How do you transform HR without losing sight of the people along the way, Imke Mahner?
In this episode of the SAATKORN podcast, I speak to Imke Mahner, Chief People & Culture Officer for Germany and Europe at Hays. Throughout her career, Imke has operated at the intersection of people and business – from industrial and organisational psychology, through Accenture and the Avis Budget Group, to Hays. And right now, she’s right in the thick of a rather comprehensive transformation: People & Culture is evolving from a highly decentralised structure towards a much more integrated operating model for Europe. Responsibilities are being reorganised, tasks centralised where it makes sense, whilst at the same time local expertise must be retained. One thing Imke said really stuck with me: “We’re currently operating with significantly fewer staff and have more work to do.” – This statement sums up the dilemma of many transformations rather well: on paper, the new operating model may look perfect – but until it actually works, it takes time, trust, patience and, above all, a strong team.
Among other things, we discussed the following topics:
🌍 Centralisation – but please don’t lump everything together
Moving away from country silos towards a stronger European People & Culture organisation: Imke explains why the 80/20 rule is so important here and why an HR approach that works for Germany or France can be completely over the top for a country with just 20 employees.
🔄 The real work only begins once the operating model is in place
Defining COEs, allocating responsibilities and deciding what is organised globally, regionally or locally is one thing – getting people on board, building trust and actually bringing the new model to life is the far greater challenge.
💻 No real scaling without HR tech
Seven systems, Excel spreadsheets and no data at the touch of a button: Imke speaks very openly about why harmonising the HR tech landscape remains one of the major areas in need of improvement – and why people analytics, shared services and efficient HR processes can only scale with great difficulty without a common technological foundation.
🔗 Further links
Hays Skilled Workers Index — here you can get a regular overview of how demand for skilled workers in Germany is developing by role, sector and region.
🎧 Want to know what HR transformation really feels like from an insider’s perspective?
Then be sure to listen to this episode of the SAATKORN podcast. Imke speaks remarkably candidly about transformation, centralisation, leadership, HR tech and the tension between efficiency and employee experience. So: have a listen, be inspired and tune in to SAATKORN: