Managers who undergo further training develop personally and professionally. This includes updating skills and improving leadership competencies as well as promoting innovation, employee development and motivation, increasing productivity, risk management and improving the company's competitiveness. Here are some of the current training courses for managers in Switzerland:

Executive MBA HSG in General Management

This programme equips managers with the necessary knowledge and an influential network to make an impact for their own organization and society. The EMBA HSG at the University of St.Gallen can be completed in three versions. In addition to the German-language program, the International Executive MBA HSG offers a variant with an international curriculum focus. In addition, the new EMBA program emba X in partnership with ETH Zurich focuses on topics such as corporate management, sustainability and technology management. Final application deadlines for emba X: October 31, 2023; IEMBA 12: March 31, 2024 (1st application deadline).

Rochester-Bern Executive MBA

This EMBA program offers a dual degree - one from the University of Bern and one from the University of Rochester (USA). This program prepares executives to meet the challenges of today's business world and to gain a deep understanding of economics, accounting, finance and analytics. The EMBA takes 16 months to complete and includes a four-week residency in Rochester and a one-week study tour in Asia. The application deadline is December 31, 2023; the program begins on February 9, 2024.

"Managers who undergo further training develop personally and professionally."

Executive MBA Digital Transformation at the University of Zurich

The part-time Executive MBA programs at the University of Zurich offer senior executives from business and administration 15 months of general management training that can be optimally combined with professional commitments. The German program with a focus on digital transformation consists of three-day modules every two weeks in Zurich and study visits to Yale University (USA) and Tel Aviv (Israel). The English program with a focus on digital transformation consists of six-day modules every four weeks in Zurich and learning expeditions in the USA and Israel. The program in German/English starts on September 4, 2024; the course in English starts on September 18, 2024.

MAS in Business Administration of the FHGR

The "Master of Advanced Studies in Business Administration" is an advanced program in business administration and is aimed at middle managers who have solid management skills and lead larger teams. The MAS comprises the modules "Entrepreneurial Management", "Operational Management", "Operational Leadership", "Financial Planning", "Marketing & Sales Management" and "Law for Entrepreneurs". The program starts in February.

DAS Digital Marketing Manager at the FHNW

Digital marketing managers design digital marketing concepts, plan and implement cross-media campaigns, design landing pages, optimize processes and the digital presence for websites, web stores and apps. They also manage internal and external specialists during the implementation of digital marketing concepts. The modular DAS program is completed by successfully completing two CAS certificate courses and the Digital Leadership Compact seminar. The two CAS courses each consist of one compulsory and one elective module. The program lasts 1 to 3 years and begins depending on the CAS or seminar.

"Further training for managers also improves the company's competitiveness."

CAS in Human Factors Leadership at the University of Lucerne

In challenging management situations, the involvement of the people involved is a decisive factor for success. Your own employees, superiors and external parties have a decisive influence on your own processes. Knowledge of human limitations, but also opportunities and skills as well as instruments for selecting and promoting suitable people for one's own activities are essential skills for a modern manager. The CAS in Human Factors in Leadership course addresses all human factors. It takes into account perception errors and self-knowledge, differences and similarities, conflicts and shared visions as well as corporate culture and diversity. This means that various levels of analysis of human factors are addressed, from the individual to overall social considerations. The course takes place between June and September.

CAS AI Management of the HWZ

The CAS AI Management is aimed at decision-makers, project managers and specialists with direct responsibility or indirect links to the management of data-driven projects in connection with the latest technologies in the field of artificial intelligence. The 18-day certificate program teaches the fundamentals of AI management. Participants will be able to understand the fundamentals of AI, identify AI applications, incorporate the components required for AI into their organization (such as technology, teams, and ethics) and manage AI projects. You will also gain an in-depth insight into the market. The program starts every January.

"Anyone who wants to keep up with change and expand their own skills and network relies on lifelong learning."

CAS Team Psychology at the ZHAW

The CAS is aimed at people from the fields of leadership, project management and the sports, medical, education and consulting sectors who work professionally with teams and groups and are responsible for team processes. Based on their previous professional experience, participants acquire further skills in the non-hierarchical management of team processes. Practical examples are analyzed and own experiences are discussed, reflected upon and linked with theories and instruments. This expands their own intervention practice for success-oriented work with teams and groups. The CAS is recognized as an elective module within the MAS Coaching & Organizational Consulting and MAS Leadership & Management continuing education Master's courses. An online information event on CAS Team Psychology will take place on February 1, 2024.

