Motivating employees to perform - Audi

Felix Magath:“Anyone seekingto motivateemployees needsa realistic pictureof people astheir basis.”objective: to come top. Comingsecond counts for nothing. Buta club such as Chelsea hasn’twon anything like the numberof titles that we have, andthat makes them much morehungry for success. As well asenjoying playing, a footballermust above all enjoy winning. That’s why staying at the top is infinitelymore difficult than getting to the top.Dr. Neumann, how do you pave the way for flow among the employeesof a car manufacturer?Prof. Dr. Felix von Cube, born 1927, was Professor ofEducational Science at the Universities of ProfessionalEducation in Berlin and Bonn, as well as at theUniversity of Heidelberg. In 1997 he and two colleaguesestablished the Heidelberg-based companyProf. von Cube & Kollegen GmbH. The companysupports companies on questions relating to motivationand employee leadership. Von Cube has writtena large number of books and specialist articles.Felix Magath, born 1953, has been the manager ofFC Bayern Munich since July 2004. Born in Sailauf,near Aschaffenburg, he was himself a professionalplayer in the 1970s and 1980s, playing for Saarbrückenand Hamburg SV. Magath’s tally as playmakerwas 306 Bundesliga games and 46 goals.Magath was capped 43 times for West Germany,winning the European Championship in 1980. Hesteered VfB Stuttgart to runners-up in the league andthen, in his first season in charge of Bayern Munich,guided his team to a league and cup double.Dr. Horst Neumann is Board Member for HumanResources at Volkswagen. Born in Leverkusen in1949, he took his doctorate in Economics and SocialSciences and began his career as spokesperson forNeumann: We, too, believe it is important for employees toderive pleasure from their work. The basic requirements are an interestingactivity and a good relationship with colleagues and superiors.Attitude surveys have repeatedly made it very clear that people actuallyrank these factors as more important than pay. The key thing isthat a person must be able to complete their work comfortably butthat it nevertheless always constitutes something of a challenge.Then there is the organisational scope such as group work, whichAudi introduced a long time ago. It gives the individual employeeadded responsibility. The regular model changeovers in the car industryconfront employees with a constant stream of new challenges.Incidentally, we also pursue the goal of coming top here at Audi!Mr. Magath, you used to have a reputation among your players assomething of a slave-driver. Yet you are drawn to von Cube’s principlesand emphasise the importance of enjoying your work. How doyou reconcile the two?Magath: I don’t see any contradiction there. Basic physicalfitness is absolutely essential. A player must be able to push himselfphysically to his limits. It’s only then that you can start enjoyingyourself.von Cube: A person’s bond with a company also influencestheir inclination to perform. An employee who identifies with theircompany will perform better. Yet football players in particular arenot exactly the most loyal of employees. Does the notion of loyaltystill have any meaning in the world of professional football?Magath: Absolutely! Italian and British clubs have much moremoney to spend than we do, and consequently they are able to payhigher salaries. We try to compensate by offering a family atmosphere.But it’s getting more and more difficult for the club to holdthe Berlin Senator for Economics. From 1978 to 1994,Neumann worked in the Economics Department atthe head office of the IG Metall metalworkers’ tradeunion in Frankfurt. At Audi, Neumann was instrumentalin drawing up the company agreement “TheFuture of Audi – Performance, Success, Sharing”,which combines competitiveness and job securitythrough top performance.29