Wilhelm Haller (entrepreneur)

Willi Haller at the time of flextime development

Wilhelm "Willi" Haller (* July 25, 1935 ; † August 2, 2004 ) was a German entrepreneur, social entrepreneur , father of flextime and founder of Interflex Datensysteme .

Life

As an apprentice at the Hengstler company, a manufacturer of electromechanical counters, he recognized that rigid concepts in the company could not do justice to developments in the world of work. In 1964 he went with his family to New York, where together with Paul Buser he set up the Hengstler subsidiary Hecon Corporation and, among other things, invented the key counter, which received the US patent in 1966. At the end of the 1960s Haller returned to Germany and began to deal intensively with the flexibilization of working hours, developing concepts for flexitime, variable working hours and annual working hours. On the basis of industrial counters, Haller developed the first time recording devices, without which the successful implementation of flexible working hours would not be possible. This device made it possible for the first time to record the actual working hours of employees and not just the beginning and end of working hours - a revolution in the late 1960s. In order to present his flexible working time concepts to a broad public and to make them popular, Haller created the Swabian English advertising slogan “Ai laik flextime”, which was a topic of conversation and adorned numerous cars as a sticker. His ideas and concepts made him the "father of flexitime" and ensured that the flexibilization of working hours was discussed nationwide and that it gradually became established. His advice as a flextime expert was in demand not only in Germany, but worldwide.

In the course of this development, Willi Haller set about designing the world's first computer system, from which the first PC-based time recording system for medium-sized companies emerged a little later. In its basic functions, this system still corresponds to the standard of any time management system. Haller's inventions include many other products and patents.

In order to realize his goals better and faster and to let the employees participate in the success, Haller founded the company Interflex Datensysteme in 1974 with three like-minded people , which continuously developed (later taken over by Ingersoll Rand ) to the European market leader. Haller built the company on the basis of progressive management concepts. Employee motivation played a key role here. The idea was that a third of the profits should be distributed among the investors, employees and aid projects. A rarity for the time was the active involvement of employees in decision-making processes. Willi Haller never saw himself as the boss, but rather as part of a team who was nevertheless the recognized, competent managing director for everyone. He was able to present and convey his ideas in an understandable way, inspire employees and win them over to a common goal and thus tap performance potential. It was very important for Haller that the work was fun. His concepts went around the world. Flexible working hours have fundamentally changed the world of work. Millions of employees benefit from it every day.

At the beginning of the 1980s, Willi Haller withdrew from his company and worked as a consultant and coach for companies, unions, institutions and social institutions. He founded several social projects, including the "Lebenshaus" and the "Nudelhaus". He has been a guest speaker at universities and management seminars and has appeared on television programs. Although Willi Haller was a radical thinker, he also had an influence on leading managers because he was not only charismatic, but could reason pragmatically and logically. He is the author of several books and numerous articles on management, economics and theological topics. He saw himself as a student of the philosopher Martin Buber , whose influence is evident in Haller's book "Das Dunkle Feuer".

Haller's ideas continue to be well received even after his death, among other things through the work of the International Leadership and Business Society eV, which has set itself the goal of humanising the world of work.

Works

• The Human Job Article in Mondcivitan Bridge 1973
• Are we working in a contemporary way? Flexible working hours as an entrepreneurial opportunity , Willi Haller, Hermann Neher, Gabler Verlag , Wiesbaden, 1986. ISBN 3-409-19101-1
• The healing alternative: Jesuan ethics in economics and politics , Peter Hammer Verlag , Wuppertal, first edition 1989. ISBN 3-87294-385-5
• Flexible working hours: advantages and opportunities for the company and its employees , Heyne Verlag , Munich, 1990. ISBN 3-453-03720-0
• Without power and mandate: the messianic way in business and social matters , Peter Hammer-Verlag, Wuppertal, 1992. ISBN 3-87294-475-4
• Flexible working hours in the inpatient care service , care union , Radolfzell, first edition 1993. ISBN 3-00-001150-1
• The dark fire: God's destructive and loving power in people , Oberursel, 1994. ISBN 3-88095-071-7
• Die Zinspeitsche , St. Georgen: Angela Hackbarth Verlag, undated , 1994

Individual evidence

1. ↑ http://www.freepatentsonline.com/3441719.html
2. ↑ Products Zeit - Flextimer ( Memento of the original from March 28, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
3. ↑ http://www.aud24.net/pi/media/pdf/sui/suimai2006/si056100.pdf
4. ↑ Computer Week . Interflex Datensysteme GmbH & Co. KG: An initiative against unemployment. May 5th, 1978 ( Memento of March 23, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
5. ↑ With his visions he created new things and infected others. On the death of Willi Haller | Life house Swabian Alb
6. ↑ Spaghetti by hand | Country table | TIME ONLINE
7. ↑ http://www.biberach.de/fileadmin/user_upload/Aktuelles/Files/Broschuere.pdf ( Memento from February 17, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
8. ↑ http://www.tvprogramme.net/view_tag.php?tag=1985-02-06