Bitkom Research on behalf of the TÜV Association and the Bitkom digital association surveyed the heads and managers of a good 500 companies with 10 employees or more in Germany. Of them, 54% were planning to increase expenditure on staff training in 2019, while only 4% wanted to cut it. On average, up to now, businesses have made available for staff training EUR 709 and 2.3 days per year and employee. But this is not enough, says Dr. Joachim Bühler, Managing Director of the TÜV Association. Rather, firms have to develop a new training culture in which “regular training is a matter of course, irrespective of the age and role of the employee”. According to another finding of the representative survey , as far as the employers themselves are concerned the training courses are not just about teaching additional skills. 93% want to increase the motivation and satisfaction of employees, and 91% want to retain qualified personnel.

A collection of examples of staff development courses on digital transformation, published by the Federal Ministry of Employment, provides some inspiration. Among other things, it offers insights into steps taken at Bosch, Voith, Siemens and Daimler. Fundamentally, the collection claims, it is important to get employees involved at an early stage, to anchor skills management systematically and sustainably in the company, and to promote key skills.