Meyer: 'Old School' meets 'New School' with ContiTech's consolidated offices

In most ways, Jim Hill would be considered a progressive leader.

The CEO of Continental's ContiTech North American operations is the head of a business that shows solid results year after year. By all accounts he is well-liked by his staff and colleagues.

In other ways, however, Hill may be considered "old school." He's spent more than three decades in the hose, belt and automotive segments. During that time, he stayed put but the company name kept changing. He was with the Goodyear Engineered Products Group for years. When that was spun off and sold to private equity, the name on the business became Veyance Technologies.

And then Continental bought Veyance in a $2 billion deal that closed in 2015, Hill took on a more visible "face of the business" role as the CEO for ContiTech's business in North America.

He also acknowledged that there are other ways he may be viewed as "old school." In his keynote address at the Rubber News Hose & Belt Manufacturers Conference, he shared that he believes there is much good to be had from having people together in an office situation so they can collaborate and bounce ideas off each other.

During the pandemic, ContiTech had to deal with both the office and manufacturing sides of its operations. Hill said working with the factories took more of a business approach. Production obviously can't be done remotely, but the business has had to deal with a tight labor market and being tuned into the work-life balance for workers who were asked to work a lot of overtime over an extensive period.

But working with the office environment is a bit more emotional in nature, Hill said. ContiTech's North American headquarters in Fairlawn, Ohio, were shut down for over a year. Employee badges were deactivated so staff couldn't go in even if they wanted to. They had to call Hill for permission.

He had no complaints about the job the ContiTech team did while working remotely. When it came time to start bringing staff back to the headquarters, though, there were a number of factors to consider. There was even discussion about whether to shut down the office and go 100 percent remote.

To Hill, there's nothing better than being in a conference room talking business, taking ideas to the next level through a collaborative effort. He's not sure if there's a correlation or not, but he said prior to the pandemic Continental, as a corporation, averaged earning 200 patents a year. But in 2021, with much of the global staff remote, the firm filed for just 60 patents.

He also is aware of the new environment of workers, with some who want to remain fully remote and others who want to come to the office every day. To prepare for the move back, ContiTech consolidated from four floors to two. Among other changes it also renovated space into a "hotel format," where work stations have to be reserved each day, and created "collaboration spaces."

In exchange for the flexibility the new work world demands, Hill said when staff are requested to be in the office for a specific reason, they are expected to be there. That must come from the part of him that remains old school.