In the first episode of our new „Snackbox“ podcast, Christoph Thomas provides some personal insights into his life. He takes us on a journey back into his youth when Thomas as a company was ever-present but never dominant in family life. He talks about his studies in Combined Business Administration & Engineering as well as the gradual process – spanning several years – that shaped his decision to join the company. Today he is one of the three managing directors at Thomas.
Our podcasts are currently only available in German, so we have summarized the content for you here:
Christoph Thomas tells us how he joined Thomas in 2014 and set up the Transmission Actuator unit, in addition to reviewing the successful route taken by this area of business since then. „Corporate culture“ and „family business“ are two topics that feature heavily in the conversation: long-term decisions and strategies, value orientation, developing a vision together, and implementing it with the help of family capital – all these aspects distinguish Thomas from purely profit-driven companies where everything revolves around quarterly results. „Each and every employee is a value ambassador,“ and „Simply formulating a strategy does not guarantee success,“ says Christoph Thomas. And it is precisely this mixture of a focus on values, a spirit of innovation, and a „hunger for technology“ that makes the company stand out for him.
He also takes a look at the honor system for working hours and mobile working – an offer that employees gladly accept. „Everyone can determine the rhythm that is best for them. I think that’s important, because ultimately we don’t simply want attendance, we want performance. Only where it makes sense, of course.“ Incidentally, he also uses mobile working himself, e.g., when he is needed at home at short notice.
Last but not least, listeners can find out a little about Christoph Thomas „the family man“ and how he tries to separate work and family life as much as possible. It comes as no surprise that he doesn’t always succeed in this respect. Having said that, „There are periods in which you can make a point of carving out more time for the family, and then there are periods in which the family unfortunately gets a raw deal. It’s important to be aware of that and talk to each other about it in an effort to do justice to everyone involved.“
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