Distance learning program CAS FH in Innovative and New Leadership at Kalaidos

In this CAS, participants deal with current and future leadership skills, learn new approaches and how to lead future generations. The aim is to develop a digital and reliable leadership style and the skills to create an agile and innovative leadership culture. The program is a combination of practice and science. In the first part, theoretical approaches to innovative and future new leadership are presented, which are then supplemented in a toolbox with training, checklists and suggestions for implementation. An app enables flexible learning in terms of time. The start of the CAS can be set individually.

Secret weapon: management of the Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership ZfU

The two-day intensive seminar for managers consists of eight training modules. Each module lasts around 90 minutes and deals with a specific topic. On the first day, participants learn which of their leadership strengths they can use to deal confidently with change. They also train how they can win their team over to change. On the second day, they will practise how to plan change projects with confidence and how to deal with unforeseen events with aplomb. The next seminar will take place on June 18 and 19, 2024 at the Hotel Sedartis in Thalwil.

Team conflict workshop of the Strength Forge

Together with a coach, interested parties learn strategies to identify and resolve acute conflicts in the team. The offer includes a free initial consultation, a discussion of the specific situation and the development of a way to find a sustainable solution to the team conflict. This includes a survey on the situation and mood in the team, individual interviews with the team members, the consolidation of differences and similarities and two follow-up workshops.

This article first appeared in the m&k print edition 10/2023

Most adults spend the majority of their lives at work. Although this can often be demanding, stressful and even overwhelming, unemployment is considered to be the greatest source of unhappiness. For many people, work is not just a source of income, but an opportunity for self-fulfilment; to find meaning and happiness in life. But is it realistic to expect our professional activity to make us happy? Is it not enough to simply be satisfied with our day-to-day work?

Life in the hamster wheel

The idea of finding personal happiness at work was unthinkable for a long time. Those who forged iron 14 hours a day, 7 days a week had little room to reflect on happiness. At the time of industrialization and the rise of capitalism, thoughts of economic growth and material gain dominated the world of work. A dynamic that led to catastrophic working conditions: The rural exodus promoted by the industrial centers led to an oversupply of labor in the city. The individual worker was therefore worth little and factory owners had the freedom to extend working hours, cut wages and immediately dismiss old or sick workers at their own discretion - because there were always enough replacements. Around 1860, working weeks of 78 hours were still the norm.

"The idea of finding personal happiness at work was unthinkable for a long time."

In a world in which work had become the purpose of life and the driving idea was economic growth, work and happiness seemed to exist in two completely different realities. In a treatise published at the beginning of the 20th century, Max Weber described this situation as a hamster wheel of work, everyday life and consumption in order to increase the gross national product. There had never been so much wealth, so much poverty in a system that obliged those involved to live and work in a steel-hard shell of bondage. Professional humanity", he concludes, must manage "without God and ideals".

"The purpose of life becomes (...) a hamster wheel of work, everyday life and consumption."

But the sweat seems to have paid off: Capitalism has brought us unprecedented prosperity. Many machines are now so advanced that they can do a large number of strenuous and repetitive tasks for us. Political achievements such as social security and occupational health and safety have increased the quality of life. As a result, attitudes towards the purpose of business have also changed: Younger generations Y and Z in particular are aware that the promise of economic growth does not have to be kept at all costs if people, animals and the environment are harmed in the process. In a slow but steady process, work activity is being decoupled from profit growth and replaced by ideals such as environmental protection, social responsibility and personal happiness.

The "New Work" megatrend

This change in values also manifests itself in a new perception of progress and consumption. The value of a product is no longer defined solely in terms of expensive materials, but results from a combination of quality, environmental awareness and ethical values that are linked to the entire life cycle of the product. Corporate social responsibility has even developed into an economic advantage. Not only can it drive consumption in strong target groups such as the Glamour Greens, but a company can also be perceived as an attractive employer by representing ethical values. This is an advantage that is becoming increasingly important today: Diametrically opposed to the abundance of labour during industrialization, the global shortage of skilled workers today is recording record numbers. An authentic corporate purpose motivates collaboration on a shared meaningful vision, and through working models such as remote work, companies are even taking care of the mental and private well-being of their employees. All of this is leading to a fundamental re-evaluation of work and career: leisure time and working time should be aligned. Work is no longer a tedious duty, but should be an integral part of a fulfilled life and can even give it meaning.

