IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Behind the scenes
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Creating connection:
You are what really matters
Creating connection:
You are what really matters
David M. Neumann,
Group CEO, Neumann Gruppe
“We at Neumann Kaffee Gruppe want to positively influence and help shape the future of coffee cultivation and trade. To achieve this, it is essential that everyone along the coffee value chain can make a living from it in the long term and that the diversity of coffee is sustainably secured. We are therefore sticking to our core objective of being the world’s most respected and sought-after coffee trading group. And one thing is very clear: we need you, each and every one of you, to achieve this.
At the moment, it is not always easy for you to really get involved: On the one hand, we have to process more and more information at an increasing speed, even though time and resources are already scarce. At the same time, many of you who do not work on a laptop or computer, for example, have not had access to a channel through which we could really reach you internally at NKG. Some of the ideas and innovations that our Group companies have already driven forward and implemented are not even visible to others because there is not enough exchange between the companies and individual employees. And global developments in society, the environment and politics also bring with them requirements from outside the group that are becoming increasingly demanding and complex – they cannot be mastered by the group companies alone and much less by a single person. And this is precisely where we want to further combine and expand our strengths within the group by involving you all and enabling you to participate with all your ideas and strengths – and thus successfully shape our future together at NKG.”
We are already in the middle of a process that is bringing us all closer together, including the employee level. Many departments are made up of people in different companies and countries; there is a team that deals with group-wide digitalization; our still relatively new Group HR department, which looks after the people at NKG globally and regionally; and you are all reading our INSIDE MAG around the world right now. These are just a few examples of how we are already closely connected and function as a group in many places. However, just as at holding company and company level, this does not mean that we suddenly have to do everything the same at an individual level.
Your strengths and characteristics, which you all bring with you, are precisely what we benefit from as a group and through which we can grow and learn. So that’s exactly what it’s all about: our diverse activities, knowledge and talents determine the success of our entire Group. To make it possible for you all to be heard and to develop, inform yourself and contribute, the structures must of course also be in place. In order to facilitate exchange and networking, more opportunities are being created – through simpler collaboration and sensible changes. So that you can all really participate.
Our environment, our international business, global supply chains – the issues and the problems we deal with are becoming increasingly complex. Many things are changing rapidly and in a similar direction, not only locally, but also in other countries and companies, even industry-wide. Challenges such as climate change and EU regulations such as those on non-deforestation are almost impossible to tackle locally, let alone solve.
As we write in our Brand Manifesto, one of our core goals is that “in the long term, everyone along the coffee supply chain can make a good living from their work and together we can ensure that people around the world can continue to enjoy their beloved cup of coffee”. So, if we want to be successful in the long term, survive on the market and ensure the sustainable cultivation of coffee and the supply of markets, we need a vibrant community of involved, committed people in all NKG companies who can develop solutions and support each other.
The fact that we are moving closer together as a group has an impact on many areas. A good example is internal communication: especially in the context of a large diverse group, there is a lot of communication, and it is important that you all have access to the information and knowledge you need. In addition, we can only really network if the conditions are right and channels are in place.
So, in order to get a better grip on the increasing flood of information and enable more exchange, internal communication is now more bundled, more clearly structured and more open to interaction and dialog. To reflect the fact that the aim is also to continue to grow together, all channels will be united under the “INSIDE NKG” umbrella in future. The individual channels are now more clearly differentiated from one another and at the same time better networked. They have been given a clear focus in terms of content and form, making it much easier to see who can find what information where (all about this in the article “INSIDE NKG”).
Lena Tippel,
Head of Communications, Neumann Gruppe
“In a business environment that is changing dynamically and constantly, a clearly aligned internal communication is of increasing importance – not only to share news from the holding in Hamburg, but also to make all different perspectives, best cases and learnings visible: the ones of the NKG group companies as well as each individual employee. To achieve this, it is essential to be able to reach everyone – regardless of position, location, company or workplace – but also to let everyone know that their input, ideas and opinions are appreciated or even needed.
Structuring and bundling the diverse internal communication channels better and better is certainly a process that cannot happen overnight and will accompany us for quite some time to come – but we are looking forward to taking a first important step in this direction and learning even more from each other along the way!”
Internal communication is about working together: the group, the companies and you – each and every one of our employees at NKG. It can make our life a lot easier, enable us to exchange ideas and knowledge, share best practices, reduce mistakes and provide support.
At the beginning of September, representatives from several Group companies, the Board of Management and the Coaching team met for a three-day meeting near Hamburg. In intensive rounds, various topics were discussed, such as the development of our business and the coffee market as a whole. Another key topic was the cooperation between the holding company and the operating companies.
After months of intense preparation, especially by the project team and many HR colleagues around the world, our new global Human Resources System (HRS) Workday is live! From now on, all group companies will use this HRS as our global solution. If you have not signed up yet, it’s about time! We will tell you why!
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