The permanent HR manager had left the company some time ago, an interim HR manager had been on board for around three months and was no longer there when the interim manager took over his mandate.
The challenge of this interim mandate was to bridge the vacancy during the project period on the one hand and to inspire new confidence in the HR leadership and management among the workforce on the other. Trust in the management had suffered due to the personnel changes. Even more evident, however, was the uncertainty with which the workforce met the management executives, most of whom came from Eastern Europe.
The first step was to get to know the management team - by attending meetings of the individual departments and teams as well as one-to-one meetings with the executives. It quickly became apparent that there were many deficits in communication. In addition, there were changing requirements from the European headquarters.
In the course of the restructuring, the interim manager developed a new communication concept for internal collaboration. Key points of this included regularly informing the workforce about current developments - also involving the works council.
He advised the management team as soon as employment law issues were touched upon and worked on the corporate strategy for 2016 in workshops. The interim manager also provided intercultural training in order to identify the different working methods of Eastern European and German management and to draw the necessary conclusions.
In addition to these specific tasks, the interim manager had to manage day-to-day operations, fill vacant management positions and manage two employees. During the interim mandate, the creation of job descriptions as the basis for a fair remuneration system was successfully completed. HR planning for the coming year, including the preparation of the HR budget, was also successfully coordinated with the company headquarters in Eastern Europe and the local management.
