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Advancing AI Integration at UNIQA: A Future Focus

Advancing AI Integration at UNIQA: A Future Focus

by Melanie Holzner | Dec 4, 2023 | Customer Story, Leadership and AI, Leadership in the digital transformation | 0 comments

Advancing AI Integration at UNIQA: A Future Focus

Do you prefer to listen to this article? Click below to access our AI-generated version of this blog article!

Advancing AI Integration at UNIQA: A Future Focus

Iris Brachmaier, Group Chief People Officer of UNIQA Insurance Group AG since August 2023 and therefore responsible for international HR, provides insights into the company’s groundbreaking transformation up to 2025 in an interview with our colleague Melanie Holzner. The focus is on the vision of using artificial intelligence (AI) not only to become the most attractive employer in the industry but also to revolutionize the employee experience. The planned talent intelligence platform, powered entirely by AI, will unite all HR standards and processes and innovatively redesign employee development, talent management, and recruiting.

Interface Between Person and Machine

The interview highlights not only the technological aspects but also the ethical and data protection-compliant measures that UNIQA is taking in this AI-driven future. Melanie learned from Iris Brachmaier how UNIQA shapes the interface between person and machine and ensures that employees are at the center of this HR innovation.

How is UNIQA Dealing with the Opportunities and Challenges of Artificial Intelligence (AI)?

We want to become the most attractive employer in our industry by 2025. To achieve this goal, we must also be able to offer the appropriate employee experience throughout the Group. We have therefore identified areas for action: we want to support employees in their career planning and career steps, provide feedback and performance management frameworks, and create a learning experience offering. At the same time, we are investing heavily in people and talent development. The people processes are being revised internationally and standardized. All standards and processes are to be mapped in systems.

The Talent Intelligence Platform

These systems will be combined in a so-called Talent Intelligence Platform, which is 100% powered by AI. This means that UNIQA employees are offered a platform with the vision that they can, for example, develop from claims handler to HR expert.

So you join the platform. It knows exactly who you are and what skills you have from LinkedIn profiles, CVs, or other information in the company. The artificial intelligence compares your current skills with those required for your future role and automatically recognizes where the gap is.

Appropriate development measures are required to close this gap. Possible and suitable measures are then drawn from the Learning Management System by the Talent Intelligence Platform. Training, mentoring, or coaching is also suggested for employees who want to advance their careers.

 

Artificial Intelligence

AI-driven talent management and recruiting

At the same time, we integrate the feedback and target-setting process as well as recruiting into this platform. We not only focus on the employee experience but also the candidate experience, because we want to bring the right employees into the company at the right time. The entire topic of talent acquisition and onboarding is therefore managed very automatically via AI. It starts with job descriptions being created via the system: You can arrange interviews automatically through artificial intelligence. It also provides the interview documents.

Our vision

We may even go so far that the first interview is no longer conducted by recruiters themselves, but is controlled by the platform. There will then be a human touch in the personal touchpoints. That is our vision, and we will have implemented it in the next two years. This certainly means a completely different way of working for the HR function, because a lot of things are fully automated. At the same time, however, it also allows the function to concentrate on the really important tasks, as many administrative tasks are automated.

The human side

It is also about emphasizing the human side: There needs to be a balanced relationship between person and machine, with the human always being at the forefront and the one who can positively influence the view, sensitivity, and employee experience. The tools and artificial intelligence are a support for us to have the capacity to take intensive care of our employees.

Have measures been taken so far to prepare employees for the use of AI and to ensure that they accept these technologies?

There is an accompanying comprehensive change management and transformation program. These processes and tools are being developed and selected across all our teams and functions. We have a communication plan in which we communicate a lot so that all employees in the HR function know what to expect. Nevertheless, it’s human nature to ask what this means for you personally when faced with such a big change.

A whole new IT landscape

There is certainly a lot of uncertainty, as the leap is huge. We are moving from a very basic IT landscape to something completely new and modern, skipping some steps that other companies may have already taken. This transformation is therefore accompanied by a dedicated project stream that is exclusively concerned with ensuring that employees are on board. Everyone should know what we are doing, they should be involved in the projects, select the systems, and experience first-hand what this new world can look like. We have change ambassadors, sounding boards, and many other ways for employees to provide anonymous feedback. Personally, it is also important to me to pick up the employees and be close to them so as not to create excessive demands and uncertainty.

The 5 most important soft skills for leaders in the age of AI

Is UNIQA taking measures to act ethically and in compliance with data protection regulations?

Yes, absolutely, we are already doing that. We are one hundred percent GDPR-compliant, and when selecting these systems, we check together with our data protection officers, Legal, Compliance, and, of course, IT Security how the data is processed, where it is stored, and what happens to the data.

We ensure that there are deletion routines for applicant data, as it is stipulated that this data may not be stored indefinitely, although such platforms generally offer this option. We analyze where the data is processed and whether this takes place within Europe. This is a key criterion when selecting such platforms.

What is UNIQA’s general attitude towards AI? How open is the corporate culture to the use of AI?

We are experimenting in various areas, and our IT department ultimately set up a so-called Center of Excellence team that deals with the use of artificial intelligence in the company. The topic of customer service is now also strongly driven by AI in our business model. We use chatbots to process claims and customer inquiries, which is now highly automated and involves a lot of artificial intelligence.

However, even in the larger corporate context, this is a step-by-step preparation of our employees for this changing world and changing way of working, including in our core business functions. This is another part of the HR function to accompany this business transformation. Just as we are doing for HR employees, this is also happening for employees in other parts of the company.

On the road to the future: AI integration and employee development at UNIQA

The culture is undergoing a development process, and we have our own Culture Office that is working intensively to ensure that these new approaches are also incorporated into the corporate culture. It is important to us that people are always at the forefront, as I said earlier: People, machines, and interaction are important, but ultimately people come before machines. This is also anchored in our corporate culture, which is why we are determined to involve all of our employees accordingly and take them along with us.

The common path with our employees

Within the company, we have identified which future skills we need, and these are the ones we currently have across various job families. We believe that we can deliver 85-90% of future skills through training. This means that we will simply develop our employees and take them on the journey. So there is not such a great need to hire new employees externally. This is also a statement to our employees – that we are happy to have them and are absolutely convinced that we can go this way together with them. We do everything we can to ensure that they develop the necessary skills.

Conclusion – a living promise for a promising future

UNIQA’s ambitious steps towards an AI-driven HR future not only demonstrate a pioneering technological spirit, but also a clear commitment to employees. The company’s emphasized openness to change, ethical conduct and active involvement through comprehensive change management make it clear that UNIQA is not only pointing the way to the future, but also ensuring that all employees can help shape this path.

