Recruitment for the Connected Car Sector

By Wolfgang Doell

In the 1990s the first wave of hype for telematics applications startled the auto industry because none of the major OEMs were prepared for the arrival of these new technologies. Having already missed the “.com” boom, car manufacturers hectically began looking for external management talents coming from small, technology driven boutiques.

As a result, they were confronted with a new breed of young, demanding, and self-confident managers following a kind of hit-and-miss work style. They were used to acting in flat organizations with minimalist hierarchies; and they were used to a fast-paced decision-making process. These managers were interested in moving things forward by meeting the wants and needs of end users; they wanted to implement innovations much faster than what was then called the “old economy” could deliver. One of the key questions in those years was how to integrate those talents in structured organizations?

Most automotive OEMs began hiring before they could answer this basic question, because they feared that the train would soon be leaving the station without them. They felt that they risked missing the opportunity of bringing those talents on board; and they all assumed that the competition would pass them if they didn’t act now. A collective hiring hysteria took place, and recruiting firms experienced a ‘golden age’. However, before traditional manufacturers were forced to find a way to properly integrate these new talents, the hype was already over. In the meantime, consumers had decided that these additional telematics features were simply not worth paying for. Most market participants had forgotten the basics; i.e. they had not identified a robust and profitable business model.

Over the last 10 years, telematics have developed at a creeping pace and OEMs delegated innovation work to their 1st tier suppliers. Additionally, the label changed from telematics to connected cars, because applications evolved so that they are no longer simply focusing on audio and infotainment, but touching a much broader field.

Even though we gave the horse a new name, nothing has changed when it comes to recruiting management talents. Having been involved in recruitment in this field from its embryonic years on up, we have come upon a lot of challenges in the recruiting process. So before starting recruitment, we recommend checking the following critical factors as a first step. As a hiring company:

1) Are you ready for a change, to accept a different view on the market?

2) Are you prepared to put a focus and resources (financial and manpower) to meet end users’ needs?

3) Are you willing to recruit more than just one individual? Depending on the size of your organization, a single executive may not be enough to make a difference or drive change. For a robust program of change, several “opinion leaders” are often necessary.

4) Are you ready to challenge your present product life cycle, which is going to stress your present process organization? Traditional car manufacturers are much more engineering than marketing driven.

5) Are you prepared, with end user market research, to know who your end users are and learn about their expectations, wants and needs?

6) Are you ready to communicate to interfacing functions like marketing communications, brand strategy or brand deployment that the present segmentation, targeting and positioning strategy is going to be challenged?