This semester, the students of MBS are once again working on a series of practical projects commissioned by real companies. This is also the case in the “HRM & Leadership” course by MBS Professor Dr. Arnd Albrecht.
The Bachelor students are asked to develop concrete solutions to – often strategic or tactical – challenges by experienced specialists or executives of companies such as EY, Continental, and Condé Nast. Usually, it is about topics that are important for the respective companies, but which they cannot address in terms of content or capacity.
For example, the student teams work on improving, or rather adapting a company’s social media channels to the Generation Y target group so that they can score better in external and internal employer branding; other student teams deal with the future organization, or the competencies for 2040.
When the Business Projects start, the participating companies visit MBS and meet the students who will work on the projects. Not only do they discuss the content, but the company representatives also provide the students with helpful career tips. In addition, the students learn first-hand about the daily challenges in the HRM field.
It quickly becomes clear that personnel management is no longer exclusively about operational business as it was 10 years ago. “How do I conduct a job interviews?” and similar questions no longer represent the main focus of the job while strategic challenges have become much more important: how do you recruit and retain employees, how do you involve them more closely with the company, how do you win them back, and how do you develop and support them? For this purpose, new and not yet existing measures are devised, and corresponding actions are taken.
In May, the Bachelor students will present their findings to the companies; often times, management level representatives will attend the presentation. No need to panic for the students: They have trained their presentation techniques and other soft skills over months and years – and thus learned for their (professional) life. After all, practical experience can only be gained through practice!
