German companies do not believe their staff are sufficiently qualified to deal with digital transformation. The digital entrepreneurs at Unternehmer-Schmiede develop senior executives to manage digitisation.

Berlin / Cologne, 19 April 2017 – Problem area digital expertise. Almost 60 per cent of large German companies believe their staff are not sufficiently qualified to deal with digital transformation. That is the finding of a current representative survey by digital consultancy and company builder etventure in collaboration with GfK Nuremberg and YouGov USA*. The human factor therefore plays a crucial role in the success of digital transformation in companies and there is a major requirement for digital expertise. Unternehmer-Schmiede is tackling this issue. The joint venture between etventure and HR and management consultancy Kienbaum recruits, coaches and develops senior executives to become digital entrepreneurs. Through its range of services, Unternehmer-Schmiede has already acquired clients like TAKKT AG, Certeo, LV 1871 and Garbe Group in its first year of trading.

Lack of digital skills and defensiveness among staff are obstacles to digitisation in large German companies

According to the etventure study, large German and US companies believe that digitisation will primarily lead to staff needing a different set of skills (Germany: 91 per cent, USA: 97 per cent). But while almost all US corporations (90 per cent) are already convinced that their staff have the necessary digital skills, that is only the case for a minority in Germany (42 per cent).

“The survey clearly shows that large German companies have so far neglected to prepare their staff for the digital transformation,” explained Mathias Weigert, CEO of Unternehmer-Schmiede. “There is a similar level of scepticism about digitisation among the workforce. In 37 per cent of German corporations, processes for digital transformation create uncertainty among employees. Making it all the more important to have senior executives with digital expertise and an entrepreneurial mindset who can drive forward the digital transformation and can also inspire other employees and make them aware of the changes needed.”

This requires a special kind of person with specific abilities. Because a digital entrepreneur must firstly understand the corporate world, but primarily act like an entrepreneur, think in a user-centric way, be a master of digital tools, personify a start-up culture, consistently drive forward change, and use agile management and communication methods. Such a profile is very hard to find in the market, which is why Unternehmer-Schmiede is aiming to find a holistic solution. The Berlin-based joint venture not only analyses how digital its client organisations already are and which profiles and skills they still lack, but also looks for potential talent both internally and externally, and develops digital entrepreneurs using individual on-the-job training and coaching by experienced mentors. The programme has been developed by digital entrepreneurs for digital entrepreneurs.

Innovative HR concepts and an agile work culture

This is the approach Unternehmer-Schmiede has already used to support its clients in digital transformation across a wide range of sectors. For TAKKT AG, the team at Unternehmer-Schmiede designed a development programme to train future digital entrepreneurs and recruited suitable young talent for this, in both Europe and the USA. As part of an 18-month programme, the candidates passed through various roles and positions both in Germany and abroad, thereby learning all the relevant skills and methods needed to drive forward the digital agenda for this mail order business.

Unternehmer-Schmiede is advising Certeo, a manufacturer of office and business equipment, on a comprehensive structural transformation to becoming a networked organisation and supporting the development of an agile corporate and work culture. This involved developing new, innovative organisational structures in the form of interdisciplinary teams that can be assembled quickly and on a project basis depending on requirements. Alexander Ketzler, CEO of Certeo, said: “Without the support of Unternehmer-Schmiede, we would not be in the position we are today, on our way to becoming a completely digital and networked organisation. The team were always quick and pragmatic and used their in-depth expertise to show us new ways of doing things and especially gave us very practical support during implementation.”

*About the etventure study “Digital transformation and cooperation with start-ups in large German and US companies”

Based on the questionnaire prepared by digital consultancy and start-up designers etventure, GfK Nuremberg and YouGov USA conducted simultaneously in Germany and the USA a telephone survey of large companies with annual turnover of at least EUR 250 million or USD 250 million, respectively. The survey was conducted on the basis of 294 face-to-face interviews (Germany: 135, USA: 159) in the period from 28 November 2016 to 24 January 2017. Respondents were decision makers concerned with the issue of digital transformation in the respective companies. Further details about the study can also be found at https://www.etventure.de/innovationsstudien.