From Noise to Sound
How do today’s leaders cut through the noise and shape the future?
In each episode of From Noise to Sound, host Dr. Dimitrios Marinos, from the Department of Marketing and Communication at HSLU, dives deep with CEOs, Board Members, and industry innovators to uncover the forces reshaping our world. Through insightful conversations, he explores topics like digital transformation, consumer behavior, and sustainability, revealing strategies and innovations that are driving real change.
Gain actionable insights and fresh perspectives on navigating a complex business landscape. Tune in each month to sharpen your view on leadership, tech-driven success, and what’s next in marketing and beyond.
New episodes every month, brought to you by HSLU, Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts.
From Noise to Sound
#Alexander Senn : The Human Factor, Navigating Change in Modern Organizations
A great conversation with Alexander Senn in today’s rapidly evolving work environment, managing HR challenges requires adaptability and foresight, particularly in global organizations like Siemens. Key issues include navigating technological advancements, addressing generational differences, and evolving workplace cultures. The shift towards flexible work, spurred by the pandemic, has underscored the importance of balancing remote and in-office dynamics to foster innovation and maintain strong employee connections.
Organizations are urged to adopt a holistic approach to change, integrating culture with updated structures and business models. For younger generations, investing in education and foundational skills remains crucial to thriving in an AI-driven era. Leaders must look beyond traditional qualifications, prioritizing growth mindsets and motivation in hiring. Creating a positive candidate experience and fostering an empowering workplace culture can significantly enhance an organization’s brand.
Encouraging employees to invest in personal growth, embrace continuous learning, and practice self-reflection strengthens both individual careers and organizational success. Open communication, energy management, and work-life balance are pivotal for cultivating a productive and engaged workforce. Managers play a transformative role in aligning personal and collective goals, driving change, and creating a healthy, dynamic environment. Career shifts also benefit from proactive networking, connecting with industry professionals, and exploring opportunities through company events.
How do today’s leaders cut through the noise and shape the future?
In each episode of From Noise to Sound, host Dr. Dimitrios Marinos, from the Department of Marketing and Communication at HSLU, dives deep with CEOs, Board Members, and industry innovators to uncover the forces reshaping our world. Through insightful conversations, he explores topics like digital transformation, consumer behavior, and sustainability, revealing strategies and innovations that are driving real change.
Gain actionable insights and fresh perspectives on navigating a complex business landscape. Tune in each month to sharpen your view on leadership, tech-driven success, and what’s next in marketing and beyond.
New episodes every month, brought to you by HSLU, Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts.
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[0:02] I see, and that worries me a little bit, the individualism we have in the society. So the first question is what's good for me. The second… Hello and welcome to the podcast from noise to sound. I hope you liked already our previous episodes and I hope you subscribed to Spotify, YouTube, but also in LinkedIn, where I have the possibility to exchange with you information, but also articles that are relevant so today i have a very special guest a friend of mine which i am allowed to say but on the other side one of the top five hr managers in switzerland from my perspective as well his energy is actually floating all over the room whenever he's uh around so So I'm really excited to have him today at our podcast.
[0:52] Music.
[1:00] Hello, Alex Zinn. Hi, Dimi. Thanks for having me. Thanks for being here. Actually, for me, a very special guest, as I mentioned before, because we know each other from before. We're good friends from one side. But on the other side, you are, as I mentioned, one of the top five HR managers in Switzerland. And you have so many things that you have to have under your control.
[1:21] What does a manager, let's say, in HR, does in such a complex and very broad organization like you are at Siemens? Yeah, I agree. Siemens is a complex organization, but I wouldn't now say that I'm more important than others, right? Everyone in HR and also in the business, they have challenging tasks. But yes, I have worked in a complex, but also very interesting fascinating um organization and i'm globally responsible for hr we call it people in the organization we'll come to that maybe later why we call ourselves people in the organization globally responsible for um for a business called semen smart infrastructure 70 000 people worldwide uh over 150 countries so it's quite.
