Move of the Month 10/15

There are good times to jump ship in a company, and there are bad times. But sometimes, there are also great times — and we think Andreas Haffner of Volkswagen may have found one of those.

Previously ‘Head of Group Human Resources Top Management’ at Volkswagen, he is sneaking out like a diesel emission on test day and moving onwards and upwards, being appointed as the Head of HR for Porsche, Volkswagen’s more reputable cousin (whence Volkswagen’s new CEO came.)

Haffner is an old hand at HR and cars, having already worked for Porsche several times in his career. Porsche, other than making the same looking car every year for a long time, are also pushing forward some innovative HR policies, including individualised working time, essentially super-flexible working tailored to each individual, which should pose some interesting challenges for Haffner.

He leaves Volkswagen in the aftermath of its worst ever PR scandal over its emissions test cheating, losing over a fifth of its value on the stock market overnight and shaking public confidence, facts that will probably have a deleterious effect on morale outside of HR’s power to control.

Reports suggest serious internal restructuring on the horizon, with a hiring freeze and shift cutting already underway. All of which together makes this move by Haffner look pretty sharp to us.

When the going gets tough, the tough get going (to a better, less tough place.)

About the author

Jerome Langford

Jerome is a graduate in Philosophy from St Andrews, who alternately spends time writing about HR and staring wistfully out of windows, thinking about life’s bigger questions: Why are we here? How much lunch is too much lunch? What do you mean exactly by ‘final warning’?