Xaver Hauser, Global Happiness Manager at KSB, smiling in an office corridor
6 min read

Happiness Manager: ”Happy employees make me happy.”

Although Xaver Hausner's business card says "Chief Engagement Officer", he is known among KSB employees as the "Global Happiness Manager". His task: to ensure that they are satisfied in their work. But how do you achieve that with thousands of people from different countries and cultures?

KSB.com: Mr. Hausner, how happy are you today?

Xaver Hausner: Very happy indeed! We have just received the results of our KSB Voice global employee survey. We conduct the survey here every three years and this was the first time I had the chance to supervise it as project manager. It took three weeks and was carried out without any problems.

And what do the results look like?

Very positive! Across KSB, 65 per cent of employees are "engaged", which means they are motivated, identify with the company, contribute beyond the normal performance of their duties and also recommend others to work here. But this doesn't mean that the remaining 35 per cent are dissatisfied, because engagement goes beyond mere satisfaction. Employees who experience so much fulfilment at work also do it better and are willing to go the proverbial "extra mile". When we first conducted the survey in 2016, this index was still at 45 per cent. By 2019, it had climbed to 57 per cent, and now it is a gratifying 65 per cent. This already puts us above the global average for the mechanical engineering sector. Our goal, however, is to go even higher. A score of 79 per cent or more makes you "best in class" as a company – and that's where we want to be.

"We are there to lend a sympathetic ear."

Xaver Hausner is a fully qualified lawyer and originally worked in a large law firm advising companies in the area of corporate law, for example when taking over other companies. At some point, however, he felt the need not only to advise companies, but also to help shape them. He therefore moved from the law firm to KSB and worked for three years as executive assistant to the CEO, Dr. Stephan Timmermann.

Together with his worldwide network of colleagues, Hausner is responsible for the well-being of more than 15,000 KSB employees from a wide range of countries. Even though his official job title is "Chief Engagement Officer", he is known within the company primarily as the "Global Happiness Manager".

Xaver Hausner in a dinner jacket moderating the KSB gala evening

And what do you do with the findings from the survey?

That is the bottom line. The atmosphere is not as we would like it to be at every location. So we look at which countries and departments are still in need of improvement. This will be one of the main tasks for management in the coming months. Different areas can emerge as the topic – for example, advanced training and development or cooperation. The reason for the dissatisfaction is worked out jointly with the employees and appropriate measures are defined to make things better in the future. After all, there is nothing worse than when employees are allowed to vote on something and nothing happens afterwards. We therefore track the measures accordingly.

You are responsible for the well-being of more than 15,000 people from very different cultures worldwide. What possibilities do you have as an individual to influence the satisfaction of so many different people?

I myself would be quite powerless without those responsible in the individual Regions and the managers at the locations who implement the topic. I'm the one who draws all the threads together. Our engagement team meets every three months. Then it is the job of the individual engagement managers in the Regions to keep the ball rolling. We have nine Regions, each of which now has an engagement manager.

What makes a good manager at KSB?

The fact that they take the employees seriously, listen to them and respond to their wishes. For example, one major need was the possibility of working from home. This, of course, requires a good deal of trust from the management. You can see in the departments that give their employees the most freedom, that that is where the satisfaction is the highest. One general trend is that a superior is no longer just an expert in the subject matter, but is more of a mentor who is there for the employees as a whole.

Are you also a bit of a suggestion box for employees?

Definitely! People like to come to us when something is not going so well. We are there to lend a sympathetic ear. They just have to pick up the phone or write an e-mail!

What do you think is special about the working environment at KSB? 

Team thinking is "typical KSB". We are a pump and valve manufacturer for whom no problem is too difficult and we can satisfy the customer with great solutions. The team idea, that we can do everything together, is certainly a special feature of KSB.

When you look back – at what moments in your work were you not only satisfied, but completely happy?

Every employee who is happy makes me happy! But if you are asking for a special moment, I have to think of our 150th anniversary celebration – that was quite a fantastic day. Large family days took place all over the world. At our location in Frankenthal, there was a colourful fair with rides and food and a stage with live music. The team that organised the event completely exceeded the employees' expectations: The feedback from many was that they never expected KSB to push the boat out so much. That made me very happy.

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