Detail | emovis GmbH

05.01.2022

[Translate to English:] Fünf Hände, von denen jede einen Daumen nach oben zeigt

A company is only as good as its employees. Accordingly, companies are interested in qualified, motivated, and loyal employees. However, these are not a dime a dozen - and so employers have to rethink and ask themselves not only what (potential) employees can do for them, but also: "How can I find good employees and, above all, keep them for the long term?" Read our blog post to find out what matters to employees in their jobs these days - and what emovis does to improve and maintain employee satisfaction.

“A shortage of skilled workers” – this is a phrase that you hear and read again and again; it has become commonplace. Although it's true that Germany does not (yet) have a widespread shortage of qualified workers in certain areas - such as science and technology, information technology, mathematics, and healthcare - and in certain regions - especially in the south of Germany and in the new federal states - jobs are increasingly going unfilled because of a lack of suitable employees. The reasons for this include demographic change, global competition, and the low appeal of further training. But even independent of the partial shortage of skilled workers, employers need to pay attention to the well-being of their workforce. Otherwise, a lack of motivation, a negative atmosphere in the workplace, a high level of sick leave or staff turnover can be expected - work processes and image suffer as a result which ultimately jeopardize the company's success.

Consequently, the relationship between employer and employee is changing: The latter has long since ceased to be a mere applicant and is now confidently approaching jobs/companies with certain expectations. This can be seen, among other things, on career-oriented platforms such as LinkedIn or Xing, on which potential employees can be contacted by companies in the sense of active recruiting - in line with the motto "let them find you instead of you searching for them.

Companies are therefore well advised not to regard employee satisfaction as an optional "cherry on the cake", but rather as a ‘must-have’ for every employee. But what exactly makes today's employees satisfied? Or, to put it another way: What points should employers pay attention to in order to get suitable employees on board and prevent them from performing their tasks half-heartedly or from jumping ship and heading to another company at the next best opportunity? The analyses of two online job platforms can be used to answer this question: StepStone, for example, conducted an online survey in 2019 asking around 19,000 specialists and managers in Germany what they thought made an attractive employer; and an Indeed study conducted in 2020 also shows, among other things, what is particularly important to employees:

Attractive salary

Unsurprisingly, almost all employees - 96% in fact - would like to be paid appropriately (from their point of view) for their performance. For 83%, salary is even the top priority. However, only a few of those surveyed were satisfied in this respect – though it should be noted that salary assessment is highly dependent on the industry.

As a company, emovis is keen to ensure that its employees are adequately remunerated. For us, the appropriateness of the salary is defined by the individual qualifications that a worker brings with him or her - and there is always a willingness to negotiate. In addition to the salary, our employees all benefit from our monthly voucher scheme e.g. a subsidized, monthly ticket for local public transportation.

Meaningful tasks and fun

One of the motivating factors for all employees is probably the desire to earn a living - after all, rent and food don't pay for themselves! But working for the sole purpose of earning money? This attitude has long since become passé - in order to have the feeling of being in the "right" job, it now takes much more. For 89% of those surveyed a sense of purpose plays a major role.

This does not per se mean the desire to "improve the world" - but employees at least want to be able to see why they invest their time and effort into their tasks and what exactly their contribution to the success of the company is. On the other hand, they want their work to be enjoyable: For 90 % of those surveyed, having fun in their professional development was of primary importance.

In terms of being meaningful, emovis can certainly be seen to be doing something worthwhile - after all, together we are contributing to the development of novel treatment options that can alleviate people's health conditions and thus enable them to live more enjoyable lives. We consider each of our many employees, with their individual skills, to be an important piece of the "puzzle" - and we attach great importance to letting each other know this, for example at regular staff meetings or simply throughout the course of the day. According to our employees, emovis also scores very well when it comes to having fun at work.

Corporate culture and working atmosphere.

The corporate culture includes, among other things, communication within the company, the management style and the influence of employees on decision-making processes. For the majority of employees surveyed - nine out of ten - such aspects are very important; for 20% they are even the top priority. But only 18% describe the corporate culture of their employer as desirable. The working atmosphere also has an influence on employee satisfaction: 59% of those surveyed consider a good working atmosphere to be important.

emovis does a lot to shape its corporate culture and working atmosphere positively: Our hierarchies are flat - we see ourselves as mature, independent, responsible people who can relate to each other as equals. For example, we prefer to be on first-name terms with each other, and we appreciate it when all employees - from our students to our directors - contribute their views. Despite all the professionalism that is required of a company - especially in such a responsible area as clinical research - we maintain friendliness and a sense of humor: at emovis, people are encouraged to smile and laugh a lot! This is not only evident in our day-to-day work, but also beyond that. Team building is very important to us - and so, for example, we regularly have the choice to attend cozy after-work meetings, organize an annual summer party and a Christmas party, and go on excursions together. In this way, we can also get to know each other on a more personal basis, which - at least in our experience - has a positive effect on the working relationship.

Flexibility

Flexible working is also important to many employees - nine out of ten, to be precise. However, of those surveyed said they were satisfied on this point. emovis knows that it is important for its employees to be able to work flexibly - and thus achieve a good work-life balance. Among other things, we rely on full- and part-time models, trust-based working hours, flextime, and remote work: Our employees can determine the time, duration, and location of their work as freely as their work allows. Spontaneous trips to the park or café when the weather is nice? Or explore the world for a few weeks and work in a van? With emovis, this is conceivable. Of course, depending on the specific job - marketing manager versus investigator, for example - this can be implemented to varying degrees, but in principle, everyone at emovis has a certain amount of freedom to make decisions and is encouraged to make use of this freedom. For us, the most important thing is that we achieve our goals together - everyone should be able to determine the "how" as much as possible.

Career and training opportunities

91% of the employees surveyed stated that they have specific career goals and would like to achieve them with the help of their employer - but just 17% find corresponding opportunities in their job. What is the situation like at emovis in this respect? Working in our company should not only challenge our employees, but also encourage them; both their professional and private development should be supported. We offer the opportunity to get to know different areas of work and to advance in the field - our employees should be rewarded for learning. Regular external and internal training, such as computer or marketing workshops and English lessons, are also commonplace at our company.

Conclusion:

At emovis, we are aware that the success of our company - which has now lasted for over 20 years – hinges on our employees. All the more reason for us to strive to keep our many employees happy - and according to them, we succeed in doing just that. For example, Wenke Schult, who holds the position of Finances & Contracting Manager at emovis, says: "emovis is different, special, people-orientated. emovis means a new perspective. I dare say that there is no other company like it." Our other employees also enjoy their work very much. But it is best to read it for yourself: On our blog and also on kununu, our hard-working staff report what they particularly appreciate about emovis as a company.

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