“In the end, both sides benefit from it, company and employees”
In today’s podcast episode of the HRM hacks we have Jürgen Grenz as a guest again. Many an attentive listener already knows him from the previous two episodes on the topics of job advertisements and cardinal mistakes in downsizing. Today, Jürgen Grenz talks to the founder of the HRM Institute, Alexander Petsch, about employability from start to finish. For Jürgen Grenz, this begins even before a new employee signs a contract and does not end with the letter of termination, but with the question: How can we help this retiring employee find a new job?
Jürgen Grenz is an absolute expert in the fields of job placement and job markets. Since 2001 he has been managing director of index Internet und Mediaforschung GmbH, with which he has been evaluating the print and online job markets in the entire German-speaking area and ten European countries on a daily basis for years.
Jürgen Grenz provides his own definition for all those who are not familiar with the English term employability. When it comes to employees, you have to keep the “entire process in mind. It starts before an applicant even starts working for the company, extends over the duration of their employment and also includes the phase in which they leave the company again.” In other words, behind employability is the formal and emotional connection between company and employee. The goal is to satisfy employees by using them according to their skills and inclinations, says Jürgen Grenz. “But in the end, of course, the company also benefits from this because it has motivated and efficient employees.”
According to Jürgen Grenz, employability is based on a “very special image of man”. Companies often make the mistake of “looking at employees’ downsides and weaknesses rather than their strengths”. At a rhetoric seminar, they preferred to send less gifted speakers. “So that these get a little bit better.” On the other hand, gifted talents have to stay at home, criticizes Jürgen Grenz. The company, on the other hand, would benefit far more from “further developing the rhetorically gifted”. In general, the veteran claims to have observed that people do not adequately deal with their talents and inclinations. “Many adolescents want to take up a white-collar job even though they have a high level of manual skills and would be better off in this area.”
Win-win situation: help dismissed employees to find a new job
At the end of an incorrect self-assessment there is often an unsatisfactory employment relationship and ultimately the bitter experience of being fired. “This situation is a shock for many people,” says Jürgen Grenz, “but we want to use them according to their abilities.” And under some conditions, be it from an economic point of view or because certain skills are not currently in demand in the company, it is better to part ways. In this extreme situation, Jürgen Grenz advises companies to support departing employees in a targeted manner. Potential new employers could be identified with the help of big data and artificial intelligence. “In our company, this leads to a success rate of over 90 percent,” says Jürgen Grenz. A termination becomes a transfer of the employee to another company. And thanks to previous coaching, there is a good chance that the departing employee in the new company “can better express his or her true abilities and inclinations”.
This is a win-win situation for Jürgen Grenz. “The company that issued the termination isn’t just saving real money.” In addition, it also reduces the risk of a bad evaluation by the terminated employee in relevant Internet portals such as kununu. In addition, the active placement of the terminated employee in a new job clearly lifts the mood among the remaining workforce. “In terms of the internal effect, this leads to a completely different dynamic,” says Jürgen Grenz. And the second winner is the terminated employee. Because he may not have been deployed according to his inclinations and abilities and with the new company he has the opportunity to avoid mistakes from the past.
To person:
In 1994, Jürgen Grenz, who holds a degree in business administration, was a co-founder of the Berlin PR and advertising agency Index, which later became the sister company and job portal Job-Today. In 2000, Index sold the portal to Stepstone ASA. Today, Jürgen Grenz is the managing director of index Internet und Mediaforschung GmbH, which, among other things, carries out studies and analyzes on the development of the job market and offers advice to employers. Index operates specialized career portals together with partners from the respective industries.
You can find many more hacks as a checklist or the entire interview as a podcast or text at https://www.hrm.de/podcast/employability-von-anfang-bis-zum-ende-dacht-mit-juergen- Grenz-episode- 32/
You can find out more about our sponsor Complete, your HR software partner for HR and workforce management, at: https://www.hrm.de/unternehmen/compleet/
Contact to today’s podcast guest Jürgen Grenz: https://www.hrm.de/wandern/juergen- Grenz/
Tape Art Cover Image by Max Zorn : blankhttp://www.maxzorn.com /
Music by “Monsters of Rec: the HR & Recruiter branch band” https://www.hrm.de/unternehmen/monsters-of-rec/
Podcast production: York Lemb – Employee Podcast https://www.hrm.de/unternehmen/employee-podcast/
And if you are looking for the right wine/sparkling wine for your next HR event, then the: HR² wine would be suitable https://wein.hrm.de/
Enjoy this podcast episode.
