Core Competencies – Why they matter for Exyte
Core Competencies – Why they matter for Exyte
The Exyte Group is growing at a fast rate.
This is a large undertaking for the whole company who needs to find and integrate new talents while retaining the current workforce. To turn Exyte into and keep it an amazing place to work it is essential to develop the company’s culture.
In this interview Alexandra Kuebler, Senior Vice President Corporate Human Resources, explains why Exyte has developed its Core Competencies, what they mean, and how individuals and in turn the whole company can profit from them.
Alexandra, why does Exyte need Core Competencies?
The concept of Core Competencies traditionally comes from the management theory and means that a business should define its core competencies to stand out from the competition. While Exyte has been extremely successful in recent years in developing its business and improving all relevant financial numbers, we must consider that more than a third of the workforce we plan to have in 2027 is not yet employed with the company. To integrate more than 1,500 new employees each year is a monumental task. That is why I see it as essential that all employees, new and old, have a common understanding of what makes our company successful.
You have been with Exyte for three years now. How did you experience the culture in a quickly growing company?
Despite the challenge of starting in the middle of a global pandemic, I was made welcome by everyone and got to know my colleagues in person or virtually. I quickly noticed the way we interact with each other at Exyte is something that makes us unique and drives us towards achieving our ambitious goals. The whole company needs to make every new colleague feel just as welcome as I felt.
To onboard as many colleagues, as we are planning to do, is a challenge. Given our current trajectory, Exyte will be a different organization in 2027 compared to the one it is today. But changes also bring opportunities for the individual and the company as a whole. I’m certain that our Core Competencies can be a crucial tool in shaping the change and in positively developing our company’s culture.
How do you define these Core Competencies?
Grow talent. Drive results. Take ownership. Embrace change. Inspire clients. Foster sustainability. These are our Core Competencies that shape our day-to-day collaboration and thus help to turn the company’s ambitious goals into action. They can be defined as knowledge, skill, mind-set, or behavioral ability that enables a person to perform particularly well in a role or organization. They are positive characteristics that employees bring to the company and further develop in their career. With a structured approach defining expectations for every role, we can grow as individuals and thus as an organization.
Why did Exyte choose these skills instead of others?
As an engineering and technology company we could have defined skills like analytical abilities, creative thinking, or problem resolution as the most important competencies. I believe that these are fundamental skills that people acquire with their education and work experience and become specialized in. With our diverse business fields and global reach, we need specialists in each field. But these talented individuals also need to become a team to deliver on our ambitious goals. So, our Core Competencies are about shaping Exyte’s culture. They provide a compass to align our individual behavior into an endeavor of teamwork.
How do the Core Competencies matter for an individual who is new to the company?
Exyte lives an appreciative culture in which employees get regular feedback on their work and most importantly are not left alone with their questions. The Core Competencies are designed to enable a regular dialogue between employees and their managers to evaluate their strengths. Together they decide where they see potential for improvement or bringing existing skills to better use.
A new colleague or in fact one who has been with the company for a few years does not necessarily have to bring all these competencies to the table immediately. Depending on the role or responsibilities of the individual each of the five Core Competencies can have a different relevance.
How do the Core Competencies help to grow and retain talent?
They are an integral part of our day-to-day-work. Leaders and managers are discussing with their teams what the Core Competencies mean for employees. They listen and are trying to find out, what are the strengths of each individual. The Core Competencies are one of our tools to get to know the people better who work for Exyte, those who make us a successful company. Our Core Competencies are essential for the dialogue between manager and employee and help us to make Exyte an even better place to work.
