The 2009/2010 Human Resources Report

Claudia Förster and Manfred Ripper: Taking creative new paths with the Service Academy.

First skepticism, then concentration, surprise, and enthusiasm, describes the range of emotions experienced by participants before, during and after the planning game at the Service Academy. “Suddenly the team just got it,” says Claudia Förster (front left). “We realized that if we wanted to reach our goal, we’d have to think outside the box,” says the Diversity Manager at Deutsche Telekom, Germany segment. “The team also had to come up with some creative new approaches.” Her colleague Manfred Ripper (front right), sales manager for around 6,000 small and medium-sized enterprises (SME), adds “We were all really up for it; we discussed everything and worked together to achieve joint success.” No-one stood back and refused to join in, he adds. Both executives are enthusiastic about the Service Aca- demy and would like to implement similar staff training events in the future. Claudia Förster: “These events let us demonstrate how important the indivi- dual employees are to the Group. We all benefit from it.” The first step has al- ready been taken: Special workshops are available to the teams of Service Academy participants under the motto “Tailor-made Service Academy.”  Over 740,000 person-days of training in Germany in 2009.  Some 1,400 management staff attended the Service Academy in 2009. 12 Talent