What happiness is

Before the new work trend, satisfaction was primarily associated with work. Even today, people often answer with the term satisfaction when asked about happiness. On closer inspection, however, the two closely related terms can be differentiated: According to a qualitative study conducted by happiness researcher Ricarda Rehwaldt in 2017, satisfaction tends to arise "from external circumstances such as the expected rewards of extrinsically motivated activities (such as salary)". Happiness, on the other hand, is characterized by intrinsically motivated, "active and self-determined activities".

"Today, work is no longer a tedious duty, but can even give meaning to life."

This explains why happiness was only associated with work after the economic framework conditions had changed: According to Rehwaldt's definition, happiness at work only has a chance when the professional activity is not solely geared towards the accumulation of material gain. Happiness at work is found by those who perceive it as an activity in itself, i.e. intrinsically fulfilling and meaningful, regardless of external factors. However, this is an expensive luxury: not having to focus solely on earning money at work.

How much does happiness cost?

The modern trend of happiness at work is permeated by an irresolvable tension: on the one hand, work can by definition only make you happy if it is not extrinsically motivated by material gain - on the other hand, however, this attitude to work can only be afforded by those who have already set aside sufficient material resources. In their recently published study, Nobel Prize winner Daniel Kahnemann and Matthew Killingsworth come to the fascinating, albeit sobering, conclusion that the happiest 30 percent of the world's population have an annual income of over 100,000 dollars. According to these figures, happiness seems to be a luxury of the affluent society. - A result, however, that only partially fits the description of happiness as an "intrinsically motivated, active and self-determined activity", because the reward for an activity always remains external.

"Sometimes happiness requires a different kind of interpretation: 'eudaimonia' instead of hedonia and dopamine."

A look at history shows that happiness can be achieved in a completely different way than through wealth: Around 400 years before the beginning of our era, Diogenes came to the conclusion that happiness and possessions were incompatible. He consistently opted for a life of complete independence and poverty. When Alexander the Great granted him a wish, Diogenes is said to have said: "Just get out of the sun a little." Alexander's entourage began to mock the poor man, but Alexander the Great is said to have exclaimed with emotion and admiration: "Truly, if I were not Alexander, I would like to be Diogenes!" For Diogenes knew that happiness can be as simple as a warm ray of sunshine that outshines all the gold on earth.

Bliss

As brilliant as the story of the development from the "steel case of bondage" to happiness at work through remote work, new work and corporate social responsibility may seem - the claim to personal happiness at work is threatened by elitism. It can lead to the devaluation of ordinary professions and even cause us to become unhappy if we do not feel happiness at work. Yet the state of not feeling happiness is not necessarily unhappiness, but normality: anyone who clears garbage from the street, drives the bus or cares for the elderly in an old people's home will rarely rejoice in their work. But that doesn't mean that these jobs can't make you happy. It's just that this kind of happiness requires a different interpretation: it's not about carefree, self-realization, individualism, hedonism or dopamine, but about the fulfillment of meaningful work that can be integrated into the self-image of a life and into the narrative of a culture and society. However, this narrative cannot be found in the job description. Meaning can only be created by the person doing it. And those whose actions make sense will probably not rejoice - but they will experience what another Greek named Aristotle once called "eudaimonia": Bliss.

The other day, Jean-Remy von Matt, Germany's best-known "retired advertiser," attended an event in Berlin. At a bar table, he met three people who had observed his first steps in the world of the performing arts - among them "painter prince" Markus Lüpertz. While the "non-artists" at the table were full of praise for von Matt's works, Lüpertz made a remark that, in context, could rather be understood as an "anti-compliment" - he explicitly referred to the ex-advertiser's Sixt campaigns and expressed his respect for them; however, he did not mention his art with a single word. "I would have quite liked to have received praise from Lüpertz, I must say," von Matt recalls. And then adds with a grin: "But I'm still new to the profession."

The anecdote shows how much has changed for the iconic agency founder: He is no longer involved in the day-to-day business of his company, and only rarely climbs into the saddle for esteemed traditional clients such as Ricola. And never for longer periods. "I've been producing ideas as a service provider for almost five decades," he says, "and now I'd finally like to be creative in my own right. So he allows himself the luxury of doing what he really wants to do.

"Advertising is not designed to last. (Also) therefore now: art."

While he himself is gaining years (he will be 71 in November, even though visually he would be considered in his late 50s at most), Jean-Remy von Matt has begun to build an artistic oeuvre around the themes of time and transience that will one day become part of his creative legacy. He believes that some of his major campaigns will continue to shape the industry's discourse in the distant future, but advertising is not designed to last; today even less so than in the past. (Also) therefore now: art.

