Flexibilisation at the Workplace and its Impact on Leadership Methods in Germany / Leadership for the Generation Z

Tomorrow's workplace is going to be very different from today's nine-to-five office: The so called "Generation Z" (people who were born after 1997) is now entering the German labour market. These potential employees have grown up in a totally different political and social environment and have been very much influenced by technological progress. Web 2.0 and social media have not only created a whole new set of possibilities, they also have shaped the expectations on the workplace: Flexibility and individuality are a must. Indeed, the use of mobile data has made the former standard of a nine-to-five office obsolete: Theoretically employees can work wherever and whenever they want, individual arrangements can be easily realised. But are the German companies ready for this? In this paper the author will throw a light on the necessary leadership changes, which cover a whole range of implications. In order to do this, he will present the finding of a set of personal interviews with employees of the relevant age group. Also, he will check how German companies are dealing with these challenges and what their experiences are. A main point is the shift from "controlling workplace attendance" to a more content-related focus and result-oriented leadership and the creation of so called "objective agreements", which helps to formulate the goals to be reached at the work place. A major part of this paper therefore focuses on the process: How can these goals be defined? How can leaders monitor progress remotely and how does it shape the hierarchy in the company? The author will present several studies and surveys that underline the importance of these changes. Up to now nearly half of the German enterprises rely on result-oriented leadership, and the number is growing.