Prof. Dr. Stephan Weinert, Professor of International Human Resources Management at the Ludwigshafen University of Business and Society (HWG LU), together with the German Association of Human Resources Managers (BPM), presents a study on human resources competence in the supervisory boards of German DAX companies. The publication of the study was accompanied by media coverage from the association as well as the FAZ and the specialist magazine Personalwirtschaft.
The F.A.Z. publishing group has exclusive access to the results of the study "HR competence in the supervisory board". As part of a quantitative content analysis, a team led by Professor Dr. Stephan Weinert at the Ludwigshafen University of Business and Society (HWG LU) analyzed 716 CVs of supervisory board members on the shareholder side in DAX, M-DAX and S-DAX companies for activities in the area of human resources (it should be noted that the analysis period was before the changeover to DAX-40). 45 of the 150 companies analyzed have at least one representative on the supervisory board who has already held an HR function. Of the 716 supervisory board members analyzed, 52 have concrete HR experience. According to the study, only 4 percent of the supervisory board members have in-depth or long-term HR experience.
"There is a lack of expertise in human resources (HR) on German supervisory boards," says FAZ business editor Inken Schönauer, summarizing the results of the study. Inga Dransfeld-Haase, President of the German Association of HR Managers (BPM), also makes it clear: "In far too many DAX companies, HR work takes place at a supervisory level without HR staff. Many supervisory boards have an open flank when it comes to HR." The BPM initiated the study together with Ludwigshafen University of Applied Sciences.
"It is now a truism that, in view of the shortage of skilled workers in many industries, human resources have become a decisive strategic competitive advantage for companies," says Stephan Weinert, head of the study. "And if HR expertise is not even to be found on the supervisory boards of one in three of the companies surveyed, that is sobering," says the expert.
Cliff Lehnen, Editor-in-Chief of the specialist journal Personalwesen, points out a limitation of the study: it is based exclusively on the activity in an HR department as proof of "HR competence". At the same time, however, the analysis provides what people always want from HR management: "Solid figures instead of vague laments".
You can find more information about the study here:
Specialist contact:
Ludwigshafen University of Business and Society
Department of Marketing and Human Resource Management
Prof. Dr. Stephan Weinert
Professorship for International Human Resource Management
Tel. 0621/5203-131
E-mail: stephan.weinert@ 8< SPAM protection, please remove >8 hwg-lu.de
