We are “For One Another” – Marcel Verweinen, Continental, Country HR Head

This value of the company speaks volumes about the culture of Continental. A German founded company with portfolio ranging from automotive and rubber based products. History of the company with a culture of trust which is growing on its own with large number of acquisitions and mergers. It is thereby important to have a common culture. The core values remain the same for all verticals across the globe.

Challenges when a merger happens

Marcel says, we stand for “one company and one culture”. When mergers happen, building trust takes time. It sounds easy, however not so easy as people come from different cultural backgrounds. To understand their old culture and make them comfortable to align with the new culture, new brand, leadership structure etc. The training, communication, mindset changes have to be implemented carefully together to let go of their worries and fear to adapt them to the changes. Showcasing of benefits of processes that we follow helps them to align with the organization and gain clarity.

Impact of flexibility on productivity

Workplace flexibility has an impact on satisfaction, which positively impacts productivity. At Continental, people have freedom to act on their own with responsibility. It helps them to be motivated and to feel more satisfied, while taking ownership of their work with responsibility. There is no restriction to desk. I have noticed that family relationships, especially in India, play a big role. People take time off to take care of their parents and children. By being flexible we support them, which is a key factor in increasing employee satisfaction.

Sustain engagement at work

We have a structured program where leaders discuss about expectations, performance in the last year, individual potential and how they would like to develop it. We believe it is a good program where people can talk to leaders and find ways of developing together.

Mobility is a key motivation factor, and Continental fully supports employee aspirations. As it is a worldwide company people are given a chance to move in and move out of locations and jobs which benefits both of them. Attrition rate have been very low as compared to the industry standards.

On implementing Artificial Intelligence(AI)

Artificial intelligence is the future for us. As a technology company in the automotive space, we believe clean, intelligent and connected vehicles are the future. Artificial intelligence is key in making this a reality. The India organization will play a big role to make AI possible.

Our systems are getting more and more self-intelligent. Industrial 4.0* is the topic of robots in our lives. As part of integrating robots and people, there is no need of fear or insecurity of being replaced. Robots are here as additional support to us and do the hard-work for the growing organization and for healthy workplaces. There is no room for fear. We look at robots as collaborative force and not as competition.

There is a steep rise in recruitment at Continental India. We’re currently over 7000 people in India, for the entire group, and growing.  

*Industry 4.0 is a name for the current trend of automation and data exchange in manufacturing technologies. It includes cyber-physical systems, the Internet of things, cloud computing and cognitive computing) 

Motivation during challenging times

The workforce will be increased by 30-40% shortly in some units. The leaders are well trained to provide the security to new comers and adapt the existing workforce during changing times.

We make a demographic analysis of challenging emotions that could come up in the next 3-5 years. The focus is not to let go of competence and be flexible. For example, the average age group of our workforce at the Technical Center is 29. It should be logically considered then that they will eventually settle down, have kids. They will need to be more flexible to handle both work and family, and as an organization we should support them.

As for gender diversity, we are approximately at 25%, and take utmost care to ensure there we are an equal workplace where professionalism is the only differentiator.

Fear of Job insecurity

We give confidence training to leaders, team leaders, group leaders who are the source of strength, support and confidence to their team members. This aids to allay the fear of insecurity among teams. When leaders have trust and belief in the top management they can transmit the same to the team members. Our leaders are our message transmitters to build the confidence.

Part time

The approach of part time is not common in Asia. The idea of Continental is to bring part time work to Asia and India as well and make it a success story. It has been noticed that part-timers in Europe and other parts of world are more efficient, productive, super organized and super motivated. In my opinion, part-time is a good positive move and we will have lot of part-timers in India in 2-3 years’ time frame. It is a win-win situation as people get to choose their work schedules and time-lines.

It was a great pleasure talking to Marcel as he shared about the beautiful offerings of Continental. It is exciting to note that people in future have so many options to look forward to work and follow their hearts in India too. I thank Marcel and his team from the core of my heart who took out their valuable time to showcase their love for Continental and for being there for one another.

Watch this space for more pathbreakers. If you would like to be featured in “joyful-workplaces” blog, do feel free to write to us. Our editorial team would be happy to get in touch. Write to us joyworkshop@hasovan.com.  Catch the work-place philosophy of Continental in the book “Erupt with Joy” by Savitha Hosamane.

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