In this transformation process, UNIQA is not only proving to be a pioneer in AI-based innovation, but also an advocate of a working world in which the strengths of person and machine are in harmony – a vivid promise for a promising future.

Iris Brachmaier

Iris Brachmaier

Group Chief People Officer of UNIQA Insurance Group

Iris Brachmaier has been Group Chief People Officer of the UNIQA Group since August 1, 2023. She is responsible for Group HR, Culture, Diversity & Inclusion in 18 countries. Before joining UNIQA, Iris Brachmaier held various top management positions in the Automotive, Paper & Packaging and IT sectors. As Vice President Corporate Development & Group HR at the global GG Group, she was responsible for strategy, ESG, organizational development and HR.
Her current focus is on the development and implementation of people strategy, digital transformation and organizational design as well as employee experience and leadership effectiveness.

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Melanie Holzner

Melanie Holzner

Junior L&D Consultant

Melanie started at MDI in 2021 as a project manager and supported clients in organizing leadership trainings. Since the beginning of 2023, she has been working as a Junior Learning & Development Consultant and designs tailor-made, sustainable training programs for her clients. Melanie attaches great importance to the highest quality and continuously strives to make a sustainable contribution to the development of leaders and thus to an improved world.

Since joining MDI, UNIQA Insurance Group AG has been one of her long-standing clients. In an interview with international HR leader Iris Brachmaier, she discusses the use of AI in HR at UNIQA.

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by Gunther Fürstberger | Nov 14, 2023 | International leadership development, Leadership and AI, Leadership in the digital transformation | 0 comments

Exploring the Influence of AI on Leadership Roles:

Learn more about the ongoing ChatGPT experiment by MDI CEO Gunther Fürstberger

Do you prefer to listen to this article? Click below to access our AI-generated version. 

Exploring the Influence of AI on Leadership Roles:

Learn more about the ongoing ChatGPT experiment by MDI CEO Gunther Fürstberger

In a ChatGPT experiment, our CEO Gunther Fürstberger tried to test the boundaries between artificial intelligence and humans. He asked himself and ChatGPT the same questions to determine the differences. Read this blog post to see the results.

You can connect with Gunther Fürstberger on LinkedIn and join the conversation! 

“How much can the 4 main roles of a leader according to Covey be supported by AI”

Answers from Gunther Fürstberger:

1. Creating trust: Transparency: AI can visualize the most important things. AI can provide reliable and well-founded answers.

2. Develop visions: AI can calculate the probability of achieving a vision and create proposals for the Strategic Roadmap

3. Implement strategies: AI can coordinate alignment and coordination of priorities between departments and over time

4. Coach potentials: AI can make learning suggestions

Answers from ChatGPT:

The four main roles of a leader according to Covey – building trust, developing vision, implementing strategies, and coaching potential – can be supported to varying degrees by AI technologies. Here is an assessment of how each of these roles could benefit from AI:

Creating trust

AI can help bring transparency and objectivity to decision-making processes. Data-driven analytics can help leaders make informed decisions and build trust by demonstrating that decisions are based on verifiable information.

Developing visions

AI can help extract information from large amounts of data and identify trends that can help develop long-term visions and strategies. AI models can recognize patterns that are difficult for humans to perceive, providing valuable insights for the development of plans.

Implementing strategies

AI can assist in project and resource management. By analyzing data and predicting outcomes, AI can help leaders to better plan and adapt their strategies. Automation of recurring tasks can also create more time for strategic thinking.

Coaching potential

This is one of the biggest challenges for AI. While AI can assist to some extent in identifying individual strengths and weaknesses, the interpersonal and emotional intelligence required for effective coaching is a capability that AI has not yet fully achieved. However, AI can support learning platforms and personalized training to support the individual growth of team members.

It is important to note that AI is not meant to replace human leaders, but rather to complement and support them. Human intuition, interpersonal skills, and the ability to solve problems creatively remain crucial, especially in situations that require empathy, emotional understanding, and complex decision-making.

Better Leadership World with IDGs

“What can humans do better?”

Answers from Gunther Fürstberger:

1. Creating trust

When we talk about leading people, humans have a similar advantage. Trust is made up of integrity and competence. In terms of integrity, humans can draw on more experience with people (e.g. in the family) than with AI and would probably currently place more trust in a human leader. People can draw on intuitive skills.

2. Develop visions

Humans can use their own emotions to check how much a vision appeals to them.

3. Implement strategies

People can sometimes better recognize and deal with resistance.

4. Coaching potential

Some people are passionate about supporting the development of others.

ChatGPT answers:

Humans bring a set of skills and qualities that are difficult or even impossible to replicate by Artificial Intelligence (AI). Here are some areas where humans are often better:

Emotional intelligence and empathy

Humans can perceive subtle emotional nuances, understand interpersonal relationships, and show empathy. These skills are crucial in leadership positions, especially when it comes to motivating employees, resolving conflicts, and creating a supportive work environment.

Creativity and innovation

Creativity involves linking different ideas and concepts in unexpected ways. Humans can come up with unconventional solutions, develop ideas, and drive innovation beyond the programmatic capabilities of AI.

Complex interpersonal communication

Interpreting body language, non-verbal communication, and subtle signs is a human strength. In complex interpersonal situations, such as negotiations or conflict resolution, human understanding of communication is invaluable.

Values and ethics

People have moral and ethical considerations that influence their decision-making. The ability to weigh up right and wrong is strongly influenced by individual values and social norms, which AI does not have in the same way.

Intuition and gut feeling

People often make quick decisions based on intuition or gut feeling, based on experience and emotional signals. This can be useful in situations where data is incomplete or decision-making needs to be quick.

Contextual understanding

People can better grasp the context of a situation, including cultural, social, and historical aspects. This is important for making decisions based on a broader perspective.

Adaptability

People can adapt quickly to unexpected changes and new situations. They can react flexibly to unforeseen events and develop alternative solutions.

It is important to emphasize that AI and human skills can complement each other. AI can automate repetitive tasks, facilitate data analysis, and serve as a source of information, while humans bring their unique skills to manage complex situations and foster human relationships.

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How does AI influence the management task of delegation?

What do we delegate?

Answer from Gunther Fürstberger:

What we delegate and what we prefer to do ourselves is a personal question. It has to do with our abilities and wishes. If you want to build up a large company or a corporation should delegate as much as possible. If you want to learn as an expert, keep the exciting topics for yourself and delegate routine tasks.

As it ultimately comes down to the question of what work you want to do, what you find meaningful, and what you enjoy, it is probably better to engage in an internal dialogue about this than to leave these decisions to an AI app. AI programs such as Insightful can coach you on this, however.