[2:10] An interesting job I have. I'm based here in Zug, by the way, the first headquarters outside Germany. And as a Swiss, I'm proud that that headquarters outside Germany is in Switzerland, Zug. Of course, and I think that's also a little bit the pedigree of Siemens. You know, Siemens, I've also worked in Siemens in my younger age, Siemens-Seltier in Erlangen in Germany. And you could definitely see that these companies build in engineering. So, I mean, if you are a company building engineering, of course, Switzerland, you cannot avoid. You know, the skills and the culture helps a lot in any way, but also to find the right people. So for me, it's also very important. Right now, you in HR have one of the biggest challenges that I can recall.
[2:55] In the history, let's say, of the business that I am in. You have different generations with different cultures, Gen Z, Millennials, and so on and so forth. You have the technology inputs on the other side, AI, digital transformation, automation, efficiency that you have to go through. How does a company like you, but also, you know, from the HR perspective,
[3:17] how is the best way to navigate all these challenges right now?
[3:21] Let me start first with transformation um there was always transformation sometimes we forget that there's nothing new right but i think the speed of change needed has accelerated but there was always transformation when siemens is 177 years old so was always successful but always needed to transform when you look at the business we were in 50 60 years ago and today it's a total different game and we are in a pivotal change and transformation because we want to become one tech company we will still be um we combined real and digital so there will still be factories producing products we sell but there is much more technology come in so that's why and also ai etc so that's why we need to to change and transform the business and with that the people and my role i have to play as as hr is to make sure that we have people with a growth mindset from a culture perspective that people want to learn people want to unlearn people don't see a change as risk and they want to pretend pretend the past no they're eager to learn they have it's fun to change right and this is most probably from a cultural perspective the most important one and second and this is maybe.
[4:42] And when I look a little bit around, you know, the companies, et cetera, and also for us, it's a new field we are entering is the organizational development practice. We need to be much better, that we need to look at how to organize work, that we need to look into structure, that we need to have a holistic view. What needs to change? Because it's not only the culture that needs to change, it's also maybe the business model, operating model, the structures we have, the processes, et cetera. So you need to have a holistic view what needs to change and here definitely we have a task and of course now as if that was easy you have on top all the cultural change that happened after COVID I mean people have learned to work in different ways they like to work remote they want to be able to manage their own time a little bit better so the old models have been really questioned very sharply, So is it something that you also account into? I mean, we see now in the media, of course, a lot of companies, big companies try to come to previous models of work.
[5:48] And there's a lot of anxiety also in the markets for that, because the last three, five years, people have learned to work in a completely different way. How do you see that? Thank you for bringing that topic, because it's a topic that keeps me awake sometimes. these days or weeks.
[6:10] What we did in Siemens quite nice or good that we started very early during the pandemic we don't want to go back, the way of working we had before the pandemic so give the people the flexibility, empower them trust them and we send set the rule out so two to three days mobile working and back then, i said hey i couldn't cut less right when and how when where you work it's all about outcome you can work at the beach etc and i said okay let's go for the two to three days but you can maybe even stay more days at home today dmi i look at that topic a little bit differently.
[6:54] And that's why we still stick to the rule of two to three days the empowerment and the flexibility, but what we have learned over the last two years that it has or can have a negative impact on culture and collaboration and also innovation. So that's why we need to find the balance, right? Because what we see today when we look into the situation we have worldwide, by the way, it's not only a Swiss specific topic that people, they're not coming back two to three days. Maybe they're coming back one or two days and we need to remind them what's good, what's in it for you to come to the office, that we also say it's not about all the time what's good for you it's what's good for the team what's good for the company we need to.
[7:41] Learn that we need to give something back to the company and culture also starts in a building having discussions in the coffee corner coffee corner um to collaborate to come together to innovate workshop but not coming back to the office and then have always then you are always in in virtual meetings so then we that's why we need to orchestrate that so that's why last comment is we say these days not two to three days mobile working we say two to three back in the office you have the flexibility but people need to learn also think about what can i give back to the team to the company and why it's maybe good to come to the office yeah i mean that was the main issue for a lot of companies they show they've seen already that the innovation has been slowed down the culture could not be sustained people were also not easy to measure the outcome also you know if you're away and so on so forth and it's a it's a huge discussion at the moment but i would like to tie it a little bit to the generation as well i mean millennials and the baby boomers they have learned a little bit different perhaps millennials are a little bit on the verge between i've learned nine to five but now i have to adapt to the to the remote work gen z they've learned to work remote they don't i mean they they brewed there so uh.
