Our heart beats for high-tech
The opinion of Katrin Robeck, Managing Director of B.I.G. Corporate Services, on the topic of talent
The ‘talent issue’: Is it as threatening as it is sometimes portrayed? As a medium-sized company with a very high demand for high-skilled workers from the STEM sector, we take the issue very seriously. However, at the end of the day, maybe it’s not about the seriousness but about having a lot of heart. From CleanTech Park Marzahn, we want to offer a practical example of this to others.
If we want to create tailored technology solutions and real added value, we need people who are passionate about technology and enjoy being successful. To find these people and to make sure they stay is a real challenge in today’s talent-hungry market. In addition, we as a medium-sized company have to be considerably more creative and more visible to be found, compared to the large, well-known employer brands.
In essence, we have two simple replies when it comes to the talent issue: We love what we do and how we do it. Naturally, essential factors like the salary, a modern work infrastructure, and attractive office spaces are important, too. But these factors are self-evident and don’t necessarily qualify as an eye-catcher or a truly unique selling point.
Our heart beats for high-tech. With that, we have created a simple summary of what we do—an employer brand—and one that was developed together with our staff. In a way, we need our engineers and tinkerers to find our products cool. Well thought-out, ingenious, complex, and loved by our customers.
But it’s about more than the ‘what’. It has become incredibly important HOW solutions are found and value is created. The ‘how’ also includes a sense of belonging, validation, and opportunities for personal growth. We need an environment in which people trust each other fully, enjoy their work, and feel they have real chances and serious opportunities for employee empowerment.
B.I.G. promotes self-organisation—what we call collegial or shared leadership. We are convinced that people are more enthusiastic and motivated if they make as many decisions or partake in as many decisions as possible.
We have only a few executives left; some of our companies have no executives at all. We live in a world of work in which executive tasks are shared. Every team member is encouraged to make their own contributions. Everyone carries the responsibility, but gets considerable creative freedom in return. It is part of our DNA to incorporate a range of positions and approaches regardless of hierarchies.
However, when hierarchies are flattened or removed, there is also a lack of a central authority. With shared leadership, the organisation itself must produce order and structure as an anchor point—and an ‘emotional home’. This is both an analytical and a methodological challenge: Who must speak to whom and when? How are decisions made? How do we deal with conflict? When more people have their say, there is naturally more friction.
We were worried that employees without leadership in the conventional sense might become a bit lost and unsure. The fact of the matter is that our employees’ resilience is very high. We have made this watertight with the help of the methodology of Energy Factors—a spin-off company of the University of St. Gallen.
All this is hard work. For us executives, it requires the courage to let go, let our teams make important decisions, and trust in the power of collegial knowledge. But it’s worth it. Maybe that’s why the talent issue is not quite as threatening for us.
Katrin Robeck is the managing director of B.I.G. Corporate Services. Based at CleanTech Marzahn, which is one of Berlin’s sites for creating future innovation, the Berlin.Industrial.Group pools several companies from a wide range of industry segments, including medical and energy technology, machinery and equipment manufacturing, and the automotive industry.