English 
Deutsch 
Français 
In the first part of the interview with IWC, we talked about employer attractiveness, the effect of corporate values on recruiting and what happens if values are ignored. In the second part of the interview, Julia Viehweider, Lead HR Business Partner, and René Behr, HR Global and Member of the Executive Board, explain why jointly designed programs and training and the CEO's behavior are so important in making the values tangible. And why you don't need gray hair to take responsibility.
Great place to work: In the first part of the interview, you explained that your employees are the best ambassadors for your values. What else do you find important when it comes to communicating your values?
René: Ideally, you would like to print the company values everywhere and hang them on every wall in the building. However, simply making them visible is not enough. You have to proactively talk about the corporate values and set an example, otherwise values are useless and become "worthless". That's why we do less gloss and more through observable behavior and direct feedback. Instead of just hanging our values on the wall somewhere, we talk about them, make them an issue and ultimately review our daily actions accordingly. In order to create this awareness, managers in particular need to set a positive example. As part of our very successful management development program, we therefore pass on these expectations to managers and they learn how they can incorporate the corporate values in their role and as part of their daily management work.
Great place to work: What else helps to ensure that the corporate values are actually put into practice?
Julia: One important aspect is to involve employees in the planning of measures. When we plan campaigns such as our Health Day, for example, we don't simply put together a program that we think is good without taking feedback from the departments into account. Instead, we approach them or put together project teams with representatives from different departments to find out what appeals to people the most and whether they have any suggestions. The colleagues on the BGM committee then also help to organize such an event, for example. However, this is not just limited to employee events - we also organize many training courses together! We can't know what those with expertise in these areas need until we've spoken to them. That's why we work with the departments to develop programs that are perfectly tailored to the needs of the team. This also lets the employees know that their input is being taken into account and they keep coming up with new ideas.
Great place to work: How can I imagine such a jointly developed training program?
Julia: For example, our purchasers wanted to do training in negotiation techniques. This training was then developed in very close collaboration between the Learning & Development team, an external trainer, the division manager and the employees themselves. And the more we turned the people involved into participants, the more satisfied everyone is in the end - and the better the training courses are received. Our training courses are so popular that we sometimes have long waiting lists. So I can only warmly recommend this collaborative approach. If there is someone from every group of employees who wants to get involved, it's much more effective than coming up with great concepts in a quiet room that might not be well received.
René: Another example that comes to mind is our Christmas party, which was organized last year by a diverse group of people from different departments. It was a perfect party, everyone was happy and exuberant - and even the CEO personally praised the organizing team on stage. Of course, you're almost bursting with pride when you receive such recognition!
Great place to work: Speaking of the CEO: How does he exemplify your values?
René: Our CEO (editor's note: Christoph Grainger-Herr) has been with us for over eleven years and has worked in various departments and functions. He knows the company and its employees correspondingly well and is therefore also approachable - both in Schaffhausen and at other locations. One example: our anniversary outing takes place once a year. The day starts at 7.45 a.m., but Christoph still arrives in person, chats a little with the jubilarians and congratulates them. He also takes part in aperitifs or Z'Nünis whenever possible. When we celebrated our Great Place to Work certification, Christoph was also there and gave a short speech to thank the employees. But his door is also always open in everyday working life and, thanks to the flat hierarchy, people approach him directly and vice versa. He not only discusses products and workplace culture, but also talks about personal issues - you can tell that he is very interested in the well-being of his employees.
Great place to work: Your CEO travels a lot to other locations, more than half of your employees work abroad - how do you deal with diversity in your workplace culture?
René: We see diversity as an important aspect of creating a workplace culture. After all, IWC stands for "International Watch Company". On the one hand, we have diversity due to our different locations and nationalities, but also due to the different functions and departments. For example, the world of production and the world of the office naturally differ in many ways. And because we are aware of these differences and want to facilitate exchange and understanding, we try to network them as well as possible - which, frankly, is never easy. There are many challenges, for example when it comes to working from home. It's not so easy in production because you can't just take the machine home. Or if you work in a boutique, you can't ask customers to come to your home either. It's precisely because of these different requirements that we don't close our eyes to them, but try to manage the balancing act and implement topics in such a way that it's somehow balanced and nobody has to be jealous - which I think we've done quite well so far. And because we are aware of our diversity, we exchange ideas across departments, show mutual understanding and are committed to avoiding silos. We do this, for example, by deliberately mixing employees from Production with employees from Sales or the Office in the aforementioned training sessions. Our diversity also pays off in terms of our attractiveness as an international employer, as we are more likely to attract international talent. After all, getting employees from Shanghai, London or Paris to come to Schaffhausen is anything but easy.
Great place to work: Do the employee statements on your website, where you say that employees are quickly given responsibility and freedom, also help with talent acquisition?
Julia: We are a young company where young people take on responsibility very quickly - and that appeals to people very strongly. I think this also sets us apart from other companies where you have to grow gray hair before you can take on responsibility. That's why we are also attractive as an employer for talented people who prefer to live in the big city and therefore commute from Zurich to Schaffhausen every day. I'm one of them myself and could have looked for a job in Zurich. But I find the team and the work here so exciting and I enjoy it so much that I've accepted the longer commute for four years. Even though I'm actually a late riser!