Answer from ChatGPT:

Task automation

AI can automate repetitive and time-consuming tasks. This allows leaders to focus on more strategic and creative tasks.

Data analysis and decision-making

Leaders can delegate the analysis of large amounts of data and the derivation of insights to
AI systems to make informed decisions.

Communication and information management

Chatbots and intelligent assistance systems can support the management of communication and information by filtering emails, scheduling appointments, and organizing information.

Who do we delegate to?

Answer from Gunther Fürstberger:

AI itself takes on the function of an employee to whom it can be delegated. And the most interesting thing is that this employee is sure to get better, can take on more, and deliver higher-quality results. It wasn’t so long ago that we were hiring translation agencies to translate training materials into other languages.

Now this works in seconds with good quality. Learning search engines provide us with relevant information, and travel portals with suitable and affordable transportation and accommodation options. Navigation systems save us from traffic jams and radar fines. OpenAI can summarize books in 1000 characters or write poems for the Christmas party.

Which “human employees” you delegate to depends, for example, on their available capacity, skills, and wishes. If you as a line leader have a management span of e.g. 10 employees, then your assessment based on interviews is probably sufficient to decide which tasks you pass on to which person.

If the number of delegation candidates is very high, machine learning can help to create a selection of suitable candidates. There are consultant or coach databases and recruiting programs that suggest the top selection from a large number of people according to defined criteria.

Answer from ChatGPT:

AI systems and robots

Tasks can be delegated to specialized AI systems or robots that have been developed for specific tasks or processes.

Employees and teams

Leaders must decide which tasks are delegated to employees and teams and ensure that the resources and skills are in place to complete these tasks successfully. 

ai's developments

How do we delegate?

Answer from Gunther Fürstberger:

How you delegate determines the confidence and motivation with which your employees will carry out the task. Depending on their level of experience, employees should be given more or less autonomy. If the person receiving the delegation is a professional, it is sufficient to state the purpose of the task. “For example, could you please make sure that the visitors are happy”.

This would be too much for a beginner. This assessment of employees is currently still the responsibility of the leader and not an AI program. However, ChatGPT could be used to design skill tests or self-assessments. However, AI tools such as Taskade.com are good at generating lists of detailed tasks from main tasks.

Answer from ChatGPT:

Skills assessment

Leaders need to assess the skills and strengths of their employees and AI systems to delegate the right tasks to the right people or systems

Clear communication

Clear communication is crucial to set the expectations and goals of delegation. This is
particularly important when delegating tasks to AI systems as the programming and configuration must be correct.

Monitoring and feedback

Leaders need to monitor the progress and performance of delegated tasks and provide regular feedback to ensure that objectives are being met. Overall, integrating AI into delegation processes allows for a more efficient and targeted use of resources, enabling leaders to focus on strategic and valuable tasks while improving the overall performance of the organization.

However, it is important to consider the human and ethical aspects of delegation in the context of AI and ensure that it is in line with the organization’s values and goals.

How can AI contribute to corporate management?

Answer from Gunther Fürstberger:

Artificial intelligence has had a permanent place at the table in our leadership meetings since July 2023. It’s not yet a robot dressed in a costume or suit with speech recognition and output, but a member of the leadership team who gives AI a voice. At the moment, I’m taking care of it and doing it as follows:

1. We have a shared agenda document in MsTeams. About 1 day before our weekly 50-minute leadership meeting, I look at the agenda and select 1 topic, for which I usually create a ChatGPT4 prompt.

2. I show the answer in the meeting and we discuss it. There are almost always good suggestions that give us new ideas.

3. AI does not yet have a (co-)decision-making role. At the moment, it is more of a valued advisory role.

We have decided to integrate AI into company management for 2 main reasons:

As a management development institute, we see it as our responsibility to help shape the opportunities and risks of AI in leadership in general. This raises many interesting and challenging questions, such as “Do we want organizations in our society that will one day no longer be led by humans, but by AI?”

At the moment, we believe in the co-creation of leaders with AI and also want to learn from our own experiences in the spirit of “walking the talk“.

b. As a company, we are convinced that we need to keep disrupting ourselves to develop further and make a relevant and efficient contribution to society. AI currently offers enormous potential for disruption, which we want to exploit with passion and a sense of responsibility.

An interesting side effect of integrating AI at the management level is that we are using AI more consistently in a wide range of operational areas. We have now also launched an AI transformation journey for all areas of the company and introduced AI co-trainers. But there will be separate blog posts about this.

From today’s perspective, we can recommend the integration of AI in corporate management and would be delighted if you would also share your experiences with us, for example in the comments.

Leadership between Connectedness and AI-2

Now the answer from ChatGPT-4 to a slightly customized prompt:

“Please describe an example of the integration of AI in board meetings”

AI integration in board meetings: a practical example

Initial situation

An international technology company wants to increase the effectiveness of its board meetings. The meetings are often characterized by extensive reports, presentations, and data analyses, which slows down decision-making processes. It is decided to introduce an AI-powered solution to streamline discussions and facilitate real-time, data-based decisions.

Solution

1. Preparation of the meeting

An AI system consolidates all relevant data and reports from the various departments in advance. It checks these for completeness, up-to-dateness, and consistency. It then generates a summary of the most important points and visualizes them in easy-to-understand diagrams and graphics.

2. During the meeting

An AI-supported assistant projects information onto a screen in real-time. For example, if a board member asks a question about sales development in a specific market, the AI immediately displays the relevant data, historical trends, and forecasts. Through machine learning and pattern recognition, the AI can also suggest potential causes for deviations or anomalies.

3. Interactive discussions

The system enables board members to run through “what if” scenarios in real-time. For example, when discussing how an increase in the marketing budget could affect sales, the AI simulates the potential impact based on historical data and current market conditions.

4. Recording and task management

The AI records the meeting and transcribes it in real-time. Based on the discussion, it recognizes action items and assignments and automatically creates meeting minutes with a list of tasks, responsibilities, and deadlines.

5. Feedback loop

After the meeting, the AI collects feedback from the participants to continuously improve the process and the data presented. It learns from this feedback to make future meetings even more effective.

Conclusion

Integrating AI into board meetings can significantly speed up and improve the decision-making process. Providing data in real-time enables fact-based discussion and helps the board to make informed and strategic decisions. However, it is important to ensure that AI recommendations are transparent and that human intuition and expertise continue to play a central role in the decision-making process.

Insight from the ChatGTP response

So far, we have mainly used AI as a source of inspiration in management meetings. We will soon be trying out AI meeting software to optimize meeting documentation, including the formulation of action items.

Hopefully, these questions have given you something to think about. As you can see, there are still some differences between human and AI-created answers. 

