Our alumna Dr Katrin Krömer (graduated in 1997) studied Business Administration at WiSo. During her studies she was involved in the PIM & CEMS Club Cologne and the Organisationsforum Wirtschaftskongress (OFW), which organises the World Business Dialogue. After graduating from WiSo, she also completed a Master's in Public Administration at the Harvard Kenny School and then worked as a consultant at McKinsey until 2009, specialising in the public sector and infrastructure companies. She received her PhD from the University of Trier in 2003. Until 2015, she was Managing Director for Human Resources, Finance and Controlling at the Berlin-Brandenburg regional directorate of the German Federal Employment Agency, before spending more than seven years in the Human Resources department of Deutsche Bahn. She returned to the German Federal Employment Agency in 2022 and as a member of the Board of Directors is responsible for Resources – an area that deals with human resources management, controlling, infrastructure, purchasing and organisational development. In our alumni interview, we talked to her about her management toolbox, the challenges of the future labour market and the most important skills that young talents will need in their future careers.

Ms Krömer, in your career you have worked for McKinsey, Deutsche Bahn and the German Federal Employment Agency, where you have been a member of the executive board responsible for resources since 2022. How have your experiences in such different organisations shaped your approach to leadership?

You take knowledge, skills and experience from each position. This helps you to tackle new challenges successfully. At McKinsey, I was able to familiarise myself with top management issues at an early stage. I learned how to structure, analyse and prepare questions and problems for decision-making. I still use this toolbox today.

In my mid-30s, I moved for the first time to the German Federal Employment Agency, which I had previously consulted for. Being responsible for controlling, finance and HR as commercial director was a great opportunity. I was able to gain management experience at various levels and learn how to initiate change from the line. At Deutsche Bahn, I was then able to look after the internal labour market and HR development, which gave me a whole range of new tools for shaping overarching and interlinked issues within a multi-layered structure. All this helps me now as Head of Resources at the Federal Employment Agency. 

Everyone is talking about skills shortage, generational change, etc. How do you deal with these challenges in your management role at the Federal Employment Agency?

Demographic change presents us with enormous challenges. In the next ten years, one in three employees of the Federal Employment Agency will retire. We will not be able to close this gap through recruitment alone. That is why we are already investing in process optimisation, digitalisation and automation. We need a holistic approach if we really want to reduce the burden on the organisation. We are working on this with interdisciplinary teams. We are reorganising the Federal Employment Agency with our Future Agenda and Future Projects. I think we are already a fairly modern agency, but we need to become even more modern. We are taking on a pioneering role in the public sector, not just in Germany but in Europe.

Of course, it is also becoming increasingly important for us to find the right specialists. We train them ourselves, we even have our own university. That is very important to us. But we are also constantly working on improving our recruitment. Times are fast, so you have to adapt and stay on top of things like HR marketing, pre-boarding and onboarding. But we also look internally to ensure that we offer our employees exciting opportunities for development and learnings. This personal development is essential if we are to remain attractive to our employees and keep them with us.

What do you think has changed since you started your career in 2000? What opportunities do you see for today's generation of students and young professionals in an ever-changing world of work and what challenges will they face?

Digitalisation has changed the world of work enormously and will continue to do so. Today's students need to ask themselves what tasks will still be done by people in the future. On the other hand, there is climate change. The transition towards a truly sustainable economy will continue to be a major challenge in the years to come. But it also offers enormous opportunities for newcomers who have the skills and competences. This is also true, of course, because of the foreseeable demographic development. Therefore: The world will continue to change rapidly, and those who get involved can make a big difference.

Looking back on your own studies: What are your three tips you would give to our current students?

First, stay curious, ask questions and look closely. A willingness to learn throughout life is certainly a core skill for the future.

Second, make sure that you also work well with colleagues within the company and beyond your own team, but also with external partners. This will certainly become more and more important.

Third, dare to take responsibility. Think holistically, from the end to the beginning, and work for the cause. Then you will be able to win over colleagues and deliver results.

Can you complete the following sentence: When I think back to my time studying in Cologne, I think...

... of many wonderful memories at WiSo, at Professor Frese's chair, of the many international events at the PIM & CEMS Club Cologne, of the great collaboration at the Organisationsforum Wirtschaftskongress OFW and of course of the beautiful evenings in the southern part of the city.

Ms Krömer, thank you very much for your time and for this interview.