[9:07] How do you see i mean you mentioned probably before you don't call yourself hr but people's and people in organization how do you explain that i don't know i mean.
[9:21] I don't want to put people in boxes this is maybe a first con because i see fair point, jen said why whatever it is they're acting like baby boomers and vice versa and i see many many 60 years old people they are very innovative very flexible etc and they are somehow still a very i would say similar like jen said etc so that's why yes but generally speaking, you have a point here that what I see, and that worries me a little bit, and I'm not talking Siemens specific, I'm talking now as a Swiss citizen, having contact with a lot of people, talk to a lot of people, and I have insights in other companies through my role at Zuger Wirtschaftskomber, so Chamber of Commerce in Zug. So that's why I have also a view on Switzerland and Swiss companies in general. So I see, and that worries me a little bit, the individualism we have in the society. So the first question is, what's good for me? The second question, what's good for me? And then maybe, yes, the company. And that we need to remind the people, this is not a good strategy.
[10:33] To be successful in a company, to be successful as a company, we need to find also here the middle ground. I'm a big believer in life balance, right? because when someone is has the balance the right balance in life then he's that person can perform but also set me at home etc so it's a good model right but we also need to invest we need to to work we need to.
[10:59] To work hard that we can sustain the success we have here in Switzerland. And I see that at risk when we only have people, when we have many, many people there just asking what's good for me. No. The first question should be when we're looking at the business side of life, what's good for the team? What kind of contributed to the company? Because we all get salary every month. Talk to an entrepreneur. They look at that topic differently. Look into startups. You don't need to explain them. come to the office they meet every day so this is a little bit what i would like to question and we need to when i was coming to your question we need to bring the different generations together, and listen to each other and benefit from each other well that's not easy uh because i think or at least what i observe sometimes is usually they they i mean if you put a gen z with a baby boomer they feel like oh you don't understand me you are too too old or you are too young but that's that's a struggle that i see sometimes in conservative i would say cultural companies to be honest and i wanted to to ask you there i mean we discussed before the this podcast.
[12:11] 89 of the companies in switzerland are small medium enterprises very successful ones and actually the ones that made switzerland what it is today not only the big companies but this is small medium enterprises that have the dn the swiss dna that we know from the quality standpoint of view and they don't have right now the best tools let's say in in quotes to find the right people to uh to keep them and they have to go culturally to the to the edge and say work as you like as soon as you are here with us so what you would you give them
[12:46] as an advice i mean startups is one thing of course they struggle as well but this sms that they they would like to sustain themselves, you know, and keep the legacy. Mm-hmm.
[13:01] I believe we all need to learn, and that would be my recommendation to the mid-sized companies, to Karmus.
[13:11] We need to listen and to understand what are the people looking for, what makes an attractive workplace.
[13:19] You need to rethink also their way of working. So flexibility is at the very center. But at the same time also to set clear boundaries because it also has then an impact on the culture so that you definitely stay um every every company has a culture and to explain why that culture is important for to run that business and i believe we need to enter the dialogue also with candidates to explain because i'm not 100 sure if then also the young generations etc when you explain to them but also listen to them and then you find a mutual agreement where we can meet together so that's why my big advice is flexibility and then hiring through networks this is always the best way of of recruiting you need to go out you need to i'm always telling the also in demons our people every one of us is also a salesperson yep when it comes to recruiting so when you then really give that clear message you have a task here you can help us to find the right people we all know people we all know have we have networks now with social media even bigger then we need to manage that network and through network you can bring a lot of people on board and at the very center is the culture so also maybe rethink your culture maybe you have already good culture that people want to join okay but if not.
[14:45] Then you need to change and then you need this is maybe the biggest problem then the top leaders they need to.
[14:50] Rethink what they need to change if they are if they set to the the foundation of culture that's attractive for for people um couldn't agree more with you on that but you you you give me a nice feed for my next question i remember when um we were together seven eight years before, i had no no social media and no linkedin and everything he said you know timmy you i don't care if you like it or not that's the way so i said okay if alex mentioned so i will try it.
