Reliability, punctuality and efficiency are regarded the “German virtues”. Young adults in the rising economies of China and Brazil also consider these qualities ever more crucial in the battle for a good job. Not surprising: more than half of Germans between the ages of 18 to 34 years consider reliability and punctuality particularly important. These are the results from the “War for Talents 2014” study. The study on behalf of the Staufen business consultancy involved interviews with 3,000 young adults in Germany, China and Brazil. “In our training seminars and projects in China, we notice more and more that the ‘German virtues’ gain in importance in the country,” says Markus Franz, Director of the Staufen AG Academy Section. “Many Chinese model themselves on these qualities, and their importance in the execution of their jobs is growing,” explains Franz, until 2013 Executive Director for Staufen China with its headquarters in Shanghai. The megapolis on China’s Eastern coast is one of now four offices of Staufen AG in the People’s Republic. More than half (57%) of the Chinese aged between 18 and 34 years consider reliability and punctuality qualities that make young employees attractive to an employer, i.e. qualities that are important. 40% even think that both are very important. 54% of those surveyed also consider that efficiency plays a crucial role in the search for a good job, 42% even consider it decisive. For the young adults surveyed in Brazil, efficiency came top, too. 60% believe that this quality is one that employees value particularly highly. Reliability and punctuality are considered important by nine out of ten young adults surveyed in the South American country, very important even by more than half of them. After around eight years of successful project work in Brazil, the Staufen business consultancy opened its first office in the country in 2013 – in Sao Paulo.
Studies confirm again and again that employers here like to work with employees who combine both: performance on the one hand, “German virtues” on the other. For that reason, it comes as no surprise that young German employees consider qualities such as reliability and punctuality a matter of course. 55% of participants in the survey mainly want to use them to impress their employers. A further 36% of those surveyed at least consider both qualities important. Half of all young Germans consider efficiency important, 45% of them very important.