Mag. Gunther Fürstberger

Mag. Gunther Fürstberger

CEO | MDI Management Development International

Gunther Fürstberger is a management trainer, author and CEO of Metaforum and MDI – a global consulting company providing solutions for leadership development. His main interest is to make the world a better place through excellent leadership. He has worked for clients including ABB, Abbvie, Boehringer Ingelheim, DHL, Hornbach, PWC and Swarovski. His core competence is leadership in digital transformation. He gained his own leadership experience as HR Manager of McDonald’s Central Europe/Central Asia.  At the age of 20 he already started working as a trainer.

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by Peter Grabuschnig | Aug 17, 2023 | International leadership development, Leadership in the digital transformation, training new leader | 0 comments

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Promoting Cohesion and Retaining Talent: Leadership in Focus

In a changing world of work, where motivation and employee retention are crucial, leaders are increasingly in the spotlight. Current statistics send alarming signals: 60% of leaders receive no leadership development at all. Gallup’s “State of the Global Workplace” report highlights the urgency of this problem.

Learn with this article how targeted leadership development can strengthen cohesion and serve as a key to retaining and motivating talent.

The motivation of European employees is in danger

People lack recognition for their performance. Much emphasis is placed on employer branding and new recruiting strategies – but what can leaders use to retain and motivate employees over the long term?

The “State of the Global Workplace” report by Gallup (June 2023) confirms this lack of motivation, which many HR managers suspected. Only a small number of employees show a real commitment to their work, colleagues, or supervisors.

Most respondents merely perform their duties and see their job as a means to an end. Worryingly, 72% of these people would change jobs given a better opportunity.

In Austria, only one in 10 employees are motivated on the job and feel a strong connection to the company. These employees feel valued by their direct supervisors and are satisfied in the team environment. They are also willing to go the “extra mile,” which is important in most companies.

More recognition and flexibility

Our goal for the future, at least according to Gallup, should be to support this specific group of employees in the company. As quickly as you can lose them, turning them into loyal employees would in principle be possible.

Small changes are often enough, such as

  • increased recognition
  • more flexibility
  • confidence in their abilities
  • or the expansion of a clearly defined scope for action and decision-making.

Jon Clifton, CEO of Gallup, sums it up:

“To address the challenges of our time, we need to change the way we lead people.”

Promoting Cohesion and Retaining Talent

Leadership in focus

This is a clear message that is not only directed at HR departments but above all at leaders. Both the times and the nature of leadership are changing and require new requirements and approaches. This does not necessarily mean that previous approaches were bad.

Nevertheless, we should think about how to respond to the new realities of our time. The COVID-19 pandemic has woken people up – not only to digitalization but also to their own work-life balance.

Developing a culture of belonging

The question that now arises is how companies are able, despite growing flexibility in the form of home offices, new time models, etc., to establish a culture that creates a sense of connection and belonging despite partial physical distance.

While corporate culture is often shaped by top management, it emerges and develops in completely different places. Each team, each department, and even each division shapes its own culture. This often reflects the values of the company, but not always.

What is the reason for this? Leadership!

Employees are not motivated because of the awesomeness of the company they work for. The main reason is a well-functioning and stable team. The leader is responsible for this. And this is exactly where the starting point lies.

60% of leaders do not receive leadership development.

Individuals are often promoted into leadership positions without receiving adequate experience or training – a phenomenon known as the “Peter Principle.” These practices lead to competency gaps and tolerate poor leadership, which in turn can lead to high employee turnover.

Although there is obviously harmful leadership behavior, there is often no intervention, possibly due to relationships with top management or perceived expertise.

Promoting Cohesion and Retaining Talent

The time for tolerating bad leadership is over

This neglect has long-term negative effects on the company. It’s time to stop tolerating bad leadership. Two main ways that corporate culture is slowly decomposing are rewarding toxic team members and self-centered leaders.

Successful company cultures rely on collaboration and encouragement rather than selfish approaches. Employees with excessive egos appropriate success and discourage talented colleagues. By tolerating this harmful behavior, team dynamics are undermined.

In order to strengthen a sense of belonging, employee commitment, productivity, and resilience, it is critical to actively address poor leadership. The future requires close monitoring and effective action against this problematic behavior.

The leader is the key to any successful team.

While salary, flexibility, and additional benefits are important, they are not the all-inclusive solution. Even a modern office can’t attract someone if the team climate isn’t right. Debates about work schedules like the 4-day work week should only come to the forefront when the team and leadership are in harmony.

Improve retention:

The most effective way to solidify employee commitment to the company is through effective leadership at the direct level. Contemporary, values-based leadership development is critical.

One-off face-to-face seminars are no longer enough. Continuous support and individual team development are indispensable. Concrete steps such as coaching, empowerment, and servant leadership should be implemented comprehensively. Only in this way can the bond and togetherness in the team be strengthened to achieve successful results together.

 

Tips for strengthening connectedness & belonging in hybrid daily life:

  • Emphasize transparent communication, coaching, and clear goals in a community.
  • Encourage regular sharing, team activities, and projects.
  • Establish a supportive culture of appreciation.
  • Prioritize flexibility and inclusion.
  • Identify and encourage development opportunities.
  • Promote generational understanding.
  • Connect function and purpose (1on1 virtual, face-to-face solutions).
  • Enable digital collaboration.
  • Evaluate and challenge collaboration regularly.
Peter Grabuschnig

Peter Grabuschnig

Trainer, Coach & MDI Partner

Peter is a partner and trainer at MDI, advising major international corporations on implementing hybrid work policies and building a hybrid work and leadership culture.

He is considered an expert in training design. With his Webinar Guru Framework he has developed a tool that helps to design training content for successful and activating virtual learning.

  • LinkedIn

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What Leaders Should Consider When Implementing AI

What Leaders Should Consider When Implementing AI

by Jana Wölfl | Jul 26, 2023 | Agile Leadership, eLearning, Leadership in the digital transformation | 0 comments

What Leaders Should Consider When Implementing AI

A New Step into the World of Technologies – Artificial Intelligence for Leaders

Prefer to listen to the article? Click below to access our AI speech-generated audio. However, if you want to read it as usual, keep scrolling.

Alexa, Chat-GPT, and Co – Artificial Intelligence (AI) is gaining more and more significance. Leaders are also increasingly relying on AI systems in their companies. In this blog post, you will learn about the areas where this technology is particularly suitable and what you, as a leader, should pay special attention to.

What is Artificial Intelligence?

Artificial Intelligence is the ability of a machine or computer to mimic human behavior and intelligence. In Austrian companies, these technologies are already being used to the extent of 38%. Let’s first take a look at the areas where Artificial Intelligence can be best applied.