[15:22] Of course how how often how much do you recruit over linkedin or like social media let's say i would put linkedin in the center because it's a professional network
[15:31] let's say how important is that to you to your process this is yeah this is absolutely key i mean now this is the benefit of being such a global player we have an own exec search team so we do we don't give that many mandates to headhunters anymore because we do it ourselves so there is technology around you can easily find the the candidates uh through the social media through linkedin etc and then we directly contact them in a in a very direct personal way and then we bring people together and let them start with the get to know. And then you create that interest, maybe hopefully on both sides, and then you can start an official process. So it's absolutely key. And now mid-sized company are listening, but we can't afford to set up an exec search team who does that agree, but you can also train your people how they can navigate through LinkedIn. And I believe every leader should spend a percentage of their weekly, monthly work to.
[16:42] To connect with people to go out to talk to sell so that that's my key message this is this is this that no costs come with that yes you need to invest it's cost but no additional costs when it comes to cash i believe when we have a problem to bring the right people on board then we all have a task to do to to go out network and identify the people we want uh to hire that's perfect i I mean,
[17:09] I find it very important that this message comes out from your mouth, let's say, that such a platform is available, not just in Siemens, but to everyone out there in SMEs and so on and so forth. Can I add something? Because candidate experience is your other favorite topic. Yeah, absolutely. How we, how companies sometimes treat candidates, it's a nightmare. Yeah. And what we forget, these people, after such an experience, they will talk not in a good way about your company.
[17:42] And everyone knows people, and this is then the top topic. So whenever you have a candidate, even the candidate is not good or not a good fit for the job, treat them the right way. And also be transparent. You need to be open and honest with them because when they have a good experience, then they talk positively about your company. Even if it's a negative result. Even if it's negative result exactly and what i want to say is also speed is of an essence today i mean i have personally also experienced but i have heard also from others you like a company so much or you like a position show months but this process takes three months of course no one will have a feeling a good feeling about it so uh it's some speed is definitely of an essence also in this process very good points point absolute uh important point speed another one i have and Now, as an idea for people who are really lacking talents, et cetera,
[18:34] or can't fill the positions is hiring with a growth mindset. What do I mean by that? Companies are looking for the perfect fit. Why not looking especially for mindset and engagement attitude?
[18:50] People can learn almost everything. So why not bring someone on board who does not have the skills, but then think about what can we do to close the gap? This is sometimes that just keep the open position for six, nine months open to look for the perfect candidate.
[19:08] And maybe it's totally stupid because maybe it's much better to bring, i don't know to hire dmi with anyway and then uh re-end upskilling initiatives or upskilling initiatives and then you have the the best person with highly highly motivated engaged that's for sure and you give me again uh the lead-in for another question i mean what is a skill that you find essential for a person to say that is for me a go or no go i mean that's something that you search always in a candidate i mean skills that the technical skills let's say for the job is it's obvious and clear and measurable and all is fine but on the soft skills that we call it soft skills or the social skills what is that the point we say this is for me so essential when i look for a candidate and especially when you i mean from your role you also hire executives for for siemens so what do you find so essential
[20:02] in the soft skills i say this is important must have must have is for me low ego to start with low ego how do you see a person with low ego i mean how do you i mean in an interview let's say where is it if someone only talks about himself and not about the team and i mean you you see it how he also he talks about leadership and you sense.
[20:29] If he's a high or low ego so that's why low ego because it's again right it's not about it's about the company the second one is, is the.
[20:43] It's really the motivation and the drive, the interest to the job. And you can also feel that, right? Is he now really, is that person really or she really looking just for a job and to have a salary? Or is there more behind? Impact, to bring impact. So really someone who wants to achieve something, I think these are maybe the most. Because if you have someone who is really going the extra mile and wants to learn and wants to dig deep and also challenge maybe the status quo, these are the people we're looking for. That's absolutely essential. I wouldn't agree more on this point.
[21:23] Ego is toxic, is essential. So it will pop out in a difficult situation when a difficult situation comes.
[21:31] So it's very important that you sense it in the beginning. because when we're talking these days leadership i mean you can't have a leader a manager in a leadership position with a high ego yeah you miss because then you create an atmosphere that's all about the leader no it's not about it's not about me by the way it's about my team to make them successful and i'm proud when my people to grow out of their position take next next steps etc or Or if I then realize, oh, now I should, myself, should really step aside to make someone of my team the opportunity of the next step, right? This is leadership. I think we all need to realize that. And also, it's important for the retention of people also. For example, that you as a leader don't always stay in the light, but give space to the people to be in the light with you or in front. I mean, you have achieved what you have already achieved, but of course, they have to have their space. But I will be a little bit more provocative now. I mean, Siemens is a big tanker. It's not the most flexible one, because it's not a small, not because you can't.
