“We already feel like a community”

“It was the mix of activities that was so good!” That’s the way Philipp Tasch sums up the ESem. “We learned a lot about the company. I think that’s important so that we can identify with the products right away,” he adds. In three years Philipp will take his exams as an industrial clerk. To create the best conditions for new Beiersdorf trainees like him and help make their training a success, every year there is an introductory seminar: the “ESem” (short for “Einführungsseminar”). “This intensive onboarding phase is an important part of the program for our trainees. They can get to know each other and immerse themselves in the world of Beiersdorf,” explains Manager Vocational Training Daniela Peeters-Bendix.

A total of 37 new trainees explored the company’s facilities in Hamburg from August 12-15. Together they solved tasks about the company, practiced taekwondo as a group to learn about body control as part of awareness, and experienced what it’s like to be part of the Beiersdorf team. “The chance to see all the facilities was the most interesting part for me,” reports Anna Burmester, who is training to be a mechatronics specialist, “in part to see departments where we might not be working later on.” Vivian Krumrich, who is beginning a training program as a laboratory chemist, was very pleased: “We were all made to feel welcome and already feel like a little community.”

One ESem highlight was an interview with the CEO. On the very first day of ESem, the new trainees prepared questions for their informal discussion with Stefan De Loecker. “What has particularly marked your career?” they wanted to know, or, “How well does our company act in regards to sustainability?” The next day, Beiersdorf’s CEO took time to meet the trainees personally and provide them with answers and inspiration. “It was great that we could interview Mr. De Loecker,” says Gerald Nyamamu, who is training to become a chemical technician. He found ESem helpful, too: “I got to know other trainees who are starting programs in other professions, and I’ll be able to exchange experiences with them later on.”

For the trainees, this first step into their professional lives is a challenge in many respects: They have to adjust to a variety of new topics, other employees and new structures. Plus they need to learn the right balance between their jobs and their personal lives. At the end of the intensive ESem week, a trip to the climbing park revealed the kind of balance the new trainees actually have as they climbed around, well secured, among the treetops of the Sachsenwald forest outside Hamburg. “That was a fun way to round off the week and it welded us together as a group,” says Philipp Tasch. And just like the other trainees, he wants to “get to work and gain experience” right away.

The following trainees started their programs on August 12: 12 Industrial clerks, 12 Laboratory chemists, 4 Chemical technicians, 6 Mechatronics specialists, 2 IT specialists and 1 Informatics clerks.

Martina has been part of the Corporate Communications team for many years as a PR consultant and knows the media scene very well. And the journalists know Martina. She coordinates and answers media inquiries, supports filming projects, and she is our contact person for daily press reviews and continuous media monitoring. In addition, she is responsible for the conception and organization of selected press conferences, for example for the successful long-term cooperation project between NIVEA and DLRG.