The 2009/2010 Human Resources Report

Katja Petzsche: Training, higher learning and dissertation at Deutsche Telekom.

 Four continents – one talent company.  Some 11,000 trainees and students on cooperative degree courses in Germany alone. “My thesis addressed the legal founda- tions of company training at a theoretical level. Today, I am involved in mentoring trainees in a very practical way as part of my day-to-day work.” Katja Petzsche (left) is a senior expert in the Deutsche Telekom HR unit. Ruby-Marie Quijano, currently in her first year of training as an office com- munications administrator, is one of her mentees. “I believe this is one of the grea- test benefits Deutsche Telekom offers its employees: the hugely diverse range of opportunities to learn and train at work,” says Katja Petzsche. She herself is a per- fect example of this philosophy: Having trained initially as an office communica- tions administrator at Deutsche Telekom, she later went on to get her university entrance certificate at evening school, followed by a degree in economics, and finally trained and graduated as a certified manager from the Sankt Gallen Manage- ment Center in Switzerland. “The company and my superiors supported and encoura- ged me every step of the way.” In April 2009 Katja Petzsche began working on her dissertation, again on a part-time basis alongside work. Now, though, her atten- tion is dedicated to a rather different “pro- ject” – in May 2010, after statutory mater- nity leave, she will be returning to work part-time as a brand-new Mum. “So many o 10 Talent