Coaching for the Steel Industry With Sharpist

The German steel industry is facing a historic turning point: simultaneously cutting thousands of jobs, switching to an entirely new production technology, and upskilling the remaining workforce for a new era – this is the reality confronting CHROs and L&D leaders in steel companies today. Those who fail to invest in leadership development now risk losing the very people who are supposed to drive the transformation. Sharpist offers the scalable, measurable coaching solution this industry demands.

The Topic in a Nutshell

Why the Steel Industry Must Invest in Coaching Now

Existential Crisis as Transformation Opportunity: The State of the German Steel Industry in 2026

The German steel industry is experiencing a turning point whose depth can hardly be overstated. In the first half of 2025, domestic production fell by 12% to 17.1 million tons, while the sector recorded a revenue decline of €5.3 billion in 2024. High energy prices, cheap imports from China, and weak demand from key sectors such as automotive and mechanical engineering are putting companies under enormous pressure. At the same time, new geopolitical dynamics – such as rising defense demand and Europe's focus on economic resilience – point to a potential demand surge that confronts the industry with entirely new strategic requirements. In this complex environment, leaders are being challenged like rarely before: they must endure uncertainty, communicate it, and simultaneously chart the course for a new era.

The Dual Transformation: Managing Workforce Reductions and a Technology Shift Simultaneously

What sets the steel industry apart from other industries in transformation is the simultaneity of two opposing tasks. thyssenkrupp Steel plans to reduce its workforce from 27,000 to approximately 16,000 employees by 2030 – while simultaneously executing the technology shift from coal-based blast furnaces to hydrogen-powered direct reduction plants (DRI) and electric arc furnaces (EAF). Stahl-Holding-Saar is investing €2 billion in precisely this new infrastructure. Leaders who are conducting separation conversations today must inspire their teams for an entirely new production technology tomorrow. This ambidexterity – managing downsizing and building up at the same time – is the central leadership challenge of the industry and requires targeted, individualized coaching that goes far beyond traditional seminar content.

Skills Shortage and Brain Drain: Why Leader Retention Is a Matter of Survival

Alongside the workforce reductions, the skills shortage is intensifying: in metal product manufacturing, approximately 18,500 positions could not be filled in 2024. Strong leaders who see no future during the crisis leave – taking critical transformation knowledge with them. The irony: at the very moment companies are cutting positions, they must do everything in their power to retain and develop the remaining key personnel. Sharpist clients like Miro achieved 100% retention of key personnel during a comparable restructuring phase – a result that demonstrates how effective targeted coaching can be as a retention tool.

What Leadership Competencies the Steel Transformation Requires

Change Leadership: From Blast Furnace to Direct Reduction

The shift from the conventional blast furnace route to direct-reduction-based steel production is not a technical update – it is a cultural rupture. Processes that shaped generations of steelworkers are being replaced. Leaders must not only manage this change but actively shape it: they need to explain why the change is necessary, take resistance seriously, and provide direction at the same time. Change leadership is therefore the most in-demand competency in the steel transformation. Coaching provides the safe space where leaders can reflect on their own attitude toward change and develop concrete communication strategies – before deploying them on the shop floor.

Shop Floor Leadership: Coaching for Foremen and Shift Supervisors in 24/7 Operations

In the steel industry, the transformation is not decided in the boardroom but at the rolling mill and the furnace. Foremen and shift supervisors are the leaders who mediate daily between corporate objectives and workforce concerns. They lead in a physically demanding environment, often without a fixed desk, across rotating shifts, and under intense performance pressure. Their need for coaching is real and urgent – yet it is routinely overlooked in traditional leadership programs that focus on senior management. A personalized coaching approach that works on mobile devices, asynchronously, and in short sessions is not optional for this target group – it is a prerequisite.

Crisis Communication: Leading Between Workforce Reductions and a New Beginning

How does a leader credibly communicate a sense of new beginnings when colleagues are simultaneously leaving the company? In the steel industry, this question is not theoretical – it is daily practice. Crisis communication – both internal and external – is a competency that can hardly be learned in a seminar under pressure. It requires reflection, feedback, and the opportunity to prepare for and debrief specific conversations. This is precisely where 1:1 coaching delivers its greatest impact: as preparation for difficult conversations, as a space for self-reflection, and as a place where leaders can strengthen their own resilience.