Customer Service and Recruiting

A form of artificial intelligence that you are probably familiar with is chatbots that provide automated responses to customer questions. This saves your employees a lot of work, allowing them to focus on more complex tasks, thereby increasing the productivity of the company.

AI can also bring advantages in the field of recruiting. AI-powered programs can analyze applications based on keywords and qualifications and recommend the most suitable candidates for the position to employers.

Data Analysis for Success

Another useful capability of AI is to analyze key data and make decisions for the company. These technologies can identify trends and create a plan that is meaningful for the industry. Artificial Intelligence is much faster and more accurate than a human employee in this regard.

However, AI can not only determine existing trends but also predict future trends and adjust the company’s strategies accordingly. This naturally provides a competitive advantage.

Potential Risks of Artificial Intelligence

Although AI brings some advantages to our companies, there are also risks involved in its use. On the one hand, AI systems are more vulnerable to hacker attacks. Hackers can limit the capabilities of the programs, thereby infiltrating and gaining access to important information.

On the other hand, artificial intelligence is still only an imitation of human behavior and cannot replace emotions, creativity, and empathy. Chatbots can, therefore, appear impersonal, and their direct and unfiltered nature can be perceived as hurtful.

What Leaders Need to Consider When Implementing AI

As you can see, the use of Artificial Intelligence in companies is almost inevitable. Here are 5 tips on how to smoothly transition to these new technologies.

1. The Vision

First and foremost, you need to be clear about the exact purpose for which you want to use Artificial Intelligence in order to provide the best possible relief for yourself and your employees. Consider realistic goals that you can set for the company.

Share these goals and ideas in an AI roadmap with your employees. By doing so, you involve more people in the company in your decisions, and you can work out your plans together.

2. Soft Management Skills

In this age, leadership qualities such as curiosity and emotional stability become even more important as AI replaces the “hard” elements of leadership (such as processing information).

Leaders need to be more open to new things and adapt to changes. This can establish a basis of trust with your employees, making the implementation of artificial intelligence easier.

3. Test Artificial Intelligence

No one expects you to immediately master artificial intelligence in your company. You can simply try out the new technologies and test which applications of Artificial Intelligence you prefer.

Furthermore, the programs develop their own feedback loop, which allows you to simplify and improve their use.

Artificial Intelligence

4. Data Privacy and Transparency

Since AI systems often have access to personal data of employees, you should comply with European data protection regulations when using Artificial Intelligence.

In some cases, the applications may even need to be certified according to European standards to achieve the highest possible level of security.

Transparency is also crucial as your employees should know when and in what context artificial intelligence is used in the company. This promotes trust in the leadership and AI systems, and your employees can adapt to their use more quickly.

5. Don’t Forget About People

When implementing artificial intelligence, employees often have concerns about being completely replaced by machines. It is up to you not to forget about the human employees and continue to distribute tasks to them.

Artificial intelligence should be seen as more as a tool and less than a workforce. Data and proposed changes should still be analyzed and interpreted by humans.

As a leader, you should continuously support your employees and provide them with ongoing training to foster their work with artificial intelligence.

Conclusion

Artificial Intelligence brings several benefits to companies as it simplifies and automates work processes. At MDI, we have also familiarized ourselves with programs like Chat-GPT recently.

Of course, caution and careful consideration are necessary when applying AI. However, we are confident that with proper preparation and security measures, a significant step can be taken into a new world of technologies.

Sources:

  • https://www.oed.com/viewdictionaryentry/Entry/271625
  • https://www.hernstein.at/fileadmin/user_upload/HMR/HMR_2_2022_Digitale_Welt.pdf
  • https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesbusinesscouncil/2022/11/21/the-top-five-ways-ai-is-transforming-business/?sh=1a61f3e88e7f
  • https://www.die-wirtschaft.at/weltmarktfuehrer/kuenstliche-intelligenz-als-fuehrungskraft-51404
  • https://www.forbes.com/sites/metabrown/2018/07/30/predictive-analytics-terms-business-people-need-to-know-no-hype-allowed/?sh=6c3fc4d23d43
  • https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesbusinesscouncil/2023/03/01/understanding-the-benefits-and-risks-of-using-ai-in-business/?sh=7cf0b2d36bba
  • https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesbusinesscouncil/2022/11/21/the-top-five-ways-ai-is-transforming-business/?sh=1a61f3e88e7f
  • https://hbr.org/2018/01/as-ai-makes-more-decisions-the-nature-of-leadership-will-change
  • https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/people-and-organizational-performance/our-insights/will-artificial-intelligence-make-you-a-better-leader
  • https://www.plattform-lernende-systeme.de/reden-und-beitraege-newsreader/ki-fuer-fuehrungskraefte-wie-der-einsatz-der-technologie-gelingt.html
  • https://www.hbi.de/blog/wie-kuenstliche-intelligenz-ki-die-rolle-von-fuehrungskraeften-veraendern-wird/
Jana Wölfl

Jana Wölfl

Marketing Assistant

Jana Wölfl works at MDI as a marketing assistant and writes blog posts for our site in addition to her studies at Leiden University.

She also works for SDI and supports us with writing content there as well.

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What is Sustainable Individualization in Leadership?

What is Sustainable Individualization in Leadership?

by Iris Burner | Jun 28, 2023 | Digital Transformation, Leadership Impact, Leadership in the digital transformation | 0 comments

Sustainable individualization in leadership – pious hope or real alternative?

In line with the last blog post on our MDI website “Inner Development Goals For a Better Leadership World“, this time we dedicate ourselves to the megatrend topic of individualization and the connection with the Inner Development Goals (IDGs) towards sustainable leadership.

Individualization instead of multi-module programs

The status quo often shows that companies rely on multi-module programs to develop and train their executives. Depending on the target group, these programs provide a broad general basis of tools and methods – a so-called “toolbox” from which the appropriate tool can be selected according to the situation.

In times of ever scarcer resources (keywords: time and knowledge, cost efficiency and environment) and living realities in climate change, however, one topic is increasingly coming to the fore in the education and training of our future shapers of tomorrow: individualization.

Individualization – one of the 12 megatrends

Individualization was presented by the Zukunftsinstitut 2023 as one of the 12 megatrends. These megatrends are the central trends of our time. They are the biggest drivers of change in business and society and shape our future – not just in the short term, but in the medium to long term. Megatrends unfold their dynamics over decades.

IDGs & SDGs 2030

This time horizon may seem long, especially considering the Inner Development Goals (IDGs), which are based on the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals for 2030. This deadline means that the implementation of this megatrend can no longer be delayed. 

But when we think of Sustainable Development Goals, can we give individualization any room at all? Doesn’t individualization always consume considerably more resources than a collective measure? 

