DEVELOP chosen as one of the best SME employers

Press release
Develop chosen as one of the best SME employers

Wolfgang Clement is to present this trading company based in Lower Saxony with the Top Job accolade for its exemplary HR management

Langenhagen – Develop GmbH is one of the best employers among Germany’s small and medium-sized companies, according to the results of the latest Top Job survey, a nationwide, corporate-benchmarking competition encompassing all sectors of the economy. The judges in the eighth round of this renowned business initiative were impressed by the company's successful approach to human resources management, which has helped it through the economic crisis. Wolfgang Clement, Germany’s former economics minister and mentor of the Top Job initiative, will be presenting the company with the prestigious Top Job seal of approval this Thursday evening at a ceremony in Duisburg-Nord Industrial Landscape Park.

Bettina Steinkamp (Assistant Management), Dirk Roos (Vice President)
and Wolfgang Clement a Mentor of MSC Iniciative

In making this award, he will be recognising Develop’s achievements in the categories of Leadership & Vision, Motivation & Dynamism, Culture & Communication, Staff Development & Prospects, Family Awareness & Demography and Internal Entrepreneurship.
At Develop, which provides state-of-the-art office communications solutions, HR management focuses on respect for the individual, with every single employee given encouragement to participate in lifelong learning. Once a year, the workforce of 48 awards an OScAR to the best team in the organisation. Named after the Hollywood film prize, the initials stand for Open-minded, Studious combined with Active and Respectful, the key characteristics that Develop believes define the ideal employee. Each year, both staff and customers answer a questionnaire to rank the teams in terms of these characteristics. The team that achieves the best results wins the OScAR, which is symbolised by a statue hand carved by a staff member. In recognition of their achievements, individual team members receive rewards such as theatre tickets or the opportunity to try bungee jumping. There are also annual staff development meetings and in-house strategy workshops.
Develop had to pass a stringent two-stage process devised by the Institute for Leadership and Human Resource Management at the University of St.  Gallen, Switzerland. The institute's director, Professor Heike Bruch, reviews the HR management tools used by the participating companies and carries out a detailed staff survey. The company has also made a commitment to treat its employees fairly, even in economically difficult times, and it has signed the Top Job code of conduct.
"Winning an award as a top employer is both an affirmation and an incentive to us. It demonstrates how important our employees are to us and shows that our workforce appreciates our commitment. Treating staff fairly, openly and with respect is a top priority – when times are good and, more particularly, when things get tough", explains managing director Dirk Roos.

All Top Job companies are featured on the website at www.topjob.de and in the book "TOP JOB – Germany's best SME employers" published by Bruch and Clement. The project is organised by compamedia GmbH, Überlingen, Germany, which specialises in mentoring SMEs. Interested companies can apply now for the next round at www.topjob.de. The closing date for entries is 30 April 2010.
Mentor, partners and coordination
The project's mentor is Wolfgang Clement, Germany's former economics minister. Its partners are: Akademie für Führungskräfte der Wirtschaft GmbH, GESAMTMETALL, HESSENMETALL, HRblue AG, HRM.de, Kienbaum Consultants International GmbH, meinestadt.de, Schindlerhof Klaus Kobjoll GmbH, SchmidtColleg GmbH & Co. KG, Unternehmerverband Frankfurt Rhein-Main e. V., Vereinigung der hessischen Unternehmerverbände e. V., Zukunft Personal HRM Expo and Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper. The Top Job project is coordinated by Professor Heike Bruch, director of the Institute for Leadership and Human Resource Management at the University of St. Gallen. She has earned a prominent reputation, particularly in the fields of change management and leadership.
Organiser: compamedia GmbH
compamedia specialises in organising benchmarking projects and creating networks for small and medium-sized enterprises. From its headquarters in Überlingen on Lake Constance, the company runs the Top Job (Germany's best SME employers) benchmarking project, the Top 100 (100 most innovative companies in Germany's SME sector) project and the "Ethics in business – pioneers of ethical conduct" project.
This text is available in digital format from masurat@compamedia.de; photographs of the awards ceremony will be available in the Press section of www.topjob.de from Friday, 29 January. Your contact can provide pictures of the prize-winning company.