How did you come to EnBW?
Daniela Eggers: After returning from studying abroad to the University of Mannheim, I took on a working student position at EnBW towards the end of my studies and gained my first insights into the HR field. During this time, I was recommended for a student support program, which gave me further valuable insights. After completing my studies, I eventually started my career in recruiting.
What position do you currently hold, and what has your career path at EnBW looked like so far?
Daniela Eggers: : I am currently Product Cluster Lead and thus the functional Head of Recruiting at EnBW. In this role, I am responsible for recruiting all open positions – from apprentices to middle management – at EnBW, Netze BW, and our subsidiaries. My career path began when I joined recruiting. There, I advanced to Senior Recruiter for specialized roles, such as in energy trading. In parallel, I was able to support strategic projects and topics, which ultimately led me, after my second parental leave, to become Product Owner in recruiting strategy, before taking over the pilot of the Recruiting Value Stream and playing a key role in shaping and defining its final design.
Was there a special moment or project at EnBW that has remained particularly memorable for you?
Daniela Eggers: A particularly formative moment for me was the redesign of recruiting along our customer groups and adapted to the requirements of today’s candidate markets, in my role as functional lead. I worked with wonderful people and was able to contribute all my experience and strategic considerations to further developing the organization and processes. It was especially rewarding to observe how initial critics gradually fell silent and first successes became visible – this showed me that we were on the right track.
Review & Outlook
Looking back at 2024, what were the biggest successes and most rewarding projects from a recruiting perspective?
Daniela Eggers: Looking back at 2024, there were many great successes and projects in recruiting. Especially as a leader, it’s a highlight to see people develop and surpass themselves – both in daily business and in projects. I am particularly pleased when colleagues come up with creative solutions, support each other, and share ideas.
Among the professional achievements are the filling of around 2,400 specialist and management positions, thereby reliably meeting the projected recruiting needs. I am especially proud of our strong recruiting performance in apprenticeships, trainee programs, and student employment, with around 1,100 filled positions among student employees alone.
We also continuously optimized our processes, increasing both the speed and satisfaction of hiring managers and applicants.
Another milestone was the successful introduction of active sourcing for the proactive search and approach of talents. Last but not least, EnBW Recruiting was recognized and ranked 9th among the Top Recruiters in Germany.
Which partnerships, collaborations, or teamwork worked particularly well last year?
Daniela Eggers: The collaboration and strong cohesion within the leadership circle of the HR value stream organization and recruiting worked particularly well. The cooperation with employer branding and recruiting strategy was also outstanding – characterized by great mutual trust and effective collaboration. In addition, the close coordination with fundamental issues and the works councils in drafting a new works agreement demonstrated how successful joint commitment can be.
What were the biggest challenges the recruiting team faced this year, and how did you respond?
Daniela Eggers: The biggest challenges for our recruiting team this year remained limited personnel capacities and the high workload. To address this, we took various measures: We hired new colleagues, simplified processes, and developed bots to take over routine tasks. At the same time, we placed a special focus on the health and well-being of our employees. With “healthy recruiting” as a strategic goal and the introduction of distributed leadership, we are setting clear priorities that put development and people at the center.
Are there specific goals or projects that you and your team are aiming for this year?
Daniela Eggers: We have again set ambitious goals for this year. A central focus is on developing people in recruiting in new digital skills and agile values as well as team collaboration. However, our core objective remains the successful filling of EnBW and Netze BW personnel needs – always with strong customer focus on candidates and managers (hiring managers).
The year 2025 will be particularly marked by our digital transformation program “EnABLE:HR.” Here, we are laying the foundation to further enable HR digitalization. With the goal of going live with a user-friendly HR platform in May 2026, we are working with focus and foresight on solution and process design, system configuration, and cross-system testing. In addition, we want to further drive the use of AI and skills management in recruiting by introducing an “Experience Platform.”
Diversity is particularly important to us: With targeted measures as part of DE&I@Recruiting, we want to strengthen diversity, equity, and inclusion. We will also continue to work on attracting international talent.
Which new trends or developments in recruiting might be more strongly integrated into the strategy in 2025?
Daniela Eggers: For 2025, we plan to integrate artificial intelligence more strongly into the recruiting process and thus take a big step forward. We will also continue to expand the focus on the topic of “skills” in recruiting and align processes accordingly to better meet the changing demands of the labor market.