Megatrend-Map

Quelle: Zukunftsinstitut.de 

Sustainability vs. Individualization – Dealbreaker or Complement?

Sustainability and individualization have an interesting interaction with IDGs. On the one hand, individualization can be seen as a potential challenge to sustainability, as it may require more resources and lead to fragmentation of actions. If individualized programs are developed for each leader or individual, this can add time and cost and may be inefficient.

On the other hand, individualization also offers opportunities for sustainability. By enabling people to consider their interests, strengths, and needs, tailored development and education can take place. When leaders are supported in their development processes and have the opportunity to leverage their strengths, they can develop more effective leadership approaches that are also aligned with sustainability goals.

Promoting Individual Strengths and Creating Sustainability for Leaders and Organizations

IDGs are leveraging the megatrend of individualization to promote personal development and inner growth. By focusing on individual needs and goals, they enable people to realize their full potential and shape their own growth. This also includes the development of leadership competencies required for the sustainable transformation of organizations and societies.

Sustainable individualization in leadership thus means reconciling individual development and sustainability goals. This requires careful planning and design of educational activities to address both individual needs and sustainability issues. It is about fostering individual strengths while creating a common foundation for sustainable leadership.

Transfer to practice – 3 concrete approaches

What concrete measures can companies now take to initiate a sustainable and individualized leadership era?

1. IDG potential analysis

As a possible tool, the IDG potential analysis, for example, can provide an initial basic assessment. The basis of this analysis is a questionnaire based on the five IDGs (Being, Thinking, Relating, Collaborating, and Acting). By evaluating the analysis, the leader receives a self-assessment and finds out where they stand on the company values.

 

The results of the analysis serve as a basis for targeted measures to promote personal and professional growth in line with the IDGs and are particularly suitable for organizational and personnel development, leadership, team development, and change processes.

generational management

2. Team workshops with team profiles

In order to validate the self-assessment, there is also the possibility to get an external assessment from a colleague. Based on this, there is the possibility to conduct team workshops with team profiles to strengthen cooperation regarding the IDGs.

3. Mentoring program

Another way to put these findings into practice is to implement a mentoring program. This program supports leaders in realizing their individual goals and needs and integrating sustainability-oriented approaches into their leadership practice.

Executives are paired individually with an experienced mentor to foster their personal development and leadership skills. Thus, individual leaders’ needs and goals are addressed by assigning them a mentor who has experience and expertise in the specific areas the leader wants to work on.

The mentoring relationship allows executives to identify their individual strengths and weaknesses and work on them specifically. At the same time, the mentor and mentee are in a two-way exchange on a variety of topics, allowing them to learn from and with each other. This helps the leaders to integrate sustainability-oriented approaches into their leadership practice and to drive positive change in their organizations.

Conclusion

Ultimately, IDGs and customization can help create a new generation of leaders who are both personally fulfilled and focused on sustainable change. By addressing the individual needs and potential of each individual, IDGs can pave the way for sustainable and individualized leadership that can have a positive impact on organizations, society, and the environment.

Commitment MDI – We support leaders who strive for a better world

As an official partner of the Inner Development Goals (IDG), we are actively engaged in collaborating with other stakeholders, organizations, and individuals to advance the integration of transformational sustainable development skills into our leadership development. Our goal is to facilitate dialogue, knowledge sharing, and collaboration to advance the SDGs agenda.

Iris Burner

Iris Burner

Learning & Development Consultant

Since 2022, Iris has been an L&D Consultant at MDI, supporting leaders and organisations worldwide in personal development and creating tailored training programs. She values the personal learning experience and ensures clients benefit from valuable insights. With a background in adult education and professional experience in a renowned corporation, Iris has a comprehensive understanding of company needs and develops customized solutions for sustainable development and growth.

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by Christoph Monschein | Apr 26, 2023 | International leadership development, Leadership in the digital transformation, Leadership Tips | 0 comments

Successful instruments for Employee Retention

Employer Branding: How to position your company sustainably as an attractive employer

Today’s employers and leaders face several challenges. The search for qualified employees is becoming increasingly difficult and lengthy, and if you want to win over the best minds on the market, you have to have a lot to offer today’s applicants.

More than ever, the tables are being turned: High potentials are choosing their employers, not the other way around. In this distinct employee market, the company must withstand the critical gaze of potential candidates and convince them of its attractiveness as an employer.

For some time now, the recruiting process has therefore become one of the most challenging tasks for companies. The war for talents, i.e. the competition between companies for the best talents and specialists, has also become a fixed part of everyday working life in Austria.

The change of values in employer branding

It wasn’t all that long ago that if an employer offered a secure job with a good or above-average salary and a generous bonus on top, then they could choose from a pool of talent and secure the candidates who best fit the advertised positions.

Today, this is no longer enough to find motivated employees. The “cash for time” model has had its day in this country.

The younger generations in particular have much higher expectations of employers today. The focus is on topics such as the working environment, flexibility and hierarchies, corporate culture, purpose, and, last but not least, how the company deals with corporate social responsibility.

In addition to salary, flexible working time models and a healthy work-life balance, appreciation, respectful interaction, well-being in the workplace and meaningful work are of particular importance today and successful instruments for Employee Retention. 

Strengthening employer branding and positioning as an employer of choice

Companies have different ideas about corporate image and what it should look like in the future. But they all have the same goals: They want to offer their employees a better jobs and retain them in the long term. Employer branding helps to improve the company’s image and reputation as well as its employer brand.

It is an important element in achieving greater employee loyalty and reducing turnover rates, which are costly for companies. Employees who feel valued by their employer stay with the company longer and perform better. This means that employers not only have the opportunity to attract new talent but also to retain existing employees.

 

But how does a company manage to position itself as an employer of choice and thus secure competitive advantages in the battle for high potentials and retain the best minds?

employer branding

These are the questions companies need to ask themselves as part of the employer branding process today

  • What image do I want to have on the employer market?
  • How can I get & keep the employees I need to achieve my goals?
  • What does the “new generation” expect from employers?
  • What can established companies learn from start-ups?
  • What is the company’s purpose and how is it lived?

Measures to improve the employer brand

There are many ways in employer branding to create a modern and pleasant working environment with additional incentive systems. Since employees can be very different – keyword “Clash of Generations” – it is important to turn different screws to meet as many needs as possible.

Today, a compensation package has long been more than just a salary. It is therefore a challenge for modern management to put together a good overall package and to be authentic at the same time. Roughly speaking, there are 5 pillars that should be considered.

