Critical Functions and Roles

Master Course | Episode 05

Professor Armin Trost, PhD | Furtwangen University, Germany

Classifying various functions

low

Demand
small
Talent
Availability

big

high
low Strategic high
Relevance
Critical key and bottleneck functions

low
Bottleneck Function
Big demand (volume) hard
to be filled and replaced
(low availability)
Talent
Availability Key Function
High strategic relevance

Demand
small
high big
low Strategic high
Relevance
Added value in key functions compared to others

Added value

Key function

Mean

Other functions
Mean

Performance
What a key function is – and what not
A function is a key function, if ..
the future competitiveness of the
company directly depends on it
high performance in the function
makes a significant or dramatic
difference to the company’s
success
you need to hire and develop the
best – not just the suitable
related costs for hiring,
development and retention don’t
matter
it is on the radar of the CEO
A function is not necessarily a key
function, if ..
high performance in the function
has a big impact on the success of
the company but does not relate to
it’s strategy
the entire company would suffer,
when getting rid of it
related pay grades are high
if related positions are hard to be
filled from the in- or outside
the need to place a position is
urgent
Bottleneck functions
A function is a bottleneck
function, if its demand is of high
volume and hard to be met due to
labour market conditions
There are less candidates
searching for jobs actively than
new hires needed
Bottleneck functions often are not
of high strategic relevance but they
could be. Then a function is both, a
bottleneck and a key function
Often bottleneck functions refer to
a common pain (need) across
different decentral entities (e.g.
divisions, locations, subsidiaries)
For bottleneck functions very often
homogeneous target groups
with comparable profiles are
supposed to be addressed (e.g.
graduates of mechanical
engineering)