Eighty-four young people start apprentice training at Brose

Eighty-four young people set off on their professional career at Brose when the new training year began: 60 commenced their apprentice training on September 1 in one of the total of eight industrial/technical and commercial vocations. Thirty-six are receiving training at the Coburg and Hallstadt locations, 16 in Würzburg, four in Wuppertal and two in Berlin. Brose Gastronomie GmbH in Coburg and Hallstadt is also training two young men to be chefs.

From October 1 on, a further 24 junior members of staff at the Coburg, Hallstadt, Wuppertal and Würzburg locations will commence cooperative education in mechanical engineering, electrical engineering and industrial engineering. More and more school students are choosing this demanding and practical qualification model at Brose, since it combines university attendance with assignments at the company.

“We regard apprentice training as a key component in developing junior employees. Sound training at an international company like Brose offers young people highly promising job prospects in Germany and abroad,” stresses Michael Stammberger, head of apprentice training at Brose.

And it has long since not been enough just to give apprentices an excellent grounding in their subject area: “A modern and successful apprentice training concept fosters and demands technical and social skills alike,” adds Stammberger.

This is flanked by an unusual and practical project: the Brose Junior Company. At this “learning company” at Coburg, the firm’s youngest members are taught how to act independently and under their own responsibility. At the same time, they can strengthen their expertise, methodological competence and social skills in handling concrete orders. Sending trainees abroad to Brose locations in Europe and overseas for several weeks or months is also part of Brose’s concept. Participation in the program is voluntary. A stay abroad is obligatory only for industrial engineering students from the cooperative course of study.

The costs for flights and subsistence are paid by the company. The locations where the trainees are assigned organize accommodation for them. Throughout the assignment, the young people are supervised by a personal contact person – on site and at their home location.

“Under this program we are developing junior employees who are open to international assignments and ideally prepared for them,” says Stammberger. The focus is not only on vocational qualification, but also personal development.

As a globally operating company, Brose needs employees who display assurance in cooperating internationally and have an open attitude towards other cultures. And because knowledge of languages is indispensable in international business life, Brose has integrated English as a subject in its internal training in all vocations. As Michael Stammberger says: “We want to make sure that even our youngest employees are able to work at international locations without any language barriers.”

To cater for the wide range of requirements, the language is taught in such a way that it is tailored to their vocation. The weekly lesson focuses on speaking freely. The young people discuss vocation-related issues or give presentations.

It all starts with getting to know each other

A four-day introductory seminar was staged at the Neukirchen Youth Club in Lautertal for Brose apprentices in the first week of September to launch them on their career. This was followed at the end of the week by an introductory event at which Jürgen Otto, the Chief Executive Officer of the Brose Group, personally welcomed Brose’s new members. The young people were familiarized with the company, its training operations and The New Brose Organizational Model. They deepened their knowledge of the first contents of their future training in group work. And they also had time to get to know each other at a sports tournament.

Including the new apprentices, a total of 265 young men and women are now learning a vocation at the Brose Group. 172 are located in Coburg and Hallstadt, 19 in Wuppertal, 68 in Würzburg and 6 in Berlin.