1. Work-Life-Balance

The name of the game in today’s job search. A good work-life balance is not only desired by applicants, it is a prerequisite and is at least as important as adequate pay. Today, it is more important than ever that the job fits in well with private life, not the other way around. This is what a company can offer in order to fulfill this wish:

  • Home Office
  • Remote Work
  • Flexible time management
  • 4-day week
  • Offer flexibility
  • Workation

2. Trust – Be a Leader, not a Boss

Employer branding is an important instrument for employee retention. It is about the social reputation of a company and the recognition of its employees as appreciative employers.

Independent work is playing an increasingly important role. In modern companies, employees are no longer purely followers of orders. Instead, they show initiative and assume responsibility. Meaningful areas of responsibility, flat hierarchies, opportunities for creative participation and development, and the strengths of each person are in the foreground.

This aspect of the management culture has a significant impact on employer branding. Positive reviews on evaluation platforms by employees should not be underestimated. Particular attention should be paid to the following:

  • Trust employees, relinquish control
  • Focus on independent work
  • Strengthen initiative & Motivation
  • Room for mistakes – talk about them & learn
  • transparency
  • communication
  • Feedback culture

3. (Tax-free) Benefits: An indispensable part of modern employer branding

A simple way to show appreciation to employees is through (tax-free) benefits. Gratitude for the work performed by employees should be reflected in more than just their salary.

The lunch allowance is particularly attractive in Austria. Tax allowances of up to €8 per employee per working day (equivalent to an annual tax allowance of €1,760 per employee) make this incentive particularly worthwhile for both sides. A varied and balanced diet has been proven to have a positive effect on human health.

As an employer, the well-being of your employees and staff catering should therefore be close to your heart – at least because of expensive sick leave and reduced productivity.

Employer Branding

Around 300,000 employees across Austria are already using Edenred’s digital meal and food vouchers. These can be easily redeemed by recycled plastic card or directly by smartphone with Apple Pay or Google Pay at more than 20,000 redemption points in retail and catering, including online.

This ensures a balanced lunch break both in the office and in the home office – a factor that should not be underestimated, both in promoting health and employee loyalty and motivation.

The following benefits are particularly suitable as employer branding measures:

  • Meal subsidy
  • Gifts on occasions (e.g. wedding, birth, anniversary, Christmas)
  • Public transport ticket
  • Support for sports activities
  • Retirement provision
  • Discounts

4. Culture & Purpose: Indispensable in Employer Branding for Generation Z

It is becoming increasingly important, especially for young talents of the younger generations who are striving to enter the job market, that the company’s values match their own. Applicants are also increasingly paying attention to the sincere and authentic commitment of companies in the areas of sustainability and social issues – the keyword here is corporate social responsibility.

The purpose is becoming the criterion by which young applicants in particular choose their employer. It must create meaning and be in harmony with that of the employees in order to motivate and evoke the best.

Pay particular attention to the following points for successful employer branding:

  • Sincere and authentic commitment
  • No social and greenwashing
  • Clear definition & communication of purpose
  • Live purpose & values
  • Allow employees to set their own initiatives

5. Workplace – more than just a desk

What may sound trivial at first glance is also part of employer branding: modern office environments are becoming increasingly popular. In order to work together successfully and develop innovative ideas, employees need appropriate spaces in which they can feel comfortable and develop.

Decentralized working often leads to desk-sharing concepts in offices. When desks are shared, fewer physical workstations are needed. This in turn means that space can be created for new premises. Here, the focus should be on connecting activities. Anyone who thinks a ping-pong table is the end of productivity has already lost out on some applicants. Team spirit and corporate culture can be crucial in employer branding.

A few suggestions for the use of won premises:

  • Telephone boxes
  • Writable walls
  • Space for recreation & creative development
  • Social spaces (games, food, etc.)

Employer Branding

Conclusion

Today’s applicants are looking for their employer. They expect more and want to change things. Companies need to rethink and quickly adapt to the new conditions in the labor market. The current recruiting market is an applicant market.

Companies need to clearly understand that it is not necessarily the job seekers who apply to the company, but also the companies as employers. If this understanding is given, an important first step towards modern employer branding has been taken.

To prepare for this, a very clear definition is needed of what a company can offer job seekers and why potential employees would want to work for it. Not only salary plays a role, but also and above all the purpose behind the company, the corporate culture, the team spirit, development opportunities, benefits, flexible working, and much more.

At the end of the day, it’s all about the “image” of the company. A good image requires real change and is more than clever communication. The topic of employer branding should therefore be pushed authentically across all channels and offer an honest insight into the company’s everyday life.

Christoph Monschein

Christoph Monschein

General Manager of Edenred Austria & Transformation Leader

Christoph is a transformation leader with >10 years of achieving growth and value creation in both P&L leadership and top-management consulting positions.

His experience includes delivering and implementing growth strategies as well as transformation strategies, developing management teams, leading local and global teams and driving change.

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How to Become a Compassionate Leader – 3 tools

How to Become a Compassionate Leader – 3 tools

by Gunther Fürstberger | Apr 18, 2023 | International leadership development, Leadership in the digital transformation, MDI Inside, Training Insights | 0 comments

How to Become a Compassionate Leader in 3 Steps

At MDI, we not only develop others, but also ourselves. That’s why our CEO Gunther Fürstberger attended a three-day seminar by systems researcher Peter Senge in Stockholm, where he gained some insights. He reports on his experiences in this blog post.

The Compassionate Leadership Masterclass

Peter Senge wrote a classic of leadership literature in 1990 with “The 5th Discipline”. When I read that he was giving a 3-day seminar in Stockholm as part of the Inner Development Goals Initiative, I knew I had to experience it. I thought about Marcus Aurelius who already said “You have to know the great ones of your time”.

The sold out Compassionate Systems Leadership Masterclass by Peter Senge and Gustav Böll took place in the artistic setting of Fotografiska Museum with about 100 participants from March 29 to 31, 2023.

The seminar title sounds a bit complicated. What is Compassionate Systems Leadership all about? A first key to understanding is the organizer: the Inner Development Initiative. In 2016, UN member states adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Since then, our planet has continued to deteriorate.

A new leadership system for a better planet

Us earthlings have obviously not yet developed the skills and attitude it takes to undo the damage of the industrial age.

This is where the Inner Development Initiative comes in: The change in attitude must begin with the individual. Engaging broadly and deeply with the Inner Development Goals in the 5 categories of Being, Thinking, Relating, Collaborating, and Acting will help achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Our planet now needs a different kind of leadership than we know from the industrial age. It starts with feeling nature and other people and should lead to some sense of connection with others or even all beings on the planet.

Hardly anyone wants to intentionally cause grievances, but who is really aware of the effects of their own actions? System thinking can help to understand both short- and long-term impacts and interactions a little better.

