Over the past year, we have examined our corporate culture intensively, received valuable feedback, learned a lot - and have been rewarded for this three times: According to the Great Place to Work® Institute, Haufe Group is officially one of the 100 best employers in Germany, Baden-Württemberg and the ITC sector in 2024.
"It's the people who make Haufe Group unique" - this sentence is firmly anchored in our corporate principles. Because we are convinced that our employees' expertise, commitment, performance and passion are the driving forces behind our development. Our corporate culture is therefore a key success factor for us. It shapes the way we work together and influences the satisfaction, creativity and motivation of each and every individual.
But culture is a complex construct: How can it be put into words? Is it measurable? What defines our corporate culture at Haufe Group? And are we doing enough to ensure that all colleagues can develop and make an impact?
In order to answer these questions and obtain an objective picture, we decided to apply for certification from the Great Place to Work® research and consulting institute in spring 2023. The institute's assessment model assumes that a great workplace is characterized by trusting the people in your working environment. By being proud of what you do. And by enjoying working with your colleagues and managers. These factors are assessed as part of an anonymous employee survey and a comprehensive culture audit. The survey accounts for 75 percent of the overall employer rating and the culture audit for 25 percent. Feedback from the workforce is therefore the decisive factor for certification.
"It was this two-stage approach in particular that convinced us at the time," recalls Jürgen Spegel, CHRO of Haufe Group. "While other employer seals tend to remain vague in their assessment, the Great Place to Work® certification offers a comprehensive and independent analysis of the corporate culture, also in comparison to other companies of our size and industry."
The positive feedback from our colleagues makes us proud
In March 2023, all Haufe Group employees received an invitation to take part in the anonymous survey and to rate our workplace culture in 73 questions.
"In all the categories surveyed, we performed excellently compared to the competition", summarizes Jürgen. "Receiving such positive feedback from our colleagues makes us proud." 95 percent of participants rated Haufe Group as a great place to work. The cultural factors "team spirit" and "pride" - in Haufe Group, the team and their own work - were particularly positively emphasized. However, development potential was also clearly identified: It is challenging in a complex corporate group like Haufe Group to reliably implement this high level in all areas and teams and to maintain it in the long term.
In the second step, we carried out a comprehensive culture audit, which answered questions such as: What significance does our corporate culture have for us? What makes Haufe Group a great place to work? And what concepts do we pursue to involve all employees?
"This process has also clarified for us once again what our work culture is all about: Innovative strength, freedom, diversity, compatibility and appreciation." CHRO Jürgen Spegel
"This was a welcome opportunity for us to make an inventory," says Jürgen. "We pooled our numerous initiatives and outlined where we are today and where we want to develop. This process has also clarified for us once again what our work culture is all about: Innovative strength, freedom, diversity, compatibility and appreciation."
Haufe Group’s people are something very special
On this basis, we were officially certified as a "Great Place to Work" in June 2023. This was our first major success and qualified us to take part in the "Best Employer 2024" competition. This competition recognizes companies at international, national, regional, and industry-specific level every year. We were able to impress three times and are one of the 100 best employers in Germany, Baden-Württemberg, and the ICT sector in 2024. "We are delighted to be able to show with this award that our employer culture is important to us in shaping the future," said CEO Birte Hackenjos at the award ceremony in Cologne. "This reinforces our strategic direction as a company. And in our conviction that Haufe Group’s people are something very special - they are what make us what we are: A Great Place to Work."
This is precisely why we celebrated our success together with all our colleagues at our twelve locations and in the home offices. Each individual makes their own contribution to our corporate culture and therefore symbolically received a slice of the winner's cake.
Important milestone for our path into the future
Haufe Group is growing. In our last financial year alone, we conducted almost 3,300 job interviews and hired 578 people. And yet there are still many exciting vacancies. Finding the people who are right for us requires Haufe Group to be visible and attractive as an employer. "The certification and the triple award are a real milestone in this regard," says Gabriel Lehmann, lead of our Talent Acquisition Team. "Because it makes us even more visible to the outside world as an employer and, in the best-case scenario, we can inspire more talented people to join us. And because such successes also strengthen our internal cohesion even further."
By taking part in the competition, we have created a valuable database of feedback and impulses that we are now using to develop further. The world of work is diverse, complex, and constantly changing. That is why we as an employer must also keep moving. With Great Place to Work, we have taken an important step towards our future.