Two watches, many messages

Von Matt began with a quasi archetypal Swiss activity: watchmaking. But he has turned the principles of watchmaking on their head, because his timepieces do not mark the present or indicate past moments. No, he is concerned with the future - his watches tell you how much life you can expect to live.

"My works are not dedicated to death, but an ode to lifetime."

On the one hand, there is the digital "Carpe Vitam Clock," which shows on a small display the average remaining years of the owner's life - broken down to seconds; and on the other hand, there is the half-analog, half-virtual "Hourglass of Life," whose falling grains release basic concepts of being human. Both clocks are a permanent reference to the phrase "memento mori," which was already used in ancient Rome to remind victorious commanders of their mortality - and which then continued as a game with vanitas motifs throughout (art) history until today.

So has a morbid fascination with death infected the artist Jean-Remy von Matt? Not at all, he says: "We value life far too little, we go through our daily lives as if we had an unlimited number of moments at our disposal," he explains, "when in fact the exact opposite is the case." Buyer:inside his Carpe Vitam digital watch, he includes a copy of Seneca's treatise on the brevity of life, an impassioned plea to make the most of one's time and avoid unworthy time-wasters. "My works are precisely not dedicated to death," von Matt emphasizes, "but an ode to lifetime." And if someone is in the world longer than the average value on the life timer predicts? Then the clock begins to congratulate the person at regular intervals.

From being a child to independence

Similarly, while the hourglass reveals the inescapable fact that everyone's time is running out - and that things are lost in the process of aging - it also reveals new insights to the viewer. Childlike naïve joy may be increasingly buried under the sands of time, but this process creates space - in the artwork, but also metaphorically - for ever greater independence. Nonchalance gives way to self-confidence, enthusiasm becomes serenity, and when finally the last grain comes to rest over the concept of time itself, opposite stands: hope, completely free and uncovered. In defiance of all certainties, all inevitability.

As I said, this is life art, not death art, also because von Matt mentions in an aside that for every work sold he donates 1,000 euros to the country with the lowest life expectancy in the world. More than 50,000 euros have already flowed to Chad, to a hospital that primarily treats sick children. A wonderful dialectic: a theoretical reflection on the brevity of life in a German living room or a Swiss gallery practically prolongs a life on the other side of the planet.

Gallery, Company, Revolution

In general, the keyword is gallery: just as Markus Lüpertz could not bring himself to compliment von Matt's works, established galleries were also rather hesitant to include the ex-advertiser in their portfolios. "As a collector, I would be very welcome with them," he notes smugly, "but as an artist? That's where the circle suddenly narrows drastically."

The dynamic changed with Sarah Schlagenhauf, the driving force behind Zurich-based startup Vivents. Schlagenhauf and her team break barriers, working at the intersection of art, luxury and technology. As a result, the venture has established itself as a pioneer of immersive Web3-centric brand experiences powered by blockchain technology. With a focus on luxury and art in e-commerce, it leverages cutting-edge technologies to create transformative experiences.

Existential questions

Schlagenhauf, who as a young person ("She still has well over a billion seconds on her watch!" as Jean-Remy von Matt charmingly puts it) might well have a different relationship to time than her counterpart, when asked, reports an immediate fascination that von Matt's works have triggered in her. "I actually think a lot about how to make the most of the moments that are given to me," she explains. Just recently, she says, she discussed with friend:ing whether she would buy - in the style of the artist's works - a further development of the digital watch, a time-measuring device that not only juggles statistics but also knows her individual date of death through a kind of magical intuition. She leaves the answer open. The special thing about the Carpe Vitam movements is that they function as a constant reminder without symbolizing absolute determinism. Schlagenhauf and von Matt in unison: "One can - one may - one should 'overcome' the clocks." Those who eat healthily, exercise or stop smoking may not get a bonus on the display, but (much better!) the chance to get one in reality.

Quo vadis?

Speaking of bonuses: What will happen after the launch of the Hourglass of Life on October 11, 2023? What topics does von Matt want to address next - at best in cooperation with Sarah Schlagenhauf and her team? "I'm mainly interested in the very big, the eternally effective themes," says the artist, "and not what the zeitgeist offers." He finds the exploration of maximum opposites exciting, says von Matt, of light and darkness, truth and lies, dialogue and silence. So there's plenty to do. "Unfortunately, I have less time for my second career than others who have always made art," Jean-Remy von Matt concludes, "but if I use the time properly, it can still become something."