Kategorie: Human Ressources

Allgemein, Human Ressources, Leadership

Errors are stupid

Intro

Recently I had dealt with Newwork and the dismantling of the safety net. In LinkedIn, I found a positive comment that put the topic in context with the error culture in Germany (but also with other Western cultures).

Nobody celebrates mistakes!

First of all a small damper in advance: I’d like to show you on Silicon Valley and / or Palo Alto and suggest that mistakes are only for learning purposes. Especially in the USA this is not really the case. Mistakes have to be avoided first and stupid, no matter if USA, China, Germany or elsewhere. I don’t know any culture and no country where wrong decisions are celebrated. Decisive is the handling before and after!

How to deal with mistakes

Mistakes happen. I once heard the sentence that a good manager, for example, is characterized by the fact that the degree of wrong decisions is less than 50%. The sentence may sound a bit sarcastic, but I find it appropriate in the tendency.


Stop constructing justifications… prophylactically
It has come into fashion that decisions are made because of consensus, but at the same time backups are installed why one has decided how. Everyone should always have a reason for a decision ready. This does not mean, however, that you have to make a decision and look for justification material afterwards.


Looking for the culprit….
Now if a mistake happens, the energy of damage limitation in the first step and the correction of the mistake in the second step should apply. Looking for the culprit makes sense: If similar mistakes happen more often that indicate a process or (you may not say it out loud) a person. Here analysis makes sense, but please only after the error situation has been corrected. Many mistakes can be reduced to “individual fate”, and there it is not absolutely necessary to know everything in detail.


Stupid mistakes happen… deals with it!
Errors happen, even stupid ones who don’t need to be. A long-term observation makes sense. It is important that managers also stand by it and involve their employees. I observe, often with managers of the younger generation, that “blaming” is used in meetings, i.e. the employee is first counted in large groups.
This is no way to deal with people and does not help to build trust.

German Version here.

Allgemein, Human Ressources

Business trips in EU countries – do you know the A1 form?

Intro

The last days I read an article in the Handelsblatt. This once moved me to deal with the subject of “posting” and social security obligations: The “A1” form. For me, secondment and social security obligations, or proof thereof, were something that would not affect me. But I am also in other European countries from time to time. So if I go on a business trip to London or Vienna, I have to carry such a form with me. Otherwise, fines will be imposed not only on my company, but also on me personally. And that is now being examined.

What is the A1 form?

The A1 form (here a german example) is a three-page form, which describes exactly the person, the employer, and confirms that the social security obligations of each country are respected.

The purpose is to ensure that employees are always socially insured.
You always have to carry this form with you when you are abroad (i.e. even a short visit to a customer or a trade fair, basically a fuel stop with a company car in Austria is enough).

Where do I get the A1 form from?

As of 01.07.2019, the A1 form must be requested electronically by the employer from the health insurance fund of the respective employee. If in doubt, a pension fund may also request the German pension insurance.

How much penalty do I have to pay if the A1 is missing?

Not carrying an A1 confirmation of social security obligation is in France with a hefty 3,296 €. In Austria, between 1,000 € and 10,000 € can be imposed. Other countries require social security in their country for the days in question. The employee is also obliged to do so.


The customs authorities of the individual countries can hope for the help of the hotels: In the meantime, it is regularly stated in the registration certificate of the hotel whether one is travelling privately or on business (in order to avoid tourism packages). It is important to know that the local customs authorities have access to this data and this forms of the Hotels, you are checked in.

Extro

What gives hope is that a joint networking of the social insurance institutions internationally will make the A1 form and thus the “keeping with you” superfluous. At least there is hope. Until then, I can only advise anyone who travels abroad to organise such a certificate.

Allgemein, Human Ressources

How to handle High Performer

Intro

Last week I wrote about “Low Performer”. Again as a delimitation: Especially topics that have to do with leadership are complex and individual case studies. In my blog, I just want to aim for a discussion about the topics. I can’t offer solutions that are generally valid.


About High Performer

Even the demarcation is difficult for me. What exactly is a “high performer”? A Google search doesn’t bring any clarity. For me these are people who deliver results disproportionately to the team. But here you have to clearly define the workaholic: Anyone who constantly achieves more because he only works overtime is therefore not a “high performer”.

No worriers


A further differentiation are the consequent doubters, who are often very good in technical terms. They often think about themselves, that without them everything would go down the drain, because they also think about the last red ribbon. These people are often just good, but exhausting for the team.

High performers with social skills…


A dream is the combination of high perception, fast implementation speed and the ability to work with the team. I have such a stroke of luck: A colleague, highly intelligent, extremely fast and takes time without complaint for all colleagues to pass things on.


These are actually the dream of a team member. The only problem is often that these people tend to be “super-solvers” or independently solve other problems at the same time without having to worry about all the implications. But these are actually rather luxury problems.


…and others


Now we come to the more problematic cases: Extremely intelligent people who work fast but don’t just establish themselves in the team. Communicative skills are required here:

The team is crucial: it must be conveyed that the overall result is supported by all. One person alone cannot do everything today

You’re better, that’s all right: It’s absolutely necessary to acknowledge these people that they achieve more. These people also want to be praised.

Encourage sharing: Even if the communicative abilities are not so high, you can tap into the knowledge. Especially if you put young colleagues at their side and involve the high performers as “tutor”, useful structures can develop (However, you have to observe this closely so that the young colleagues are not demotivated).