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The AVL Tech Center in Bietigheim-Bissingen near Stuttgart
» OUR KNOW-HOW IN POWERTRAIN ENGINEERING – COMBINED
WITH THE SYNERGIES BETWEEN INSTRUMENTATION
AND TEST SYSTEMS AND SIMULATION – IS UNIQUE. «
URS GERSPACH,
Executive Vice President Test Systems and Global Operations
‹Gerspach›: AVL’s secret is its extraordinary
corporate culture. AVL is
a family-owned company. Professor
Helmut List shows commitment and
integrity to AVL’s corporate values
with his personality and charisma.
The direct contact between the List
family and their employees makes
you realize how closely connected
they are to the company. The openness
that enables us to talk about all
business matters, the career options,
and also the way achievements are
celebrated – all of this is unique; or
at least it’s not something I have come
across in other companies throughout
my professional career. There is
probably no such thing as a perfect
work environment, and you won’t be
able to measure it objectively either.
But getting very close is indeed possible
– in other words, high motivation
is only achievable if the management
succeeds in making sure that the tasks
and objectives and the accompanying
incentive system are designed in
such a way that when employees do
reach targets, their individual goals
and wishes are instantly fulfilled.
AVL has an employee fluctuation
as low as 2 % with 8,600 employees
worldwide. This figure alone is certainly
a benchmark for engineering
companies and is not least the best
evidence for the employees’ loyalty
and job satisfaction.
‹F.›: In our last interview you told
us that you wanted to strengthen
and expand project organization in
your new position. What needs to
be considered and why?
‹Gerspach›: What we need to consider
is that we have excellent project
managers. The training is exceptionally
good and adapted to the relevant
needs. Globally there are more than
250 project managers. It is my goal to
strengthen the project organization,
which means giving project managers
more responsibility. Their job has
evolved over the years: today project
managers need to be good leaders as
well. Industrial knowledge is the numerator
– but it is less important than
the common denominator. Heads of
projects need to have communication
and social skills, but nowadays
methodological expertise is also necessary
and matters more than purely
technical skills. AVL employees can
choose from a wide range of further
training options. For example, I can
imagine developing a career plan for
engineers whose job today involves
commissioning complex testbeds.
This will give them the opportunity
to grow and one day become project
manager – provided that they
go through the necessary training.
Nowadays it is vital to show young
people all the opportunities that are
available to them right from the start