Volkswagen Chattanooga's Story - Development Dimensions ...

1 | Volkswagen Chattanooga
Video Transcription
Volkswagen Chattanooga’s Story
Featuring | Ron Pankratz, Manager of Recruiting and Planning & Mario Duarte, Assistant
Manager for Staffing and Workforce Planning, Volkswagen Chattanooga
:00 | Introduction
I’m Ron Pankratz, the Manager of Recruiting and Planning for Volkswagen Group of America,
Chattanooga Operations.
My name is Mario Duarte. I’m Assistant Manager for Staffing and Workforce Planning and I
work for Volkswagen Group of America, Chattanooga Operations.
:24 | The Challenge: Selection for a Plant Start-up
Ron: We needed a selection process that would select people who would be successful in the
job of production team member. So we wanted a process that would select based on
competencies because we knew that there wouldn’t be a lot of people in Chattanooga with
experience in building cars.
Mario: We needed to make sure that we find the best people available that will learn and
develop into the successful production team members.
Ron: Their skill and their workmanship, craftsmanship is what makes the Volkswagen a
Volkswagen. We need people that are first of all flexible is a key because things change. We
need people that teamwork is important, people have to work together. We need people that
this is the kind of work that they are interested in, call it affinity for the work.
1:17 | The Solution: DDI’s Pre-employment Assessments
Ron: The solution that we came up with, we’ve partnered with DDI. There is a computer-based
part and there’s also a hands-on part.
Mario: The computer test has two different modules in it: One of them was more of a soft
skills type of test in which teamwork, conscientiousness, and work ethic those type of abilities
and competencies are assessed.
Ron: The importance of the hands-on simulation was to give people a realistic preview of the
job. In the simulation there are three primary tasks. There’s a weight and mount simulation
where they are reading instructions, selecting the right parts, checking them for quality, and
then installing them in the correct order. There’s also a bolting exercise where again they’re
rating a sequence, checking for quality, and then doing things in the proper order. The third
exercise is a wire harness. You’re given instruction on what order they’re to do these tasks,
they also have other tasks to do at the same time, monitoring skills so a lot of things going on
but it’s really again meant to simulate what happens in the real world.
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2:20 | The Result
Ron: The result of our selection has been very positive. We’ve been able to staff our plant and to
find quality people but also have been able to do it in a time demeanor to meet the hiring need.
Mario: The people we were able to find have been going through all of the training successfully,
they’re excited, they’re motivated, they’re learning, and they’re developing into successful
production people.
For more information, log on to www.ddiworld.com/testing
2 | Volkswagen Chattanooga
© Development Dimensions International, Inc., MMXI. All rights reserved.