mm-Lab: “It’s important to support your talents everywhere”

Tell us about the recruitment of international employees. How many are there and how do you find them?

About 18% of our workforce is made up of foreign employees. We look for these at specialist events and job fair in the region, but also over the Internet and through the ZAV (Zentrale Auslands- und Fachvermittlung) of the recruitment agency. We recruit international workforce both abroad and in Germany, for example from German universities.<

How do you make these international specialists feel comfortable in your company?

Before the employee arrives in Germany, if necessary, we will take care of moving and registering in advance and support them in their search for accommodation. When it comes to logistics, a German employer can achieve a lot with little effort, for example if he approaches a landlord and recommends the new employee. When joining the company, we provide new professionals with a mentor who is familiar with the company and its culture, but also with the work content. Ideally, this mentor also has appropriate migration experience. In exchange, we do expect new employees to speak enough English. As soon as they join us, we actively support and encourage them to learn German. Most work content can be translated into English, but we consider learning German a necessary prerequisite for a successful integration into job and life in Germany.

“We can learn from our employees as much as they learn from us”

Are there any examples of a quick rise and a successful career by foreign talents in your company?

Most certainly. Our project assistant comes from Central America and came to us with good German language skills. She has accepted the support of all our customer projects within a very short time and is actively changing her role. Now, she is also responsible for the project purchasing. We have hired a software developer from India, who has become a scrum master (team leader in software development) within half a year. She came to us with very simple German language skills and is learning German very fast.

What positive impulses do young foreign specialists give for the corporate culture?

Several years ago we had several young developers from Spain with us. They showed us that even in project management, the Spanish way of life of not approaching all problems too stubbornly can be profitable for all. We learn from our employees, and they learn from us.