Your employees and digital transformation – how to make it a success

It is therefore important to strike a balance between your requirements as a business owner, such as reliability, loyalty, and playing by the rules, and the expectations of your current and future employees, such as flexible working hours, the ability to work independently, and the right to have a say. 

Digitalisation is impacting the search for personnel

The digitalisation of a skilled trade enterprise and an innovative approach to seeking personnel will affect your success in the skilled labour and training market: Software tools, online platforms and social media help companies reach out to potential candidates and select job applicants. Meanwhile, job interviews can also be automated.  

For example, the acquisition and assessment of job applicants via a portal will help you identify employees who are willing and able to change. On your part, this requires a goal-driven, clear-cut approach and a polished presentation of your own company.  

On Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Xing, TikTok etc., you can benefit from the positive comments and likes etc. of your followers and thus support the creation of an employer brand.  

You can also encourage your staff to share their positive experiences with your company: If you are aware of the expectations of your staff you are able to address them. Focus on having a team that communicates openly and can work agilely with modern, digitally supported methods. You should then not have any problems getting good ratings on the relevant employer review websites. 

Get all employees involved in the digital transformation process! 

Your employees should always be involved in every phase of the digitalisation process. Providing information in good time and conducting a training workshop if necessary can overcome any reservations they might have. As well requiring interesting projects and a wide variety of tasks, the skilled personnel, project planners, site managers and trainees that you are seeking will also decide in favour of an employer based on the prospect of a digital work environment. 

Trainers in the skilled trade segment need teaching concepts that use digital tools 

Whether (future) employees work well or poorly with digital tools will depend entirely on how they are taught digital skills during their training, which applies not only to technical topics but also to digital issues. Seminars, training sessions and workshops are ideal for bringing your employees up to speed. Of course, in this context, it is also true that trainers are role models who can influence the work culture of the next generations.  

The “Media Educator” project launched by the Palatinate Chamber of Skilled Trades in the autumn of 2021 shows what teaching concepts for effective digital learning can look like. Trainers are supported by providing them with innovative digital learning content because increasingly, training programmes require digital teaching and learning material.  

A good team needs a positive work environment 

The workplace atmosphere is a decisive factor when people are looking for a job. A modern work culture with agile structures, independent working and participation also creates team spirit and produces good results. There are numerous digital tools available to help you efficiently manage projects in teams. This enables responsible work practices, an open work culture and a pleasant working environment to be created while helping you find and retain skilled personnel. 

Workplace health management is good for your business 

There are many aspects to health management in the skilled trades sector: Working on computers without breaks is damaging to your eyes, joints and back. Proper lifting techniques prevent injuries. A positive attitude towards co-workers affects the workplace atmosphere. As the head of a skilled trade enterprise, you should look at health management as an important asset in your strategic portfolio. The potential benefits include staff reporting sick less often and an increase in productivity. 

Summary 

Digitalisation should be seen as a collaborative effort! Changes relating to digital transformation should always be implemented with sufficient preparation and instruction and in easy-to-understand steps. Get feedback from your personnel about successes and “flops”. The magic formula for a successful digitalisation process is conviction across the board. Experts and industry professionals discussed how this can be achieved, and what the impact of work culture is in this context, for example, at the Digitalisation@GaLaBau Forum at GaLaBau 2022 in Nuremberg. 

All recordings from the forum Digitalisation@GaLaBau – Digital Practice Live in Action are available in the playlist on the GaLaBau YouTube channel.