Digital Competency: Steel 4.0 and Data-Driven Production

Companies like ArcelorMittal and Salzgitter are increasingly leveraging AI and big data to optimize production processes. Leaders do not need to program these systems themselves, but they must understand how data-driven decision-making processes change their leadership role. Data literacy, confident use of digital tools, and the ability to inspire employees to embrace new technologies are competencies that coaching can develop in a targeted way – especially when coaches themselves bring experience in digital transformation processes.

Coaching Formats for the Steel Industry Compared

Why Traditional Formats Fail in Shift Operations

A three-day leadership seminar sounds reasonable – until you consider the reality of a steel plant. In 24/7 three-shift operations, it is structurally nearly impossible to pull shift supervisors or foremen out of operations for several days without causing significant production losses or additional costs. On top of that, even when attendance is achieved, activation rates on traditional e-learning platforms typically sit at just 10–20%. This means the bulk of the investment is wasted without delivering measurable impact. Digital 1:1 coaching, by contrast, is flexible in timing, location-independent, and can be used during breaks, between shifts, or on weekends – without disrupting ongoing operations. Coaching program success rates depend significantly on how well the format fits participants' real-life circumstances.

Cost Comparison: What Pays Off for 100 Leaders in a Steel Plant

The following overview shows how the three most common L&D formats differ for a group of 100 leaders in a steel plant – beyond pure licensing or seminar costs:

The cost figures for in-person seminars do not account for hidden costs: downtime, travel expenses, and shift-coverage arrangements. Once these are factored in, the calculation shifts significantly in favor of digital formats – especially for multi-site structures.

Digital Coaching in the Steel Industry: How It Works in Practice

Mobile-First: Coaching Between Shifts

Leaders in steel plants rarely have a fixed desk. Coaching must therefore happen where they are: on their smartphone, in the locker room, in the car on the way home. Digital coaching platforms designed with a consistent mobile-first approach make exactly this possible. Short micro tasks of no more than 5 minutes can be completed during breaks, and video sessions with the coach can be scheduled flexibly – including outside regular working hours. The AI coach is available 24/7 without scheduling and is especially suited for spontaneous preparation for difficult conversations or reflection after a challenging shift.

Multi-Site Scaling: One Program for All Plants

Steel corporations operate plants across multiple locations – thyssenkrupp, for example, in Duisburg, Bochum, Siegen, and Dortmund. A leadership program that only works at one site does not solve the problem. Digital coaching platforms with a flexible credit system make it possible to manage resources centrally and distribute them across sites. Less active users can transfer their credits to more active ones, and cohorts can be formed by location, leadership level, or transformation topic. For L&D teams, this means: no manual administrative effort, consistent quality standards, and a centralized data foundation for progress reporting to senior management. Sharpist's digital coaching platform was built for precisely this type of scaling requirement.

Measuring ROI: How Coaching Impact Becomes Visible in the L&D Dashboard

"Coaching is not measurable" – this argument comes up frequently in budget discussions. It is no longer true. Modern coaching platforms deliver real-time analytics with industry benchmarks, engagement rates, goal-attainment data, and pre-post assessments. For CHROs who need to justify investments to the board during a loss-making phase, this ROI evidence is critical. Sharpist clients like Palfinger – also in industrial manufacturing – recorded a 20% decrease in absenteeism rates after systematically implementing coaching. RWE, a company in a transformation phase comparable to the steel industry, uses Sharpist for cultural change. These results are not coincidences but the outcome of proven benefits of executive coaching combined with systematic impact measurement.

Implementing Coaching: What Is Different in the Steel Industry

Works Council as Partner: Integrating Coaching Into the Works Agreement

In no other industry is co-determination as deeply rooted as in the German steel industry. Anyone attempting to introduce a digital coaching program without involving the works council will fail. The Works Constitution Act (§§ 96–98 BetrVG) grants the works council co-determination rights over workplace training measures – and IG Metall-affiliated works councils in steel companies take this right seriously. The good news: works councils in the steel transformation are not blockers but often active promoters of upskilling initiatives. They view training as a tool for job security. A works agreement that explicitly governs voluntary participation, data protection, and the exclusion of performance monitoring creates the necessary foundation of trust. Importantly, the platform used must be GDPR-compliant and ideally ISO 27001-certified – requirements that should be considered from the outset when selecting a platform.

