From time to time we welcome interns in our team, not only from Austria but also from other countries around the world. Based on their personal and educational background and professional experience we involve them in various topics and let them work autonomously in a specific field of interest and in a given frame. Actually Ana is joining our team for three months and for this time our mutual language in meetings and conversations is English.
Beside the integration into daily business topics, we invite our trainees to join our team events. Thus Ana could make her first hiking experiences and what it means to work out in Austria after a long day in the office.
Here are some impressions of the tour with the team and a funny evening at an alp called “Gsohl” in Vorarlberg (editorial team):
Think out of the box: International personnel development
Published on 5. July 2016
This cooperation with the main focus on personnel and organizational development is for us a good example how new perspectives can be created on both sides of a partnership.
In an interview for the company magazine of our partner Van Hoecke/Belgium, Urs Bolter (Blum International Consulting) gives an insight to his work as a consultant around the globe.
< article see here
Personnel and organizational development day 2016
Published on 7. June 2016
International teamwork
Published on 10. May 2016
Our core team at Blum International Consulting gets regular visits from employees from our subsidiaries’ HR departments. This was the case in early April when Amanda Moore (Blum USA) and Allen Carter (Blum UK) came to Hoechst.
Amanda settles in at one of our flexible workplaces
A few minor technical adjustments have to be made
These visits prompt an intensive exchange of knowledge and experiences – the office is like a beehive. Meetings and chats during breaks are conducted in English, mixed in with a few words of Vorarlberg dialect. This is how our guests gain an insight into our day-to-day activities, find out more about the issues we deal with and familiarize themselves with our culture. This allows us to continuously come up with new ideas and jointly develop input on how to translate personnel and organizational development into practice at Blum.
Our intensive exchange of knowledge and experiences over a short period of time produces synergies and allows us to lay the foundations for effective collaboration.
A beautiful view –
from Karren to Lake of Constance
Viewing platform
Restaurant
These visits are valuable experiences for us all – both in our professional and personal lives. They are a great opportunity for us to actually implement the concept of cross-border networking and international collaboration.
Together we are strong! (editorial team)
Dream mobile
Published on 27. November 2015
In an international Company like Blum, more and more people and groups work on the same topic or project in various subsidiaries and time zones. To look at the challenges and opportunities offered by this situation, we carried out the Dream Mobile exercise with the participants of two different workshops.
The object of the exercise was for the subgroups to design and build the identical prototype of a vehicle. A special challenge was that the teams had limited communication possibilities. The result was quite astounding! (Michael Grabher)
Elect your own Boss in a democratic vote – why not?
Published on 25. August 2015
Clear and hierarchic structures are fundamental to success. Or are they? How can the employees of an organization elect their managers and play a part in defining their strategy, recruiting and business plan? Business practice at Haufe-Umantis in St. Gallen is based on democratic principles. We visited the software company and had a look at how they implement co-determination structures and transparency in their day-to-day business. (Editorial team)
TA’OR Boxes from Van Hoecke
Published on 6. July 2015
Our Belgian partner Van Hoecke surprised us with a parcel of beautiful TA’OR boxes when we moved to our new office and launched our new website. The team was delighted, and unwrapping the presents was like Christmas in spring. The practical desk organizers in various designs add the finishing touches to our office. (Editorial team)
Necessity is the mother of invention!
Published on 6. July 2015
What do you do if you don’t have the right materials for a workshop exercise? This was our dilemma at a workshop to support the organizational development process in Singapore. But necessity is the mother of invention:
Instead of using blindfolds for a trust-building exercise, the participants popped orange Blum bags over their heads. The bags had the same effect, were so much more fun – and they added a splash of color to the photos ;-). (Ruth Kalb)
Psycho-social counselling / Employee coaching
Published on 24. March 2015
To our mind, it is important that our employees are in good physical and mental health if our company is to do well. In keeping with our policy of holistic counselling, we believe it is our job to also support and promote our employees as best as possible at an interpersonal level. The growing number of inquiries and increasing complexity of issues require great competence and sensitivity.
We are therefore extremely pleased that our colleague Carmen Baumgartner has completed her academic studies to become a Psycho-Social Counsellor. This means that we can extend and guarantee our professional support in this sensitive and very personal field. (Editing Team)
We’ve moved to our new homepage …
Published on 11. March 2015
We moved into our new office in spring, and our new homepage has also just gone live. Both now have “a keener core and a new look”. It wasn’t until we started lugging around boxes that we realized how much these two large-scale projects have in common. Actually, both changes prompted more or less the same questions.
You know the feeling when you’ve just moved into a new environment, you’ve settled in, found a place for all your possessions, and the most important things start to work again? You’re glad when your PC is up and running. And even if there are still a few hidden building sites, you can slowly begin to relax and breathe out again.
And that’s exactly where we are today with our homepage – we hope we’ve made only a few slip-ups! When you move offices and launch a website there’s the big day when the removal vans drive up to the entrance, and the big day when the site goes live – there’s no way back!
What other analogies are there? Well, it’s the first impression that decides where your interests will lead you. You cannot but get a feeling of what is to come – further encounters and clicks expand the picture you get step by step. Slowly but surely you see the extras and understand that most of the work lies in the detail!
Our shoes …
colorful and varied …
like our team!
You need to deal in depth with the real needs, admit your strengths and weaknesses and heed important details. Only then will the performance and service offering be an authentic and credible promise between service provider and client. You need time, commitment and readiness to capture the essence. What do we really want? What do we want, what can we, and what must we dispense with?
We’ve done our best – the office provides the right framework and supports our workflows optimally. But what’s most important is that we feel at home.
Our new homepage reflects our identity – it’s paid off to have a clean-out, to re-focus and reorganize ourselves – it’s been well worth the move.
Beside the integration into daily business topics, we invite our trainees to join our team events. Thus Ana could make her first hiking experiences and what it means to work out in Austria after a long day in the office.
