Our most valu­able capital

It is a problem some­times faced by a company in a rural area. In addi­tion to the youth of our region, how do we get young, capable people from other parts to move to the country, and then stay here? “The career oppor­tu­ni­ties just have to be right,” responds Maxi­m­ilian Kemkes, 21 years young. His expe­ri­ence demon­strates that it can work. Two years ago, as a grad­uate fresh out of high school, he was facing the impor­tant deci­sion as to what should happen next. Based on career coun­seling, he could see himself pursuing a path of indus­trial engi­neering, as he had always been comfort­able with indus­trial as well as tech­nical matters.

Maxi­m­ilian Kemkes appre­ci­ates the combi­na­tion of theory and prac­tice in his dual study program at ebm-papst.

But he wasn’t too keen on spending years studying theory alone. There­fore he consid­ered a dual course of studies with regular prac­tical phases. Back home in the Lower Rhine area of Germany, he had never heard of ebm-papst, but with his profile, he quickly came across our company in the Internet. “By the time I talked about it with a friend who already knew about ebm-papst, it was clear to me that I wanted to apply here,” says Kemkes. He liked both the inno­v­a­tive tech­nology and what he learned about the corpo­rate culture — and the job inter­view confirmed this impres­sion. Kemkes’ deci­sion was made, and he began his studies at the Mosbach campus of the Baden-Würt­tem­berg Coop­er­a­tive State Univer­sity.

I get to work on my own here.”

Maxi­m­ilian Kemkes, Dual study student at ebm-papst in Mulfingen

“That was the right deci­sion,” he says today. He espe­cially likes that fact that he has already been able to put theory into prac­tice a few times. In his prac­tical projects, he is constantly encour­aged to take the initia­tive. For example, Kemkes helped intro­duce shop floor manage­ment to a produc­tion section, and programmed a produc­tion robot. “I really get to work on my own. And when I do need help, there is always someone in the team by my side.” So there are many reasons why Kemkes would like to stay in Mulfingen after he has completed his masters degree course.

A woman with three major projects

A good 9,000 kilo­me­ters to the east, Iris Ren is already a few steps ahead. She has already been working at the Chinese branch of ebm-papst for ten years. She has some­thing in common with Kemkes: ebm-papst was her first job after grad­u­a­tion. Ren started as an assis­tant to manage­ment and today as Marketing Manager takes care of commu­ni­ca­tion matters for the company in China.

Iris Ren at a fair. While working full time as a Marketing Manager, she is pursuing an MBA degree and is mother of a two-year-old son.

Despite the fiercely contested labor market in China, ebm-papst has been able to earn her loyalty. “I have always felt chal­lenged in my job,” she empha­sizes. “I always enjoy carrying out the tasks that the company gives me. These successes are my personal incen­tive. I want to improve contin­u­ously.” In this sense, her personal philos­ophy is closely tied to that of ebm-papst: always to reach for the maximum poten­tial. This also applies to the other areas of her life, which to an outsider appears to be as demanding as playing a piano sonata for four hands by your­self.

My boss is open to a person­ally adjusted working time model.”

Iris Ren, Marketing Manager ebm-papst China

In addi­tion to her full-time job, she is working hard on her MBA – and is the mother of a two-year-old son. She handles this triple load with her innate, prac­ti­cally inex­haustible store of energy, but on the other hand espe­cially with the support of the company. “My boss is open to an indi­vid­u­ally func­tioning model,” she explains. “He allows me to arrange my work schedule flex­ibly, so that none of my life projects misses out. And when it becomes too much, I can always rely on my team.” She points out that her situ­a­tion is not the excep­tion in the company, but rather an example for handling staff. “I am proud to work for such a company,” she says with convic­tion.

Five decades at ebm-papst

Bern­hard Voigt from St. Georgen was also proud as he was honored publicly this year. 50 years anniver­sary of service is simply a reason to cele­brate, even if you are not used to being the center of atten­tion. On April 21, Voigt completed five decades of service. In 1965, as a boy that had just turned 14, he started his appren­tice­ship as a tool­maker at the company, then known as Papst Motoren KG, in the Black Forest – inci­den­tally, at the recom­men­da­tion of his mother, who worked there herself.

Bern­hard Voigt has been working at ebm-papst in St. Georgen for 50 years.

His career got off to a good start. He finished his appren­tice­ship with distinc­tion and was happy to receive the princely sum of ten marks. For 20 years he worked in his field before moving on to new assign­ments. “At the end of the 80s I applied for a posi­tion that was becoming avail­able as Building Super­in­ten­dent because the diver­sity of the job appealed to me,” he remem­bers. “At the time I was happy that it had worked out, although tool­making did not want to let me go alto­gether.”

I’ve always enjoyed working here, espe­cially because of the conge­nial atmos­phere.”

Bern­hard Voigt, Facility Manager ebm-papst St. Georgen

Voigt became the all-round guy at St. Georgen, took care of the winter service, repairs, and every­thing else that was required. In the process he met every one of his colleagues — and all of them know him. “Espe­cially because of the great colle­giality here, I have always been happy to go to work,” he says. So it is with a bit of melan­choly that he looks forward to October when he will start his well deserved retire­ment.