In the Komax Group, continuous further education for colleagues on all hierarchy levels is a central part of personnel development. In this approach, the focus of the training measures is on the strategic goals and core business expertise, and employees are supported in their development based on their skills, talents and interests. The offers available range from management seminars and training events on-site, webinars and free LinkedIn learning accounts, through to financial support for external training and further education.

Komax has been cooperating with Luzern university of applied sciences and arts (HSLU) in Switzerland in this area since 2013 and offers the CAS Leadership Dual course, among other things. Managers can complete this course following successful completion of the internal management training and receive an official Swiss further education diploma. The special thing about this course is that the internal company training counts towards the CAS, which shortens the training at HSLU, reduces the cost and optimally combines theory and practice.

Since 2022, eight Komax employees have taken advantage of this opportunity and completed the 8-month course. One of these is Andrea Rivera, who has been Head Market Services at the Komax Group at the headquarters in Dierikon since 2022. We spoke to her and asked about her experiences with the CAS Leadership Dual.

Andrea Rivera, you successfully completed the CAS Leadership Dual in 2023. What can you tell us about the course?
The course delves deeper into the content of the internal management course. The content taught at the university is based on the latest scientific research and knowledge. We studied eight modules in total, focusing on topics such as the role model function, innovative management, coaching, organization, change management, power and responsibility. The program also included a focus on solving current management challenges using the methodology of peer consulting between colleagues. The fact that managers from various sectors came together for the training was a major advantage and the cross-sector exchanges provide a good insight into a wide range of challenges. One afternoon, I had the opportunity to accompany a fellow student in her role as ward care manager at Spital Sursee hospital. In turn, she accompanied me for an afternoon at Komax at the headquarters in Dierikon.

What specific additional skills and knowledge did you gain through the CAS Leadership?
For each module of the course, students must prepare a specific topic and finish with a reflection. This approach, combined with the in-depth insights into the topics in the self reflection stage, was extremely valuable and rewarding. The learning effect is intensified even further through the constant monitoring of the learning progress against the learning contract. This enabled me to enhance my skills in coaching with my colleagues by learning other methodologies, such as the use of Dialogic Orientation Quadrants. I also learned a lot in the «Organization and Change Management» module. Change is a constant factor and poses a significant and frequent challenge for us managers, as well as the employees. Identifying and consciously designing the roles and communication is a major lever in dealing with change processes. Recognizing the logic behind changes and understanding the reasons for them helps everyone involved to handle the developments. This requires constant communication and we must evaluate the changed situation regularly.

What values are particularly important for you in the Komax Group?
All five core values of the Komax Group are important: Innovation, quality, customer focus, responsibility and success. Customer focus is the value that is particularly important to me in my role as a manager. Our customers are what drives both myself and my team in our work. They give us constant feedback on the way we work with them, on the innovations that help them, on the quality required and they allow us to share in their success by continuing to work with us over many years and recommending us to other customers. This requires a genuine interest from our side in knowing our customers, knowing what they share with us in different ways and ultimately enables us to live up to our other values.