Digital strategist Christoph Krause supports the skilled trades sector when it comes to digitalization. STEIN spoke to him about the opportunities and dangers of digital change and the role that platforms play in this. STEIN: Mr. Krause, how do you get the digital sense into the skilled trades? Christoph Krause: Some people don’t even have that on their radar yet. I […]

Digital strategist Christoph Krause supports the skilled trades sector when it comes to digitalization. STEIN spoke to him about the opportunities and dangers of digital change and the role that platforms play in this.

STEIN: Mr. Krause, how do you get the digital sense into the skilled trades?

Christoph Krause: Some people don’t even have that on their radar yet. I’ve been involved in digitalization in the skilled trades since 2006, when it wasn’t an issue at all. Today, the focus is definitely on it, especially among the younger generation of entrepreneurs. The problem that companies have is the many isolated solutions that they first have to bring together. It’s not as if the companies have been working completely analogously up to now. But there is a lack of interfaces between the many software solutions. There are often more than ten different tools in use that don’t communicate with each other. This means copying from A to B – which costs a lot of time and money. This requires a digital chain. And companies are currently working on this.

STEIN: Does that mean the data flow has to be right before I can think about something like a platform?

Christoph Krause: Absolutely! Without data, there’s no platform, and individual trade businesses won’t be able to do it on their own. Platforms are created in a network. To do that, I need people who don’t come from the skilled trades and who understand IT. That’s why we have developed formats with our hackathons and barcamps that bring the skilled trades together with IT.

STEIN: What is created in the hackathons?

Christoph Krause: The charming thing about hackathons is that you not only develop new ideas here, but also implement them directly in a prototype. In the publishing sector, for example, these are concepts that use sensors in the wall or on the floor to measure humidity. This can result in completely new service offerings. In this case, a company not only installs the bathroom, but also ensures that the surface remains instant. Or blockchain solutions that, combined with sensor technology, provide customers with assistance for surface cleaning. The worktop then organizes its own professional cleaning, so to speak, and the entire process can be controlled digitally. As an installer, all you need to do for such IoT
(Internet of Things) approaches, all you have to do is go through your individual installed layers and consider what additional benefits digitalization can offer here.

STEIN:… in order to then market new services digitally?

Christoph Krause: Exactly. But the problem is that many companies simply don’t have the time to deal with such disruptive ideas at the moment. Capacity utilization is high. Craftsmen used to be the industry’s top performers in sales. This is no longer the case because companies are no longer able to process orders. The trade is becoming a bottleneck. In addition, their sales performance is being called into question by start-ups. Or the industry itself is approaching customers via its own platforms. The more modular I make sales and service, the fewer parts of the process I still need the craftsman for. The digital solutions for this are currently being built or have already been completed in some cases. In the sanitary trade, up to 1.4 billion euros in sales are already being generated via platforms.

STEIN: So what needs to be done?

Christoph Krause: The trade needs to step on the gas, digital communication and processes, the Internet of Things, customer connection. A fancy website is not the key. I have to define the added value for the customer. What added value do I offer with my digital solutions? Lean processes, transparent order processing, quotation and appointment configurators, digital payment processes. I have to offer digital added value in order to stay ahead.

STEIN: Many companies use existing platforms as a gateway to the digital marketing process.

Christoph Krause: Yes, that’s true. It’s definitely a good way for smaller businesses. But if I have a business with 30 or 50 employees, I can also build my own digital business model. To do this, however, I need implementation networks. That means I need to bring in people who can do what I can’t. I need to get in touch with digital implementers. That’s exactly what we offer with our formats. There’s been enough talk at digital conferences, now it’s time for the skilled trades to put it into practice.

STEIN: Digitalization needs networking. What role can the guilds play? After all, no industry is as well networked regionally as the skilled trades.

Christoph Krause: The guilds need to develop into digital service providers and support their members in the process. To do this, however, they would have to organize themselves differently. It doesn’t make sense for every small, regional guild to work on the same topics. The tasks need to be distributed. Then competence centers for certain subject areas will emerge. And the trades need to join forces. A cultural change is needed for the guilds.

STEIN: BIM, which will be mandatory for public buildings worth five million euros or more in Germany from 2020, also runs on collaboration platforms. Are all companies ready for this?

Christoph Krause: The trade has to take care of this too. If I have a small business, I may only need to have the right to read. But if I’m planning myself, I have to get to grips with it. I have to make sure that my software is BIM-capable and that I have the interfaces. It takes me a year and a half to build up this expertise. I need BIM specialists with knowledge of my trade. Entirely new training professions will emerge. For existing buildings, the question arises as to where the data comes from. Then I might have to fly a drone around buildings to collect it. Do I buy it myself? Do I commission them? These are questions that owners have to deal with.