[22:44] But therefore, you mentioned before, my role, I see it as people's end transformation, right? So transformation for me is I am in the steering wheel and I'm trying to steer this ship somehow.
[22:59] So it's not so easy. Where do you find in such organization divisions? I mean, even in Siemens, a division is 70,000 people. How do you go through such a process to navigate this ship, the big ship? Because if it's not navigated correctly, we have seen it with other big companies,
[23:19] you can crush with it and if it crosses it will have a huge impact not for the work of some people but in society as sometimes absolutely I mean the.
[23:30] Most important is that you have a holistic view. So first of all, what you want to achieve, right? What is your ambition, your north star, right? This is what you need to aware. What is the target you want to achieve or what should change? And then you need to have a holistic view on, we call it OD framework, that helps us to identify, to have a holistic view, what needs to change. What is the OD framework? This is the model we're using to have a logistic view to look into everything. For example, structure, processes. It starts with business impact. What do you have achieved and then is the right business model, etc.? You need to question the business model, then processes, structures, leadership, mindset. So you need to really go through all of that to change everything. Because when you only try to change the structure and you don't work on the mindset and leadership culture, then you fail when you only focus let me give an example when collaboration and collaboration is definitely for all companies important but when you only think you can change.
[24:38] Move the company into really a collaborating company only with looking into the mindset and leadership part, you fail because maybe your processes are hindering collaboration. Maybe your incentive scheme hinders collaboration. So this is what I mean, right? You need to have a holistic view. That's a fair point. The thing with the, let's say, your performance and.
[25:02] I mean, the performance that you get, your bonuses or your payments and so on and so forth, can also hinder innovation. I mean, we have seen it as crazy, but we have seen it a lot of times. I was not, it was not so obvious for me the last years. Yeah, absolutely. And maybe a second point of, you need to have a ludicic view, etc. I think you need to have a framework that you do it properly, the right way. But secondly, it's also that you identify the leaders you trust they really are able to transform. So we call that P&O initiative we have leaders who transform. So you need to assess vertically clearly the top management at the first two layers are these people willing first to start, rethinking their way of working themselves what they need to change because transformation starts with yourself absolutely and then you need to be very brutal honest show in the mirror and say i'm already on the level of what's needed can i do that change or not i think this is very key and then you need to really to have to role models.
[26:05] Who bring everyone along. Okay. Transformation journey. Well, there's another, I would like to put another example here. I'm a manager at Siemens. I mean, I have meetings back to back. I mean, my job is demanding. Now I have two problems. One is time to think when I have space to think. So I, I mean, if you have meetings so often, you don't have, you need the time to think. and the second is when do I evolve when do I find the time.
[26:37] Learn something new for example if i'm a manager at siemens or another company doesn't i'm just saying it as an example um and i have my line of business and i know my underline very well and everything but now ai comes for example or new technologies come which i have to somehow have a an understanding of it how do i do that i mean i cannot stop the business everyone needs me somehow
[27:00] So how do I, how do we do it? They'd be 100% agree. We're all, I mean, we work very hard every week, but every one of us and also in Siemens, they have time. But the key question is, do they take the time?
[27:15] This is a concisious choice. Do I invest in learning, for example? And what we did, maybe this is a good example, that we said learning is a priority. So that's why one of the four strategic priorities, and not talking about P&O, I'm talking business, is growth mindset and behind that that we need to learn to unlearn to learn new skills and then we then we set targets learning targets and it's measured so when you open your your laptop you see uh in the morning you see how many learning hours do you have compared to others and there's target out there and this incentivize then at the end of the day for the top management so that give us now really the power and then we have i mean invested very much in in the learning world where you have dedicated trainings per um job family etc so i think with that you can, trigger the learning because it's also sometimes a habit you need to create the habit that learning is is an every day or every week second topic and this is very true right you're all in the middle.
