newsletter - Elmo Rietschle

Interview
Over the past few weeks, Sales has
once again been reorganized. How
do the employees feel about this?
We‘re flexible in the Sales. And here, too, the
principle is: nothing is more constant than
change.
How do you view the role
of the Sales Division?
Actually, I believe that in the end all the departments
in the company are part of Sales – if
production is too expensive the employees
out in the field will not be able to sell as many
pumps as we need to be able to meet our
targets. Naturally this is somewhat exaggerated,
but I believe that the various areas in the
company are very dependent on one another.
We must work on linking and synchronizing
our activities - and we need to internalize the
fact that we are all in the same boat.
What do you expect from your
employees?
Let me say it once more: it‘s not all about Sales
employees. As the headquarters of the Gardner
Denver Blower Division we have to analyze and
improve each process in the company. There
is an enormous amount of potential that hasn‘t
yet been exploited. My idea is that each of us
carries out his work as though he owned the
company. Assuming responsibility is vital.
Recognizing what is not going well and then
not coming forward is of little help. Remaining
silent means accepting things as they are
against one‘s better knowledge.
focus | August 2008 | 8
Transparency.Speed.Sustainability.
Percy Dengler, Director of Sales in the Blower Division and Managing Director
in Schopfheim and Bad Neustadt, defines key sales issues in the company.
Percy Dengler
We‘ll get there together. We have fantastic
employees and quality products.
You used to work for a purely German
company. What differs most from us,
a company with an American parent?
Basically all companies pursue one goal:
earning enough to secure the future and as
a result also secure jobs. There is a certain
difference in the American fixation on the
quarterly figures that are so vital to investors.
However, for all the major companies worldwide,
structures and instructions from headquarters
have to be complied with. Gardner
Denver has invested an enormous amount
here in Germany and this naturally gives rise
to expectations.
What would you like to see your
colleagues doing?
The three big „C‘s“: communication, customer
orientation and cost awareness. We
must develop a corporate culture of cooperation;
we must realize that in the end it is the
customer who pays our salary and everyone
can contribute by taking a critical look at the
processes in which he is involved in order
to reduce waste. Waste is understood here
in the sense of „lean“ – Mr. Schiessle gave
details of this on the preceding pages.
Closing words?
We‘ll get there together. We have fantastic
employees and quality products. The market
is still bigger than we are – and all of this
creates an excellent basis for a bright future.