A comprehensive transformation process has started at the Tettnang-based lighting manufacturer LTS, which is also accompanied by personnel measures. Although not a tangible crisis, at least a stagnating market and increasingly tough competition would drive the company to take this step in order to remain viable for the future, according to the management.
At the beginning of last week, a total of 13 employees were offered termination contracts. Affected employees confirm this. LTS employs a total of 180 employees and expressly does not plan to close a department or take any other structural measures, emphasizes CEO Stefan Hölzl, who has taken over management of LTS on an interim basis since July.
A transformation program is intended to make the Tettnang lighting manufacturer LTS future-proof – in the management’s opinion, personnel measures are also necessary. In the picture Elina Demme from the human resources department, CEO Stefan Hölzl, Daniel Gäßler, head of strategy & transformation, production manager Tom Rügemer and works council member Serhat Ay (from left). (Photo: Linda Goldenstein)
Rather, the termination agreements were made as individual measures. They would affect a wide range of areas, from production to sales, and in particular employees who “cannot develop their full performance within the company”. Such personnel “restructuring measures,” as Hölzl describes them, are by no means unusual.
This is what the works council says
However, what happens again and again in many other companies during ongoing operations has, so to speak, accumulated over several years at LTS – and has now resulted in the 13 termination agreements offered in one fell swoop.
Of course we are not at all happy with the situation.
Works council chairman Dirk Hölzke
“The company is certainly partly to blame for this,” admits Hölzl. The management culture has changed significantly over the years – from a patriarchally managed company to a corporate culture, explains the CEO.
The works council was informed about the termination agreements a few days before the workforce, but was not involved in the process itself. “Of course we are not at all happy with the situation,” says works council chairman Dirk Hölzke.
Some of the positions will be filled
Leaving a company by means of a termination agreement instead of through a dismissal for operational reasons has advantages for employees – for example, that the termination of the employment relationship takes place amicably instead of unilaterally. Employees also usually receive severance pay.
The affected employees should receive support from both the LTS management and human resources department as well as from the works council, which can provide advice, for example. According to Hölzl, some of the positions will also be filled, which is why the job cuts are only very minor.
Transformation program as a guide
Stefan Hölzl sees a “need for transformation” in many areas of the company, which has also been characterized by many changes in management in recent years. A special program entitled “LTS 2030” was developed to serve as a guide for the company for the future. It includes, among other things, new sales strategies, sustainability as an important market trend, as well as a new pricing strategy and an increase in profitability.
What LTS does exactly
LTS specializes in the production of lighting systems for retail, office spaces and the catering industry. The headquarters in Tettnang is in Waldesch, and there is a second location in Bürgermoos, where production is located. The company was founded in 1985 as a family business. It has belonged to the Swedish group Fagerhult since 2010 and is therefore part of the third largest European lighting manufacturer.