STEIN: Does that mean a digitalization strategy is needed for every business?

Christoph Krause: Definitely. Even banks now want to see a digitalization strategy when they grant loans to the skilled trades. Today, I have to think in terms of value chains in order to secure my company value in the long term. A digitalization strategy is my investment basis for the future.

They grew up with the feeling of being something special. Attention, encouragement and praise from parents, having a say and making decisions in the family played a role from an early age, and later discussions with teachers and professors were completely normal. They were brought up to be independent and are used to talking to authorities as equals. They have […]

They grew up with the feeling of being something special. Attention, encouragement and praise from parents, having a say and making decisions in the family played a role from an early age, and later discussions with teachers and professors were completely normal. They were brought up to be independent and are used to talking to authorities as equals. They have high expectations of themselves, life and work. Values such as family, friendship and leisure are more important to them than leadership positions, managerial salaries or other monetary incentives. They are self-confident and know their value, not least because demographic change and the shortage of skilled workers make it necessary for companies to be more responsive to them. They expect interesting projects, rapid promotion opportunities and a good work-life balance from their work: we are talking about “Generation Y”. Generation Y” usually refers to anyone born between 1981 and today. The young people of this generation are also often referred to as “digital natives” because of their affinity to digital media such as computers, the Internet, cell phones, MP3 players, etc., with which they have grown up. In contrast, people who have only become acquainted with these things in adulthood are referred to as “digital immigrants”.
Generation Y follows Generation X, those born between 1965 and 1980, and the generation before them, the baby boomers, who were born between 1946 and 1964.

They will radically change the work culture

The “Ypsiloners” have been conquering companies for some time now, working side by side for a while with the previously dominant “baby boomer” generation, which they will soon replace. In a few years, “Generation Y” will account for every second employee worldwide. “This is the most demanding and self-confident generation in a long time,” says Anders Parment from the Stockholm University School of Business, who has written a book about the Ypsilonians. They will radically change the work culture in companies and thus contribute to another important trend, the change in values in society, against the backdrop of demographic change as the most important social trend. “The values and patterns of thought and action of ‘Generation Y’ reflect the developments and trends in our society and working world,” writes Prof. Dr. Jutta Rump from the Institute for Employment and Employability in Ludwigshafen.

Their parents were “workaholics” for them

To understand Generation Y, it helps to take a look at their socialization: growing up with parents from the “baby boomer” generation, they learned and still learn how hard they worked for their retirement. It is not uncommon for them to see their parents as “workaholics”. Values such as leisure and family took a back seat in this generation. At best, they had time for their grandchildren, but the children of the baby boomer generation are deeply affected by the lack of affection and time from their fully committed parents. A daunting picture: “Generation Y” does not want to do this with its own family and is consciously distancing itself from the “live to work” attitude of its parents. Many of those born after 1980 grew up in wealthy dual-income households, often as the only child. They have not usually experienced a strict family hierarchy. On the contrary: “Generation Y” was allowed to have a say in decision-making from an early age. And so they confidently represent their needs – even in companies.
For “Generation Y”, there are more important things in life than work, work and more work. They have learned that growth, speed and ever new records, which have long dictated the economy, have brought more and more prosperity, but also many problems, both in terms of health and interpersonal relationships. Now a generation is storming the workplace that is economically fed up, that has grown up under the dictates of consumerism and that has seen their parents, today’s 50 to 60-year-olds, sacrifice themselves for work and put their private lives behind their careers.

Time for family and other things

For example, Ypsiloners are emphatically demanding a private life worthy of the name. The family image is being redefined and conservative values are being rediscovered. “Family enjoys top priority,” writes Christian Schmidt, surgeon and Medical Director of the Cologne City Clinics, in an article entitled “Generation Y” in the specialist magazine “Der Anästhesist”. The physician knows what he is talking about: for his publication on the recruitment, development and retention of Generation Y, Schmidt documented findings available worldwide on those born after 1980. They were collected by management consultancies, working groups at ministries and sociological institutes.
According to Schmidt’s literature research, the representatives of “Generation Y” are characterized by a high level of self-confidence, but sometimes also react sensitively to criticism: he suspects that this is because they have been overly praised by the “baby boomers”. Schmidt characterizes “Generation Y” as follows: “They have high expectations of the workplace and reject both hierarchies and working hours. Overtime must be very well justified.” And he warns: “Generation Y would rather change jobs than adapt.”

Find out more about Generation Y and what they expect from their future employers in the latest STEIN!

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