Background

András Gazdag is a proud father of two sons and has three degrees. He has been in the business for 20 years, having spent his career in only two companies, in regional and Hungarian positions, all the time in a multinational environment.

He has been with Schaeffler for seven years and, since 2019, has been the strategic HR director for Schaeffler’s Hungarian companies, with annual sales of EUR 1.2 billion. With a team of 33 people, he is responsible for more than 5,000 employees through three production plants, two R&D centers, one sales hub and a machine manufacturing company.

Currently, Schaeffler is also working on expanding its Hungarian presence by integrating two other companies, through which the group’s footprint in Hungary and the number of employees will increase significantly, by about 1,000 people, from October 2024.

How has the HR role changed in the years you have performed the function?

The world is burdened with many uncertainties, which do not make life easier for business decision-makers. The strategic role of HR has increased significantly. The existence of HR professionals who understand the business and can adequately support the relevant decisions with data-driven analyses now shows not only HR’s competence but also signals the cultural preparedness, openness and enlightenment of the given organization. The HR strategy’s suitability and embeddedness in business processes, as well as the local HR executives’ credibility and acceptance, have become even more appreciated.

What is the more significant challenge today, finding staff or retaining them?

Retention is the key. In an economic environment with changing and hectic demands, we now face not only headcount problems but also competence problems. In addition, in the extremely tight labor market, we face increasingly serious moral issues and decreasing commitment, which entails severe risks for maintaining quality-oriented production processes. This generates serious difficulties not only for retention but also for recruitment.

I feel it is a risk that employers have somewhat relaxed due to third-country volume recruitments. Competition for workers supports us on the way to becoming better employers, where we are compelled to improve employment conditions and approaches continuously. This also helps us to develop the entire nature of our function and proper role understanding. Today, this has been simplified due to recruitment from third countries, which, in the long term, can negatively affect employment culture, industrial relations with workers’ representative bodies, and our mission to strengthen marketable workforce competencies. The Hungarian labor market clearly needs foreign workers at specific points, but I think more attention should be paid to the long-term effects of this phenomenon. We must approach the issue with an inclusive and open mindset. At the same time, it would also be an important task for all concerned employers to ensure that, in the future, this plays a complementary and not a replacement role in Hungary.

What changes would you like to see in the legal framework to support the HR function better?

Trust exists only in companies that can build trust inside their gates. I would also recommend strengthening this position of trust in Hungarian legislation, since the balance between employer and employee is critical. In a dynamically changing economic environment, finding common ground with employees and their representative organizations on all platforms is necessary. From the investors’ point of view, destinations where the nexus between the two sides is characterized by predictable balance and mutual trust are much more attractive. For this, a partner approach based on long-term sustainability and also on the trust of the parties needs more attention in legislation.

Are you able to keep pace with wage demands? What other forms of compensation do you offer?

The pressure on households is extremely high, and employee expectations are inflating in parallel. While a competitive compensation package is essential, a consistently applied and structured remuneration policy is equally important. Unfortunately, in the overstretched labor market, the system approach maintained so far has been let go in many companies. Perhaps even principles have been relaxed at times, and sitting on the whirlwind caused by fluctuation, a “solution at all costs” approach has overridden the rules of common sense. The resulting negative reference points are usually rarely long-lived. On the other hand, they can cause much more significant losses in the long run due to tensions caused within an organization. Though we should remain flexible, we must always adhere to our principles and make consequential decisions.

In terms of additional benefits, we have always been guided by bringing solutions into the system that fill a gap, are helpful and make the lives of our colleagues easier. These included the Schaeffler Clinic, the Schaeffler Social Program, and the Schaeffler Summer Camp, which guarantees hundreds of children a meaningful time for four weeks in the summer. Not only do they “look good on the front page,” but they are also a tangible help to our community. Basically, we always try to develop forward-looking, proactive initiatives that we design together with our employees.

This article was first published in the Top 50 Executives – The Most Influential HR Directors in Hungary 2024.