A company can only be as good as the people working there. Even if a company is perfectly structured, as soon as interpersonal relationships are off, the company will not succeed. People play a vital role in all business areas and processes – if not the most crucial role. This means that employees must be considered a relevant component in any holistic business evaluation and development.
“Today’s employees do not consider money as the most important factor anymore. Today, it is all about a sense of purpose,” says Melanie Glaap from the consulting company Kullmann und Meinen in Rösrath east of Cologne. “What is important is why you do what you do, whether you enjoy it, and whether there is any room for development.
Working is enjoyable when you have an intrinsic motivation. So, is it possible to extrinsically motivate people? Yes, but not all in the same way. To recognize and promote talent and motivational force, you need to know the person and develop a relationship with them. Without a relationship, motivating people is impossible. It is always about the people, their relationships – within the team, with their superiors, with the company’s owner – and about their needs.
Melanie Glaap is convinced of this approach: “In today’s work environment, we are much more aware of relationships and their importance. It gets more and more difficult to recruit new employees. This means that it becomes more and more important to establish an emotional bond with your existing team and to get young talent enthusiastic about your company.”
Melanie Glaap can look back on many years of practical experience in gardening and landscaping companies, which benefits the employees and companies she now works with. “After graduating from high school, I did an apprenticeship as a landscape gardener. I then gained experience as a foreperson on a construction site for two years and eventually graduated in Landscaping and Open Space Planning from the University of Applied Sciences Osnabrück. Before starting at Kullmann und Meinen three years ago, I spent 17 years in two different companies, working as a construction manager in several domains.”
Melanie Glaap is very familiar with the daily challenges of the industry. Her deep understanding of the difficulties employees in different positions face builds a solid foundation for her consulting job. “The many years of experience in the profession have shown me how important the development of soft skills is for the success of business processes. This is why I put special emphasis on this topic when it comes to consulting and personal training.
Kullmann und Meinen is one of the exhibitors at the joint stand Young Innovators. This area is funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action and can be found in Hall 3C. NürnbergMesse offers companies in the International StartUp Area special conditions for participating in GaLaBau, the leading International Trade Fair for Urban Green and Open Spaces (www.galabau-messe.com/en). The fair takes places from 11 – 14 September 2024.