Overcoming Cultural Barriers: "Coaching Is Not for Steelworkers"

The technical orientation of leadership culture in the steel industry is real. Many foremen and shift supervisors rose into their leadership roles through technical expertise – engineering mindsets, results orientation, and pragmatic action define their self-image. "Soft skills" programs are viewed with skepticism, and coaching is associated with therapy or weakness. This barrier cannot be overcome through communication alone but through the format itself: coaching that is results-oriented, pragmatic, and focused on concrete leadership situations wins over technically minded leaders as well. Starting with concrete use cases – "How do I handle the next difficult employee conversation?" rather than "How do I develop my personality?" – significantly lowers the threshold. Strategies for remote leadership demonstrate how digital coaching can gain acceptance even in non-traditional work environments.

Funding Opportunities: Leveraging the Qualifizierungschancengesetz and Transformation Collective Agreement

Many HR teams in the steel industry are unaware that coaching programs can potentially be co-funded through the Qualifizierungschancengesetz (Skills Development Opportunities Act) – particularly when they are linked to technological structural change. The Federal Employment Agency funds training measures related to structural change, which directly applies to the steel industry. Additionally, IG Metall has negotiated the option of a transformation-related reduction in working hours to as few as 32 hours in the steel collective agreement – with partial wage compensation. The resulting time windows can be explicitly used for upskilling and coaching. Early coordination with the Federal Employment Agency and the works council regarding the eligibility of specific measures is always worthwhile.

5 Steps to a Coaching Program in a Steel Plant

Introducing a coaching program in a steel company follows a different logic than in a tech company. The following five steps account for the industry-specific conditions:

Conclusion

The steel industry faces a leadership challenge that is unique in its complexity: simultaneously managing workforce reductions, driving an epochal technology shift, and inspiring the remaining workforce for a new era. Traditional L&D formats are structurally unsuited for this task – they fail in shift operations, in multi-site realities, and in the absence of measurability. Digital coaching that works on mobile, flexibly, and in a data-driven way is the answer to precisely these challenges.

What matters most is taking the industry-specific conditions seriously: winning the works council as a partner, overcoming cultural barriers through pragmatic entry scenarios, and starting with the middle management tier that has the greatest leverage. Companies that invest in developing their leaders now are not only securing the transformation – they are securing the people who carry it. If you would like to learn how Sharpist can support your organization, schedule a personal consultation now.

FAQ

Why Is the Steel Industry a Particularly Challenging Sector for Leadership Development?

The steel industry combines challenges that hardly any other sector faces in this form: leaders must simultaneously communicate massive workforce reductions and inspire their teams for an epochal technology shift – from coal-based blast furnaces to hydrogen-powered direct reduction plants. Add to this 24/7 shift operations, multi-site structures, and a technically oriented leadership culture that is skeptical of traditional L&D formats. Generic leadership programs fall short here – what is needed are formats that work on mobile, address concrete leadership situations, and overcome cultural barriers through pragmatic entry scenarios.

How Can Coaching Be Reconciled With 24/7 Shift Operations in the Steel Industry?

Digital 1:1 coaching is the only format that is structurally compatible with three-shift operations. Video sessions of 30–60 minutes are scheduled flexibly according to the individual's shift rhythm – no travel, no coverage planning, no production downtime. Supplementary micro tasks of no more than 5 minutes can be completed during breaks, between shifts, or on the commute home. The AI coach is also available 24/7 without scheduling – ideal for spontaneous preparation for difficult conversations after a challenging shift.

How Do I Involve the Works Council When Introducing a Digital Coaching Platform in a Steel Company?

In the steel industry, involving the works council is not an optional step but a strategic prerequisite. Under §§ 96–98 BetrVG, the works council has co-determination rights over workplace training measures. The decisive argument: IG Metall-affiliated works councils view upskilling as a tool for job security – making them potential co-sponsors, not blockers. A works agreement that governs voluntary participation, data protection, and the explicit exclusion of performance monitoring creates the necessary foundation of trust. Sharpist is ISO 27001-certified and GDPR-compliant – an important basis for these discussions.

What Funding Opportunities Exist for Coaching Programs in the Steel Industry?

Two funding levers are particularly relevant. The Qualifizierungschancengesetz (QCG – Skills Development Opportunities Act) enables co-funding of training measures by the Federal Employment Agency – explicitly when roles are affected by technological structural change, which directly applies to the steel industry. Additionally, IG Metall has negotiated a transformation-related reduction in working hours to as few as 32 hours with partial wage compensation in the steel collective agreement – the resulting time windows can be explicitly used for coaching and upskilling. Important: QCG funding applications must be submitted before the measure begins.