New findings on two levels

Learning for me has taken place on two levels during these days. On the one hand, I got to know new tools or deepened known tools. On the other hand, the trainers were an inspiration in their handling of the group and their use of methods.

From the numerous thinking tools I pick out the three that I found particularly typical for Compassionate Systems Leadership.

Tool 1

First, as an overview tool, there is the three-legged chair (see figure 1). The legs represent aspiration, reflective conversations, and systems awareness. If one leg is missing, the stool falls over.

Without a creative imagining of a better environment, there is no improvement. Without reflection or a deeper understanding of systems, we quickly end up in dead ends despite having good intentions. 

Three-legged chair

Tool 2

The ladder of connectedness

The second tool is the “ladder of connectedness” (see figure 2), which confused me initially: From bottom to top, the ladder levels are called “agape, neutral presence, altruism, cognitive empathy, in-group empathy, empathic stress, and emotional distance.”

We can harness gravity to move toward deeper connectedness, i.e., strive more toward the lower levels. Confusion can be a sign of real learning. I could not easily assign this idea to an already stored concept. It seemed to fit most closely with a Buddhist understanding.

We may not achieve agape, all-connected love, but we can create a neutral presence even in difficult situations. It also needs the higher levels: A surgeon should manage to distance themselves emotionally for self-protection.

Neutral instead of empathetic

Distance also helps sometimes in conflicts that go round in circles. Empathic stress is something I can relate to as a father of younger children. When my 8-year-old and my 6-year-old argue loudly with each other, it seems easier for me to demand that they stop for the short term because it helps me reduce my internal tension. But in the long run, it doesn’t help me.

In-group empathy may lead to good cooperation in the team, in the company or even in one’s own country, but at the same time it may exclude those who do not belong to the group. I take it upon myself to practice more neutral presence, which is enduring tension and contradiction.

Ladder of Connectedness

Tool 3

Creative Tension

Now our third and a simpler tool (see figure 3): The principle of creative tension. I already knew that a vision needs the right level of challenge, because something we have already achieved or something we can never achieve is not good as a vision.

I found the continuation of the thought interesting: We can imagine the tension between reality and vision as a rubber band. When that tension becomes too uncomfortable for us, we often tend to either lower our aspirations or not tell the whole truth about the current state.

An energy source for change

A good example are an organization’s sustainability goals. When we consciously seek and hold this tension, we tap into the energy source for change. This principle of creativity is also found in theater as drama, in music as tonus, and in the Greek rhetoric. In this respect, it is not a new idea, but it is effective when we strive for change.

I was also interested in what Peter Senge is like as a person. I have already met some of the “greats of the lecture scene” away from the stage and with some of them I had the impression that it was difficult for them to live the conveyed messages themselves. That is also human.

Peter with rubber band

Peter Senge as a Human

In the morning of Day three, there was an emotionally expressed resistance from a participant who questioned the usefulness of the whole seminar. She said Peter Senge held on to the statement that we always have a choice and do not have to be influenced by external circumstances, despite her doubts expressed the day before.

Now I was curious. Will he maybe feel attacked and defend himself or let it stand as an individual opinion? He did not react immediately, but let other participants speak first. Later, he resonated, apologized, thanked for the learning opportunity, and did so with an authenticity and elegance that really impressed me.

He always treated his much younger co-trainer at eye level and was so moved several times that tears came to his eyes.

My summary

In the spirit of Marcus Aurelius, I had the opportunity to meet two greats of our time. Especially the combination of two trainers from different generations fits the challenges of our time.

Even though I have not implemented all of the presented contexts and tools and I am also not sure whether the term Compassionate System Leadership will become widely accepted, I recommend every leader to deal with the basic idea. A more sustainable leadership culture would do us and the planet good.

Mag. Gunther Fürstberger

Mag. Gunther Fürstberger

CEO | MDI Management Development International

Gunther Fürstberger is a management trainer, author and CEO of MDI – a global consulting company providing solutions for leadership development. His main interest is to make the world a better place through sustainable leadership. He has worked for clients including ABB, Abbvie, Boehringer Ingelheim, DHL, Google, Hornbach, PWC and Swarovski. His core competence is leadership in digital transformation. At the age of 20 he already started working as a trainer and he also served as HR manager in international corporations.

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Hybrid Leadership – Making the best of both worlds

Hybrid Leadership – Making the best of both worlds

by Gunther Fürstberger | Jun 27, 2022 | Leadership in the digital transformation, MDI Inside | 0 comments

Hybrid Leadership – Making the the best of both worlds

Even though the call to return to the office is noticeable in many places, home office has come to stay. For leaders, the task is to manage and motivate teams in a mix of presence, absence and making the best of both worlds with efficient hybrid leadership

Better work-life balance

According to a recent study by telecoms company Cisco, 79 per cent of workers think their work-life balance has improved as a result of hybrid working. A total of 28,000 employees from 27 countries were surveyed. In Austria, almost half see hybrid working as the model of the future, 64 percent want to be able to choose whether they attend meetings online or offline in the future.

While at the beginning of the pandemic there was no alternative to working at home, the attitude of employees has clearly changed. And now, at the latest, the understanding of leadership must also change.

Still unfamiliar

“Surprisingly, a natural approach to leading hybrid teams is still rather the exception,”

says Gunther Fürstberger, Managing Director of MDI Training.

Mostly, for example, meetings are planned either online or in presence. “Hybrid meetings are often seen as difficult and inefficient, although it has been possible for a few years now to communicate very pleasantly and efficiently with online and present participants at the same time with little financial effort.”

The hybrid world is here to stay

There is a broad consensus that the hybrid world is here to stay. What is still lacking is the corresponding mindset. Fürstberger understands this to mean the awareness that technical possibilities should be gladly and increasingly utilised for efficiency as well as positive effects on the environment.

Hybrid Leadership Workshop 

In a one-day MDI workshop, participants learn how to put the success factors of hybrid leadership “Purpose”, “People” and “Performance” into practice, but also how to strengthen togetherness and motivation despite distance.

Continue reading

Just click here to continue reading the entire (german) interview with “Die Presse”.

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Mag. Gunther Fürstberger

Mag. Gunther Fürstberger

CEO | MDI Management Development International

Gunther Fürstberger is a management trainer, author and CEO of Metaforum and MDI – a global consulting company providing solutions for leadership development. His main interest is to make the world a better place through excellent leadership. He has worked for clients including ABB, Abbvie, Boehringer Ingelheim, DHL, Hornbach, PWC and Swarovski. His core competence is leadership in digital transformation. He gained his own leadership experience as HR Manager of McDonald’s Central Europe/Central Asia.  At the age of 20 he already started working as a trainer.

 

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