional company enables companies to reduce workforces relatively quickly. That means before the applicable notice period begins or expires. This way, the positions that possibly remain can be saved, and, in some circumstances, bankruptcy can be averted,« Dr. Axel Deeke explains. Moreover, companies can avoid wrongful-dismissal lawsuits and the resulting legal costs.