[28:20] Of operational hectic, et cetera, and then the time of thinking is missing. What we do in our team, I have every second week a call, one and a half hours, up in the balcony, it's called. People can join or cannot join, but it gives me a blocker myself to join that call, and then we reflect what happened the last two weeks. What have we learned? Looking from the balcony to the organization I thought you were talking about the real balcony it's just a metaphor you need to have the outside view.
[28:57] What's going on this is wonderful and sometimes I don't join the call because I need the one and the half hours for myself, And then I really think, what happened, right? Where are missing pieces? This is very true. And again, everyone now listening, challenge your agenda, challenge your calendar, challenge the meetings you have. How long are the meetings set up? Is that true? Do you really need to attend all these meetings? Sometimes when I'm in a meeting with 20 people, I would laugh and sometimes I ask a question, why is everyone here? Yeah that's a good question i mean i remember one of my time at google i mean there was this guideline that came if you don't think you have to bring something into this meeting just just leave and i mean and in the beginning it i it felt very rude because you don't do it in life if someone if you are in a bunch of people you just don't don't go away in a virtual world it's a little bit different different but it's you do a favor to the company you do a favor to yourself.
[30:05] And honestly if someone needs you they can pull you in i mean so what at this time was in my eyes very rude happened to be actually very effective absolutely so for me i want to take you back to another very important point from my perspective for switzerland and i mean you are one of the right persons to to give us a little bit insights there we have every every business person you talk every company that you talk, they have this employee shortage, the Fachkräftemangel, as we'd call it in German. So we're missing, every company is missing skilled people or people in general. I mean, independent if it's first-line workers, white collars, you name it.
[30:44] And on the same time, of course, we see that the number of students in the university, they go down. So the Njagen-Generes doesn't really want to study somehow. So they rely a little bit more on the companies. But the companies, on the other hand, they have to move forward.
[30:57] So they need the people that have a little bit of a foundational training so how do you see i mean of course, uh you you have heard that as well so how do you see that for switzerland i mean what's your perspective here i mean that that worries me uh very much because now as a global company, i mean we have the flexibility and then we we we can't find the people here then we move certain jobs out of switzerland this is the benefit uh of a global company but what do than the mid-sized companies do and the smaller companies. They have really a problem. So that's why, I don't know, that worries me because I think to study gives an amazing foundation as you call it because.
[31:43] Then you have really the time to to think what you wanted to do and i'm i mean study not now, to the gymnasium etc you can also start doing a a lady and then later so there are this is the beauty of the swiss system that you can achieve everything but hey you have only one life you have online through something and the foundation is so important you don't want to turn 30 and 35 and say oh shit maybe i could have done something definitely more out of my life i'm not now saying that business and professional life is more important than private life no no no but find your find your sweet spot where you really start into the week and say wow cool monday let's go to work this is what i learned from my father by the way he always loved to go working I think that had a deep impact, and I found my way to find my profession. I love going to work. I love my kids. I love my family. All good. But I also love to work. I'm not, oh, thank God it's Friday. Oh, shit, Monday. No, it's not. It's really balanced. And I had the freedom to choose the house a little bit because I invested in my – I did studies, different studies that helped me. Otherwise, you narrow your opportunities to very small.
[33:09] I fully agree here. The way I know you, for me, you are HR. If someone spends time with you, you are HR. So you live HR, you breathe HR. But one of the points is that when we talk about younger generations, but also millennials, but also a little bit older as well, one of the things that everyone is worried a little bit at the moment is the introduction of AI. And if jobs, they will be lost, yes or no. And what is going to happen? The world will change in five years. So there's no big intention. Don't mind if you study or not. It will be different anyway in two years or three years. And AI will change everything.
[33:50] I mean, do you support such thoughts? I mean, do you think really technology and AI will really eat our jobs, let's say, the way media is presenting? Yeah, I mean, definitely AI will eat some of the jobs. but there are different skills needed because you don't want to give everything to AI, right? So, and maybe then to study it will become even more important. This is my, so it should be the other way around. Oh, AI is coming, not coming, already here. So that's why you need more high qualified jobs than maybe other jobs. So that's why, and it's interesting. So I'm also wondering and questioning, you should not only study because you want to have big salary and a big job. You should also study because.
