Munich, January 25, 2022: European digital transformation specialist valantic has kicked off the new year with clear signals for growth and strong investments in human resources. Besides significant investments in the valantic Academy – its in-house training and development platform – and launching further recruitment campaigns to attract new employees, it has also created the new position of Chief People Officer.
During the 2021 financial year, revenues at digitization specialist valantic grew more than 60 percent to over EUR 270 million, an increase attributable both to organic growth as well as to acquisitions of new business areas. Each of valantic’s five business areas – SAP Services, Customer Experience Management, Digital Strategy Consulting, Financial Services Automation, and Smart Manufacturing Industries & Supply Chain – enjoyed a sharp rise in revenues. At the same time, the company saw its headcount almost double over the period to around 2,200, while employee churn remained low.
“2021 was one of the most successful years in our company’s history, both in terms of our organic growth as well as the numerous innovative partnerships with new associates that we were able to establish over that period,” says valantic founder and CEO Dr. Holger von Daniels approvingly. “At the same time, however, our entire industry has come to recognize the shortage of skilled workers as an emergent bottleneck for further growth.”
According to a recent study, the shortage of skilled workers is the main factor holding back digitization initiatives at German companies. In a survey conducted by the German industry association Bitkom in November 2021, two-thirds (65 percent) of all German companies surveyed cited the lack of suitable IT specialists as a obstacle to digitization. New data issued by the association in January 2022 suggest an acute shortage of IT specialists, with up to 96,000 unoccupied positions in Germany.
“In view of the chronic shortage of skilled personnel in the IT industry and valantic’s dynamic growth in recent years, we will continue to invest heavily in recruiting and developing employees and further expanding valantic’s in-house training academy this year. After all, nothing is currently as important in our industry as recruiting new employees and further developing existing ones if we’re to meet the exploding demand for digitization consulting,” says von Daniels, describing the situation.
Against this backdrop, in addition to expanding its cooperation with various university networks, valantic is also planning a range of other measures, such as a recruiting campaign specifically tailored to women, to be launched in January 2022 in the social media. According to von Daniels, the campaign will feature seven “valantic heroines” from various company divisions and activity areas who will talk about their personal moments of success at valantic and “whet the appetite for working at the company”. Also planned is a participation in the SAP and socialbee Changemakers program initiative for refugees. In these programs, talents with an immigration background are digitally trained to become IT professionals.
To bundle its extensive HR initiatives and achieve rapid progress, valantic has also created the new position of Chief People Officer which will be occupied by Sabrina Albrecht. Sabrina Albrecht is a seasoned recruiting sector expert who has successfully led human resources teams in the past. She joins valantic from Germany’s largest private and independent education group, COGNOS AG, where she was Head of Human Resources. Prior to that, she worked as an Account Manager for the personnel service provider Avantgarde Experts and as an HR Consultant for the internationally renowned personnel consulting specialist Frazer Jones/SR Group. Sabrina Albrecht lives in Cologne where she graduated with a Master of Arts degree in International Arts Management.
“People management is hugely important and we want to stress this with Sabrina’s appointment in the newly created position of Chief People Officer,” says von Daniels.
Sabrina Albrecht emphasizes: “valantic is a highly dynamic and innovative employer and has an incredible amount to offer existing and new employees. I’m therefore very excited about this opportunity to help shape valantic’s further growth course in the coming years and assist it in finding answers to the most pressing questions concerning the shortage of skilled workers.”
As a member of the Diversity Charter and partner of Global Digital Women (GDW), valantic attaches particular importance to women’s interests in the digital economy as well. Sabrina Albrecht also emphasizes this key area of responsibility in her new role: “It’s a personal concern of mine that we use new recruiting processes and work models to attract more female IT experts and managers to valantic, too. Getting more women interested in the exciting field of digital transformation and IT consulting will be one of my overriding goals at valantic. It’s precisely with this goal in mind that I want to implement a range of new development and career opportunities for women in my new role!” The proportion of female employees at valantic is already a quarter higher than the industry average: “Further increasing this share will be a matter close to my heart,” says Albrecht.
