Lifelong qualification: the key to a successful future
To enable them to offer intelligent logistics, DACHSER staff are required to have special strategic and problem solving competence. “As a ‘learning organization’, DACHSER is fit for the business challenges of the 21st century,” says Thomas Schulz, head of Corporate Human Resources, in an interview.
Mr Schulz, the view of the world markets has changed in the wake of the financial and economic crisis. What does this mean for logistics and for DACHSER?
The markets have become more complex and this trend is set to continue. Market opportunities and risks are growing closer together. Only decentralized and learning organizations will be in a position to generate value growth in this environment in the future. Against this background, our staff are required to have special strategic and problem solving competence.
Are such competences a question of personality?
DACHSER’s success story is directly linked to breaking static thinking patterns. We look for multi-faceted personalities with the drive and ambition to take themselves and the company forward. If you want to offer intelligent logistics, you need creative minds with the courage not only to implement this service, but to assume responsibility for shaping it – together with customers and colleagues.
Managers as team players – can that work?
A good leader is characterized by the ability to inspire others to travel down the same road. This requires a particular motivational structure and empathy, in other words the ability to put oneself in the position of others. With this in mind, our managers view their staff as creative team members.
What principles underpin DACHSER’s advanced training programme?
In this, our “DACHSER DNA“ provides us with a very good guideline. The underlying principles of our corporate action that this incorporates – for example respect & tolerance, courage to innovate, sustainability or empowerment – apply everywhere in the world and serve as a binding canon in all that we do. On this basis we have created an extensive range of initial and advanced training courses. As well as cooperation with chambers of industry and commerce and universities, these also encompass “DACHSER Competence Development” with the three pillars Personal Skills, Career Management and the DACHSER Academy.
When it comes to initial and advanced training, you don’t just rely on what is available on the market. Why is that?
We expect our staff to be in a position to take the DACHSER philosophy on board for themselves. This often requires them to break out of old moulds and be receptive to new ideas. Particularly when it comes to teamwork. In our selection processes, we therefore work with our own web-based tests, for example, and for management staff have developed special interview and selection procedures for our Assessment Centre in Kempten. We also offer an extensive range of attractive training modules at different levels, from beginners to experts.
What role does the recently opened DACHSER Academy in Cologne play in this?
With the DACHSER Academy attached to the new DACHSER branch in Cologne we have opened a modern training centre. Since February, our instructors have led training courses for staff and managers on a wide range of DACHSER-specific topics, from process seminars to specialized certification courses and induction in in-house IT systems such as Domino or Mikado.
Who is eligible to participate in this training programme?
With this form of knowledge transfer we are addressing staff in all of our networks. The facility has a capacity of up to 80 employees at a time. And there is no age limit. A certification course, for example, takes up around four weeks of learning time in a year. These can be taken individually or en bloc.
At universities, Bachelor and Master study programmes are taking the place of more traditional first-degree programmes. What does this mean for future logisticians?
University education is becoming much more regimented as a result. One danger is that the self-organization component goes short – and with it the capability to develop independent solutions. But precisely this is often required of people later in their profession. I therefore consider a combination of theory and practice to be important. Gaining some work experience in a company during your studies not only broadens your horizon, it is also an important step for developing your personality.
Read more about this topic on page 14 of our DACHSER magazine, Edition 01/2009(PDF, 37 kByte)