[34:36] It's really cool and once in a lifetime to dig deep into a topic, to have the conversations within a class with colleagues because this is also important to do together projects, etc. So I really can't understand if someone really doesn't want to hop on that train because when I look back, that helped me a lot and it was such a cool time. Of course, and I think that's what I try sometimes also to convey to the students. You don't study just to learn something. You started to network, to exchange with people. And that brings you further when you have a question and you know where you build this social network of common interest friends that they will help you and awake you when you are in a doubt. You know, as AI, if it's the right path, I'm the right path, is the job that I like. Yes, there will be changes. And as you mentioned, I think there will be changes in jobs that might have different types of skills, but I don't see let's say emergency let's say in these terms in the society, I want to go back a little bit on yourself.
[35:43] I mean I know you for quite some years but on the other side I would like to ask you if we talk about Alex how does Alex navigate change for himself how do you manage change you said you're in love with your job as well you have a little balance, but to stay in love like in private,
[36:05] you need to adapt you need to change you need to evolve so how does Alex do it? Let us get a little bit more inspired Alex tries to stay humble and, always reflect or very often reflecting what do i like looking at alex what i don't like and this is not only professional also definitely in private life to assess myself my husband qualities or i am as a husband as a father especially as a father and i changed i would not say my personality but i really i worked hard and i invest a lot right really i i mean reading books now it's more podcasts um i also needed to learn to um to find my inner self to um to to stay in the in the balance because i mean we all know our body how he reacts uh the body or when we're um.
[37:11] Anger is something or stress this is something something is not good right so then you need to think about what what happened what can i learn out of that situation how can i get out of that situation and maybe my one key take i mean for me personally was a little bit on the stress right with three kids um and and and and and tried a heavy job and also my wife did their studies at that time then i realized oh now it's getting too much and i realized i give everything to the job everything to the family etc but there was not much left for me and then i realized i need and then i had a session with myself said what do i miss what did i do in the past when i had no family etc and then i i was big into football played football myself now i'm too old to playing again because turning 50 next year so it would be too dangerous but i love to go to stadium and watch my football club and i start doing it again and that gave me so much of of energy power back that i'm much more relaxed also at home with the kids etc because i you also need to feed your energy level uh um so to find find your spot where you you can do good for you because then you're able to do good for others.
[38:30] That's, I mean, actually, that's a very nice statement to wrap it up in terms of that you need to feed your energy. I feel that as well. I mean, I'm doing myself a lot of things, but it's exactly how I feel for myself. So you need to feed your energy that you can give it back. That's absolutely fair. But before we close, I mean, you have so much interaction. You have people, you hire a lot of people, hire an executive.
[38:54] But also setting the scene and the strategy for an organization like Siemens, you see other companies on the side. I mean, if someone hears this podcast and he's ready or she's ready for a change or starts a career, why would you propose after your more than 20 years of experience there in HR?
[39:18] First is to really think it through what you want to do so what is the field you want to start your career is the beginning of the career or if you want to change the gears in another direction really the what do you want to do is most of importance right and then talk to people and and and build a network in that area and to dig deeper what is it all about to work in that job family for that company in that and in that whatever it is and then you get closer to it and the beauty is if you talk to people in that field then you create a network of the relationship because i think it's always good right we have the normal process open jobs you can apply etc all good but i think there are also sometimes way of getting a job and i don't please don't do it the stupid way sent to the ceo to the head hr the cv i mean this is i don't know you need to talk to people you need to show interest you need to go to to a company's event etc and then you get closer to that ambition or what you want to do so i would say invest in your network in a in a good way so that you really want to do it and love to do it to talk to people and then you get closer to to the network you maybe that is maybe then helpful for you to get a job in the future perfect perfect thank you.
[40:38] Very very much alex for being today here with us and giving all these insights i i find it personally very insightful because these questions about switzerland the small medium enterprise how jobs will change the culture uh actually coming from your uh it's very uh insightful in any way thank you really much that you've been here thank you very much perfect so i hope you enjoyed as well as Alex please subscribe and download the podcast as well and if you like send us send me a feedback as well I'm very active also in LinkedIn in any case and try to motivate us as well or give us a feedback who else would we should we invite in this podcast what is your interest until then I wish you all best of luck and stay healthy and see you the next episode.
