The challenge – digitalization projects demand a rethink in employee development
The automotive division at KIRCHHOFF is under enormous efficiency pressures. Customers expect innovation, impeccable quality and absolute delivery reliability. To ensure it can continue to meet these high expectations, the company has been implementing a digitalization program for a number of years. Through this approach, KIRCHHOFF aims to continuously improve the quality of its data and expand its analysis capacities. Moreover, it hopes to drive forward issues such as predictive maintenance, virtual reality and the creation of smart, cross-company networks.
“The pace of change has increased massively in recent years,” explains Lisa Kitterer, Global Director Employee Development at KIRCHHOFF Automotive. “That’s why the issue of how best to train our staff and prepare them for the upcoming change projects has long been strategically important to us.” However, when KIRCHHOFF integrated a learning management system (LMS) into its global K-People HR system in 2019, it quickly became clear that the range of functions and options this brought would not be enough to help it achieve its objectives. Although staff were able to book their own professional development training, the offerings still consisted predominantly of in-person courses. What’s more, the training offerings of most sites were not available for everyone in the LMS. “We quickly realized we needed a new, truly global approach based on digital learning formats and a tool that, as much as possible, would generate its own momentum for our digitalization projects,” says Kitterer.