Are young people really lazy and are Germans no longer willing to work hard enough? t-online asked five entrepreneurs and company bosses.
Performance – that’s something different for everyone. However, many people primarily associate it with success in their job and performance at work.
While, according to an exclusive Civey survey for t-online, 83 percent of Germans consider themselves to be willing to perform at work (you can read more about this here), many employers complain that fewer and fewer people are willing to perform at their best – for example Stefan Wolf, President from the employers’ association Gesamtmetall, which said in the t-online interview: “Those who have a lot, possibly too much, are less focused, including on what is necessary to maintain this prosperity.”
But how do other company bosses rate this question? t-online asked several bosses what performance means to them – and whether Germans are still willing to perform enough.
Markus Pflitsch, CEO of the company Terra Quantum (provides quantum computer technology for commercial applications), says: “My experience shows: Only those who follow their passion are powerful. Without real passion, achievement cannot last. I am convinced of that.” According to Pflitsch, the following applies: “Performance knows no nationality. Germans are no less willing to perform than others. Rather, it is a generational question. The younger generation is different, but is not lazier or less willing to perform.”
But sometimes she lacked the right role models: at school, in training or in her studies. The boys are also sometimes given “questionable incentives” to develop their passions: “Sports festivals without award ceremonies, school work without grades, games without losers. That’s not very realistic. Who else wants to win? Performance isn’t rewarded here. Whoever has strong personalities If you want to promote it, you need passion as a positive accent in order to properly promote a well-functioning meritocracy.”
“Performance equals power through time”
The railway board member and head of DB-Cargo, Sigrid Nikutta, looks at the concept of performance differently. “There is a very simple formula for performance – in classical physics: performance equals force over time,” she says. “For me as a psychologist, this also applies to management.” This requires strength to go the extra mile.
“It takes strength and endurance for changes and new paths: ‘Never waste a good crisis’, the saying of former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill is the right mindset in times like these: ‘Never waste a good crisis.’ Because crises awaken our ability to perform when we see them for what they are: opportunities for new things! But this also requires speed, to quickly change our thinking in new situations. Time thus becomes the decisive lever for the effectiveness of performance.”
“Willingness to perform means taking responsibility”
Gunnar Groebler, CEO of the Salzgitter steel group, says: “For me, real motivation means, in particular, taking responsibility. Committing yourself to more than your own interests and seeing yourself as part of something bigger.” This is particularly important for his company, which is undergoing a revolutionary transformation.
“From some professional groups such as nursing, the police or the catering industry, we naturally demand a willingness to perform – it ensures our usual comfort zone,” says Groebler. “For me it is a matter of solidarity to ask yourself: What can my contribution be?”
