What would it be like if there was a platform where buying associations could present their qualification offers across all sectors and learn from each other at the same time? This question was the initial spark for ZUKUNFiT – the education offensive from the MITTELSTANDSVERBUND.
As the conceptual sponsor, the association wants to use ZUKUNFiT to create a new awareness of qualification and lifelong learning among the buying associations. The mission: strong and resilient buying associations for a sustainable and future-proof business location in Germany.
“Continuous education is the tool with which we can not only sharpen our knowledge and our minds, but also change the world,” said Dr. Ludwig Veltmann, Managing Director of the MITTELSTANDSVERBUND on World Education Day 2024. In the cooperative spirit of the buying associations, E/D/E is helping to shape the ZUKUNFiT education campaign together with the GARANT Group, DATEV, beauty alliance, ADG, ServiCon, NOWEDA, expert, SVG and the MHK Group.
Top topic further training
In the current study “Future viability of buying associations” by Prof. Dr. Dirk Morschett and Finn de Thomas Wagner (University of Fribourg/Switzerland), employee training and the recruitment of new, competent employees were identified as relevant areas for action alongside the top topic of digitalization. According to the results of the study commissioned by the MITTELSTANDSVERBUND, there is a great need for qualification, especially among managers with personnel responsibility and employees in marketing and sales.
Wide range
Strengthened by these findings, the ZUKUNFiT platform was developed. Since January 2023, modular and practical training courses have been available on zukunfit.de for managers and employees in purchasing and buying associations, which can be carried out virtually, in person or as a hybrid. The range of topics reflects current developments in digitalization, marketing, sustainability and regulation. ZUKUNFiT also focuses on cooperation and cooperatives, promoting young talent, personality, health and resilience. Anyone interested in a career-integrated Bachelor’s or Master’s degree program will also find what they are looking for on this platform.
Since ChatGPT and the like, further training has taken on a new dimension. If you want to design work processes effectively and use data analysis as a competitive advantage, there is no getting around artificial intelligence. In an interview for COMPASS SME 2024, Hubertus Heil, Federal Minister of Labor and Social Affairs, emphasized: “There will no longer be a job profile that is completely detached from this technology.” What requirements are placed on buying associations when it comes to AI? What opportunities does artificial intelligence hold for cooperating SMEs? ZUKUNFiT also offers suitable learning opportunities for this.
