Purpose – sense and nonsense in creating meaning
Does a company need an overarching purpose to deliver meaningful and useful performance? “Talking Heads” as part of the Perikom Good Practice series.
“Without purpose, there is nothing to gain.” “The world needs more purpose!” At least that’s what many consultancies are saying. Is the current hype about purpose overblown? Haven’t truly successful companies always had purpose? Or does agile working actually increase the need for purpose? How does a strong sense of purpose affect employees and recruitment? Are there any Swiss success stories? The speakers will address such questions with a high degree of practical relevance. And they look forward to a lively discussion afterwards.
Speakers
Ralph Hermann
Owner Heads Corporate Branding AG
Introduction: Do we need more “what for” instead of “where to”?
Dr. Felix Frei
Industrial and organisational psychologist, AOC Management Consulting Presentation: Purpose – fashion or more?
Dr. Barbara Wicki
Head of Organisational and Personal Development Cembra Money Bank
Speech: Money and Spirit: Creating meaning and cultural change at Cembra
Christoph Sieder
Head of Corporate Communications ABB
Speech: On the right track with progressive purpose
Speaker short portrait
Ralph Hermann
Owner/Managing Director Heads Corporate Branding AG
Ralph Hermann has been the owner and managing director of Heads for 17 years. He was previously Client Service Director at Jung von Matt, Communications Manager at Tamedia AG and Marketing Manager at Warner Bros. Switzerland. Together with his team, he transforms corporate brands into brand personalities. Brand-driven change – the anchoring and activation of defined brand values among employees – plays a decisive role in this.
Dr. Barbara Wicki
Head of Organisational and Personnel Development Cembra Money Bank Barbara Wicki has been responsible for organisational and human resources development at Cembra Money Bank since 2014. Prior to this, she worked for ten years at Credit Suisse in the area of training and development. She completed her doctorate at the University of St. Gallen on the topic of “HR: Work-Life Balance Management”. She also holds a Master’s degree in Commerce, Strategic Management and International Marketing from Stellenbosch University, South Africa.
Dr. Felix Frei
Work and organisational psychologist and author
Felix Frei has been a co-founder and partner of AOC Management Consulting Zurich since 1987. He studied psychology, social pedagogy and computer science at the University of Zurich, obtained his doctorate at the University of Bern and worked at the Institute for Industrial Psychology at the ETH Zurich from 1977 to 1987. From 1984 to 1985 he was a visiting professor at the University of Bremen. Frei has been a lecturer in work and organisational psychology at the Department of Computer Science at the ETH Zurich and at the Universities of Basel, Bern, Bremen and Zurich.
Christoph Sieder
ABB Head of Group Corporate Communications
Christoph Sieder has been Head of Corporate Communications at ABB since 2014. From 2004 to 2014, he held the same position at the specialty chemicals group LANXESS AG in Cologne, Germany. Prior to that, Sieder was responsible for corporate communications at Infineon Technologies AG in Munich and held various communications positions in the automotive industry, including at Ford Motor Company in Austria, Germany, the UK and Eastern Europe. Sieder holds a Master’s degree in Public Relations and a degree in Communication Sciences from the University of Vienna.
About Perikom
Since 2011, the Professional Association for Human Resources Management and Internal Communication has been committed to improving cooperation between those responsible for corporate communications and human resources. At the heart of these efforts are events that promote the exchange of practice and mutual networking. Heads Corporate Branding AG is a partner member of Perikom and is responsible for this contribution to the professional series.