Downshifting

Urs Tinner’s office looks fairly standard – a beige fitted carpet, a light grey desk and a black PC. But we’re actually in quite a special place: the room is part of a building belonging to the Migros subsidiary Delica in Meilen and many iconic products are made here. In spring, “Fasnachtschüechli“ (sweet carnival fritters) are made in these production halls. The ice lollies bearing the seal are produced here too, as are Farmer bars and Blévita crackers. 52-year-old Tinner is part of the eight-strong sales planning team at Delica. These specialists attempt to look into the future for Migros – they estimate levels of demand for Delica products in the near future. Decisions on the amount of flour, sugar and sunflower oil used and whether particular systems are deployed in two, three or four shifts are based on their forecasts.

The head of sales planning must take many factors into account. Urs Tinner had held this highly demanding position for over ten years. He decided to step back into the ranks at the beginning of 2023 – a voluntary step that he planned. He loved his job: “I worked in a critical hub of the Migros Group and had contact with all sorts of different people,” he explains. “Supporting my team was an aspect of the job I really enjoyed – I wanted everyone to fulfil their potential.”

Just no shortages of ice cream

The accuracy of his team’s forecasting can be seen at the Migros supermarkets: the Delica sales planners can take a lot of the credit if there are enough ice lollies in stock on a hot summer’s day. Their task is complicated by the fact that not only are they responsible for the products from the Meilen plant, but also for those made at the other four Delica plants in Buchs (Canton of Aargau), Birsfelden (Canton of Basel Landschaft), Taverne (Canton of Ticino) and Stabio (Canton of Ticino). The products made at these plants include chocolate, coffee, dried fruit and rice.

How can the demand for all of these different food items actually be estimated? “We factor in everything that could have an impact,” explains Tinner. "What’s the weather going to be like? Is Migros planning to reduce prices? And what are our competitors doing?”

In his final years as head of the team, Urs Tinner made plans to hand over leadership to a younger colleague. “It wasn’t just about scaling back my workload,” he explains. “I also believe that appointing a new boss presents a fantastic opportunity – it’s like a breath of fresh air.” The exchanging of roles took place in early 2023: Urs Tinner handed over the leadership position to his employee Ivan Casanova, 13 years his junior. He then focused entirely on sales planning again.

Tinner’s decision is still an exceptional case in the Swiss economy, but is supported by Migros. There are different names for this – downshifting or scaling down. The key principle is always the same though: a person in a management role relinquishes responsibility years before retirement, voluntarily taking a step down in the hierarchy, but remaining at the company with all of their knowledge and experience. This gives a younger professional the opportunity to develop into a leadership role.

A seamless exchange of roles

Urs Tinner and Ivan Casanova planned this step extremely well. The two colleagues spent months discussing collaboration and future organisation, then obtained the approval of their line managers and let the team know about their intentions at an early stage.

Urs Tinner has never regretted relinquishing his leadership role. He now has much more leisure time, especially for sport: he has joined a floorball and badminton club close to where he lives in Rapperswil-Jona. He frequently visits his parents who have relocated to the Engandin holiday resort of Scuol after retiring. However, nothing has changed in terms of his relationship with his family: “I was always there for them, even during stressful periods as a boss,” Tinner underlines.

Can a change in role between a boss and team member cause friction? Doesn’t everyone get frustrated with their line manager at times? And does this resentment come to the fore when the balance of power is suddenly reversed? “There has never been any underlying tension between Urs and I,” reveals Ivan Casanova. “The exchange of roles has been so successful because we get along so well together. Our relationship has always been like that and things will remain that way in future too.”