Two heads are better than one – especially in leadership positions

Personnel Development provides a company-wide framework for training and developing the skills of HANSA‑FLEX employees. With its dual leadership, the department is taking a path that is still untypical within the company, but promises a great deal.

Sandra Feddersen (SF): 
The aim of personnel development is to equip employees for their current and future roles. For this purpose, we have established a training and development framework at HANSA‑FLEX that offers a range of measures for skills enhancement and individual career advancement for our employees.

Laura Klinder (LK):

It’s a model that enables a more flexible division of tasks. For me, it’s important not just to have management responsibilities, but also to continue to be involved in operations, because I also enjoy that very much. Consequently I only take on management tasks during half of my time, and Sandra takes care of the rest with her 20-hour job. This is also an advantage for the company, because by dividing the work up in this way, we jointly create a full-time management post from existing resources.

SF: The division of labour is also advantageous because there are lots of activities and issues affecting the whole company that we want to be involved in. So it's useful to be able to consult with each other and decide which of us has the time, who is more familiar with a particular subject, and so on. This allows us to use our resources as efficiently as possible. In addition, our tandem model shows that HANSA‑FLEX also lives up to its claim of being a family-friendly company when it comes to management positions.

LK: No, it wasn't really difficult, because we had already been working together on an equal basis. Of course, we first had to find the right modus operandi, which took us a month or two. We defined a lot of things, explored key topics, found ways to make the sharing of information work so that both of us are always in the loop, and so on. 

LK: Definitely. As early as this summer, I realised with satisfaction that I can forget my mobile phone when I'm on holiday, because I know that there’s someone in the office who can not only make decisions in theory, but can also be trusted to make them in practice. This means that issues are not put off. The volume of emails after my return from holiday was also much lower than usual. It’s not only worthwhile but also makes sense to work as a team, because it also helps to sustain your working capacity and the motivation behind it. 

SF: I can only confirm that. It's good to know that you can switch off with confidence and that the business will continue to operate nevertheless. We are particularly busy in the summer, because new apprentices are still being taken on until August. As a result, I would feel uneasy leaving the department completely unattended. The tandem model allows us to take time out and relax without feeling worried.

SF: The fact that we are both available for our colleagues is perceived very positively. Of course, it took a little time for everyone to get used to the new arrangement. Now, however, they know that although each of us has her own main areas of focus, they can turn to either of us with any concerns they have. Above all, our colleagues appreciate the fact that one of us is always available.

SF: We complement each other very well, as we have similar values but different approaches. The important thing is that we work closely together. Each of us can answer questions on any topic, even if the other person is not present.

LK: We both have a business studies background, but Sandra also has a specialisation in psychology, while I have more of an operational focus. In other words, we have two different perspectives on the same topic. This is very useful, because it means that together we can find solutions that neither of us would have come up with on our own.

LK: There’s no reason why it shouldn’t be done in the same or a similar way in other departments.

SF: Of course, it has to be a voluntary decision, and both partners need to be on board – this is incredibly important, because it also involves relinquishing some aspects of control.

LK: It’s also important to be able to trust each other, because this model can't work without trust. This is the basic requirement for successful joint leadership.