The Intermediary

Priorities have changed and Human Resources is being awarded more importance than ever on the management boards of large companies. There is a strong focus on how people are treated in their working lives. It is becoming increasingly clear that modern leadership requires a special skillset.  

Uwe Schöpe, Chief HR Officer and Work Director of the Zurich Group Germany, has a refreshing outlook on his role and how he lives it. He prefers to be close to people and he has clear principles on how he deals with his dual role. “As Work Director, I see myself as an intermediary between the workforce and the Board of Management.” But what does this mean in practice? Schöpe: “If I come across something that I am unhappy with in my role as Work Director, I can take this to the board meeting as Chief HR Officer and simply say to the committee: No, we can’t do it like that.” The freedom to speak up like this was an important criterion when it came to accepting a position on the Board of Management. ”Carsten Schildknecht, CEO of the Zurich Group Germany since 2018, puts 100 percent of his trust in me,” says Schöpe. “He knows that a good working culture is the key to long-term success.” 

The way that employees are treated sits at the core of the working culture, even down to details that may at first seem small. For example, the Board of Management no longer meets on a conference floor – instead, they meet in a glazed area on the first floor where they are visible to all. In a well-run company, transparency in this most literal sense plays a large role in operational visibility. Another example of transparency is the company’s strategy dialogs, where all employees are invited to participate. Three to four hundred colleagues are usually present at the individual events. The intention here is that CEO Schildknecht and Chief HR Officer Schöpe are advised by their own people across all disciplines. Depending on the topic, other department heads may also join them. Essentially, there is one question at the heart of the discussion: Where are we lacking and what can we do better? The workforce presents its ideas for improvement directly to the Board of Management.