True to the motto of ‘lifelong learning’, the new LAUDA Academy was officially opened in July as part of the annual World Jour Fixe together with the business managers of LAUDA’s twelve foreign subsidiaries and the management and employees of its headquarters in Lauda-Königshofen.
In addition to in-house training and customer training, core elements of LAUDA’s new field of activity are cooperation and networking with colleges, universities, associations and other institutions, as well as further exploration of topics such as health, nutrition and work-life balance.
Managing director at LAUDA Dr Gunther Wobser said: “The LAUDA Academy will prepare us to meet future challenges and support us in recognizing your potential.
“The confidence that future issues will present us with more opportunity than uncertainty can only develop if these issues as well as proposed solutions are known.”.
Dr Gunther Wobser named digitisation as a particularly crucial challenge and task in general, and for LAUDA especially.
He added: “We live in a time in which digitalisation, in particular is changing the world of work and business, reaching into all areas of business with increasingly rapid cycles of change.”.
This results in all LAUDA employees and managers living in a field of tension between ‘normal terrain’ and the challenge of being open to new and ever more rapid developments. There is no alternative to change. Even if this is not easy for some, everyone can manage it.
Wobster added: “To do this, we require knowledge and skills.”
The LAUDA Academy aims to not only prepare employees for the future, but also to make the company attractive to prospective employees and future applicants. Through this, the company also displays its intention to develop its role as a world market leader, as well as its awareness of its responsibility for the region.
Dr Gunther Wobser emphasised: “The main thing now is to fill the academy with life.”
It is important to include all levels of the company, as far as possible. A taste of what might be offered under the roof of the LAUDA Academy was, firstly, an informative, exciting and entertainingly pointed lecture by Niels Pflaging, consultant and lecturer, on ‘Modern forms of organization in companies’ and ‘The future of work’.
Secondly, a workshop developed together with the Jeunesses Musicales Germany created a greater awareness and understanding of the interaction of voice and personality.
Among other things, this workshop explored the art of self-presentation, for instance through expression and nuances of the voice, whether in discussions with colleagues or in team meetings, conversations with customers or during a presentation in front of an audience. Head of the LAUDA Academy is Matthias Mohr, who was already part of the extended management team at LAUDA as a project manager for LAUDA heating and cooling systems from 2002 to 2012, as well as being the deputy head of the business division of that sector from 2009 to 2012.
In concept development and organisation, Matthias Mohr works closely together with Kirsten Schumacher, who has been working for the company for three years. They have both completed several advanced training courses in the fields of coaching, employee development and learning concepts, among others, and have worked extensively in these areas.
Mohr said: “Expert knowledge acquired through training, study and professional experience is very often out of date after only a few years.”
In addition, organisations and world market leaders such as LAUDA in particular, have to respond and adapt to constantly changing customer requirements and market conditions ever faster and with ever more flexibility.