Founded in 1901, MALZERS Backstube is now run by the fourth and fifth generation of the Scherpel family. From its headquarters on Ulrichstraße in Gelsenkirchen, the bakery company with more than 2,800 employees, including 100 trainees, supplies over 150 branches in the Ruhr region with fresh baked goods every day. In 2022, turnover totalled 134 million euros. This makes MALZERS Backstube one of the most important employers in the region.

MALZERS Backstube competes for young talent and satisfied employees

The demographically induced shortage of skilled labour does not stop at the skilled trades. In order to survive in the labour market and attract new employees with attractive jobs, the management of MALZERS Backstube asked its employees about their satisfaction in spring 2022. The result of the participation in the Great Place to Work® Competition 2022 was not as positive as hoped and the question arose as to how to deal with it.

"Carry on as before?" Managing Directors Joachim and Christian Scherpel were not satisfied with this and recognised the need of the hour: "Unvarnished communication of results and active engagement with employee feedback. And we can only do that by involving them directly." Their approach was "an experiment with a completely open outcome. We formed a team of 14 employees, as varied and diverse as possible: colleagues from production, sales and administration; with company affiliations ranging from a few months to two decades; from different management levels." Christian Scherpel and HR Manager Jana Rutsch were actively involved in the teamwork, with Christian Scherpel taking on the role of the client in the Scrum process. This meant that the initiative was recognised and appreciated throughout the company right from the start.  After initial successes, the team also gave itself a motivating name: the Future Kneaders. An affectionate name for a working group in the bakery industry.

The mixed project team started with a challenging brief: "We are developing an environment to significantly improve job satisfaction, pride in one’s own performance and loyalty to the company. This will enable us to retain our valuable employees and motivate them to carry the attractiveness of MALZERS as an employer out into the world with conviction. We want the company to continue to be successful in the next generation – and our employees are the key factor in this." The team was responsible for developing solutions to increase employer attractiveness.

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