HR-Management - Agilität will gelernt seinThe WILD Group can cope with the huge adjustments the market currently demands because HR management laid the groundwork years ago.

When a customer asks if it would be possible to deliver four times the usual quantities for a short time, this may well push a systems partner to the edge of its capacity limits. When several customers make such special requests almost simultaneously, a truly exceptional situation emerges: one that WILD as contract development and manufacturing organisation has managed very successfully in recent months. ”Though this demands a great deal from all of us, the customers appreciate the effort,“ CTO Wolfgang Warum emphasises. He is aware that the group’s extremely flexible staff members, each trained on several products, deserve the credit for the positive feedback. HR management plays a key role in this.

Motivating staff to perform such feats in unstable times does not happen overnight. ”Our advantage is that we have already been extremely customer-focused for a very long time. The real challenge, however, lies in the adjustment of the internal structures and processes to speed“, explains Andrea Gritsch, Head of Human Resources at the WILD Group. As a systems partner in medical technology, we have to comply with the relevant standards and processes, but also need as much wiggle room as possible to be able to adapt quickly. ”Especially when it comes to technical matters, we can deliver quick decisions. Digital solutions are a great support here and they are major drivers for agility“, adds Gritsch. To remain successful in the long run, however, the social and communicative behaviour of the staff must be able to keep up with this pace. This requires specific structures and values. ”When you demand agility, you need to grant the staff the necessary freedom of action and to establish flat hierarchies“. In development, the company thus relies on
self-organised, interdisciplinary working groups to obtain different perspectives and approaches for innovations. In assembly and manufacturing, a job rotation system guarantees flexible and competence-based teams.

KNOWLEDGE ON DEMAND
Moreover, a new HR software now helps WILD map the potential of each staff member in a competence matrix – on the basis of their self-assessment and the evaluation by their superior. This gives the company a transparent overview of skills and allows it to formulate individual development objectives together with each employee. ”Each staff member helps shape their own professional roadmap, e.g. by choosing from the upskilling programmes which we have significantly expanded in our groupwide network,“ says Gritsch.