EPLAN: Top Employer again

EPLAN, a company of the Friedhelm Loh Group, was certified as one of “Top Employer Germany" for the third time in a row. After undergoing an auditing process, the Top Employers Institute honoured EPLAN with the award. The Friedhelm Loh Group has been among the awardees for nine years running. EPLAN impressed the committee with its strengths in the areas of onboarding, performance management, and career and succession planning. Monheim/ Hanover, 24 April 2017 – After being certified in both 2015 and 2016, solutions provider EPLAN was again named one of Germany’s Top Employers. The Top Employers Institute explained its decision by emphasising EPLAN’s strengths in the categories of onboarding, performance management, and career and succession planning. Onboarding is the all-encompassing and organised introduction of new employees into the company. In this area, EPLAN demonstrated an integrated and comprehensive process that begins with a personal welcome and a “check-in talk”, and continues with various activities, such as a personal mentor for each new employee. In the area of performance management, the jury was impressed by the standardised processes for employee personal performance reviews, which base on the corporate principles. Personnel performance conferences in agile development teams were also a decisive criterion for the positive assessment. Taking a closer look at career and succession planning, the standardised, personalised career development strategy in the area of consulting was just one of the “winning formulas”. The Top Employers Institute was also enthusiastic about management communication as a part of staff meetings – three live streams that were broadcast on one day in all of the world’s time zones set a new quality benchmark for uniform communications to all employees worldwide.

International Graduate Programme

Even though the EPLAN International Graduate Programme wasn’t relevant to the evaluation, it remains highly attractive for employees’ career planning. Since 2012, programme participants are intensively prepared for their careers within this programme, with a wide variety of trainings and the support and expert guidance of mentors. EPLAN Head of Human Resources Dagmar Henkel explains: “Since 2012, we have qualified 44 trainees at EPLAN, including 13 women.” This is an excellent ratio for the software business, where the proportion of male employees is typically much higher than the share of women. What also makes the programme attractive for applicants is its international focus. This way, the participants can gain experience on the job and share it in an intercultural environment. Furthermore, they can use the opportunity to spend some time abroad. For instance, a former programme participant is now working in China – another one is employed in Norway. The countries from where the participants come are diverse: Morocco, Venezuela and India are just some examples. Programme participants are highly motivated and their success is impressive – three programme graduates have already developed into managerial positions.

Highest levels of training and development

Yet, EPLAN isn’t relying on its strengths alone. “We benefit enormously from the synergies and power of the Friedhelm Loh Group,” says President Maximilian Brandl. “The Loh Academy, which has so far offered more than 25,000 seminars and workshops, is an essential partner for us regarding training and development.” As an example, almost every EPLAN manager has taken part in the several-month lasting programme Leading With Passion. “As a medium-sized software company with around eight hundred employees, we’re particularly proud of the Top Employer award,” Dagmar Henkel says. “It shows that it’s not just about a company’s size, but about the individual performances as part of a hard-working, innovative team.” EPLAN, April 2017