The Skill-Based Organization - More of a pipe dream than a reality? Mark Long's illustrations for PERSONAL magazine depict a cross-section of a multi-story office building, where employees, equipped with various tools, ladders, and slides, attempt to coordinate their skills and workflows as best they can.
The humorous cover story stems from the fact that many companies' traditional "operating systems" still rely on rigid job titles and predefined roles. The transition to a more fluid system, where teams are assembled purely based on required skills, often fails due to the rigidity of the system and the stubbornness of those involved.
Another sticking point: the necessary leadership culture is frequently lacking. When skills become the new internal currency, it requires a radical rethinking of resource sharing and power structures between departments. Let's be honest – who wants that?
Haufe's Personal.Magazin has been around since 1999. Originally launched as a printed supplement to the software product "Haufe Personal Office," it has evolved into an independent publication and is now Germany's most widely read HR magazine.
The Haufe Group is a family-owned company with approximately 2,500 employees and unites well-known brands such as Haufe and Lexware under one roof. The company, which began as a publisher of loose-leaf publications (like the legendary "Haufe Personalbüro"), quickly became a leading digital B2B provider of software, specialist information, HR solutions, and professional development.
Mark Long is represented by the Berlin-based illustration agency 2AGENTEN.
GoSee : haufegroup.com