Good staff is worth its weight in gold
Walking the tightrope between “work-life balance” and “four-day week”
(mud) – Recently, WTH Managing Director Gero Thieme has again hired new employees. And there will probably also be a trainee again this year. The company boss is glad that both have worked out. He is convinced that good employees are indispensable for the success of the business. However, he also knows how difficult it is to recruit committed and reliable personnel for the company. Today, applicants can almost “choose” their future employers themselves.
And it’s by no means just about what ends up in the employees’ bank accounts. New buzzwords include “work-life balance” and “four-day week. Childcare or travel to and from the place of work also often play an important role in job interviews. Not all applicants are concerned solely with good performance for the company.
The company boss looking for personnel must have something attractive to offer so that interested parties sign the employment contract. The long-distance trading company WTH GmbH in Stade near Hamburg is focusing on growth. And that’s why WTH boss Gero Thieme also has challenging, creative techno-commercial jobs and content to offer committed personalities.
Typical for WTH is: A great deal of “freedom” is offered in the realization of work content and the use of modern in-house IT infrastructure. – At the same time, employees who are no strangers to “entrepreneurial thinking” will find the greatest possible opportunities for development here.
The company management expects employees to act proactively and responsibly and to deal effectively with work routines as well as internal reporting and IT infrastructures. Equally important to the young company boss is a high level of independent learning and communication of findings. Building up or cultivating “master knowledge” is an absolute no-no at WTH! The WTH management is pleased with the men and women who have been with the company for many years for the most part – and with those who have recently joined.
Because the current personnel market situation is not easy, Thieme has repeatedly noted. It is definitely difficult to find suitable and committed personnel, both intellectually and in terms of personal attitudes and expectations.
At present, potential employees are often at best prepared to “work through” the agreed working hours and expect both that the work can be done in this time and that work is always available in an appropriately “measured” manner. Sometimes there is a lack of initiative to creatively fill these free spaces in the interests of the company, for example through further training.
Conclusion for Thieme: If we speak of a “buyer’s market” in sales when we mean high, sometimes almost ruinous competition, then one could speak analogously of the “personnel market” as an “applicant’s market” likewise with partially exaggerated expectations.