IU Leadership Talk Nuremberg "Perfect Match: Focus on people"

Nuremberg, 3 July, 2025. On 25 June, IU International University of Applied Sciences gathered more than 70 executives and human resources managers from business, academia, and administration at the Design Offices Nuremberg for the second official IU Leadership Talk. Under the motto "Perfect Match: Focus on People", high-profile speakers discussed innovative strategies for employee recruitment and retention, as well as new work models in the Nuremberg metropolitan region.

The event offered a combination of expert presentations, practical success stories, and networking opportunities. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the region, which often face particular challenges in the "war for talent," benefited in particular from concrete solutions and innovative ideas.

“The future belongs to companies that not only find the right talent, but can also retain and inspire them in the long term,” emphasised Anne Gfrerer, Professor of Business Information Systems at IU Nuremberg and moderator of the event.

David Rempel, academic director of the IU Nuremberg campus and professor of tourism management, agrees: “With our IU Leadership Talk, we want to encourage companies and decision-makers to take new approaches to human resources strategy and to make it future-proof and people-centric – even beyond artificial intelligence.”

The following speakers shared their expertise and provided insights into best practices:

• Sandra Nowak (Head of Talent Acquisition Europe, Siemens AG)  
  impressively demonstrated how artificial intelligence is revolutionising recruiting, sustainably increasing efficiency and candidate experience, but ultimately, the human element must never be left behind.
• Nadine Paulus (Managing Director of Wust Wind & Sonne GmbH)
  impressed with its employee development programme, which successfully combines family friendliness and “purpose”.
• Christoph Halm (COO, Kloster Kitchen / curameo AG)  
  shared insights into the cultural change from start-up to established brand – and made no secret of his conviction for agile leadership and New Work.
• Constantin Kaindl (Founder & Managing Director, wirdenkenlokal GmbH)
  showed how target group-specific employer branding via social media can become a success factor, especially for SMEs.
• Kevin Schwarzer (Regional Board, Johanniter-Unfall-Hilfe eV)  
  set strong “intuitive” accents with concrete measures for employee retention in social professional fields – and a sustained appeal for more appreciation in the social sector.
• Franziska Siegmeth (IU graduate) and Prof. Dr Volker Schaepe (Professor of General Business Administration at IU Nuremberg) presented research results that focused on the expectations and motivations of Generation Z – an exciting look into the future of the world of work – between aspirations, self-realisation and willingness to perform.

In addition to its depth of content, the second IU Leadership Talk impressed with its open, inspiring atmosphere. The extremely positive response from participants underscores the high demand for forums and events of this kind and encourages IU International University of Applied Sciences to continue and further expand this successful format in Nuremberg in 2026.

The IU Leadership Talk Nuremberg is a platform for professional exchange on current topics, developments, and megatrends. Following the first event series, which began at the end of 2023, the second forum addressed the tension between New Work, People, and Culture. With this format, IU International University of Applied Sciences aims to contribute to strengthening the regional economy.