In the background
A lot of colleagues from various different departments at HORSCH see to it that the machines in the field run smoothly. But there also are many other employees who make sure that the “system HORSCH“ works. They for example paint rooms, prepare the conference rooms, maintain forklift trucks or provide the catering for guests and employees. terraHORSCH puts them in the spotlight.
Currently it is very quiet in the HORSCH cafeteria “Le Café“. Because of the Corona restrictions there are not many visitors at Sitzenhof. For the employees, there is only one dish, snacks and a salad selection and they have to eat at fixed times with a safety distance. In normal times, the situation is quite different: Ten people are employed at the Le Café who every day see to it that the HORSCH employees as well as the visitor and training groups are supplied with fresh and healthy food. Team leader Christine Weber and her cafeteria team do not only cook, they also hand out the dishes at the counter. No-one at HORSCH knows so many employees personally – by name and also with regard to their food preferences. And even if, for security reasons, the visitor groups cannot be taken to all halls on the company premises, they all come to the Le Café. In addition to two warm dishes the cafeteria offers various desserts, soups or salads. Little snacks and sandwiches are prepared every day. With regard to the main dishes the selection varies from meat and fish dishes, but there also are vegetarian, calorie-reduced or vegan dishes.
Healthy and regional
The team attaches particular importance to the fact that the food is regional. HORSCH, thus, supports regional farmers, butcher shops, pastry shops and bakeries. When preparing the dishes, they use a lot of fruit and vegetables. “We are proud of using fresh products without additives“, Christine Weber tells terraHORSCH. Moreover, they set a high value on handling the food consciously and to process it to the greatest possible extent.
The atmosphere and the team spirit in the cafeteria team is excellent. Everyone can produce ideas for new dishes and give free rein to their creativity. This is why there are only few repetitions with regard to the dishes. The meals are subsidised and thus, are available at a fair price. For HORSCH it is very important that the employees eat a healthy diet and this is encouraged in the cafeteria. At the beginning of this year, the fitness weeks took place for the first time in the Le Café to increase the awareness for healthy food among the employees. Three times a week the team offered an additional calorie-reduced dish made of healthy and natural ingredients. On the other two days there was a wide selection of additional and creative side dishes at the salad bar. The feedback was so positive that this campaign surely will be repeated.
More than cleaning
Olga Eichholz and Lea Bieber are working in the catering sector of HORSCH. They are responsible for preparing the conference room for meetings – always matching the requirements of the visitor or training group. Among others, they see to it that there are enough drinks and snacks. For particularly important meetings they organise that the meals are provided by the cafeteria team and arrange it in the conference room. After the meeting they clean the room and prepare it for the next meeting. They are not alone to make sure that the rooms and the buildings are clean. For larger projects, e.g. for cleaning the windows or for the basic cleaning of a new building they hire an external cleaning company. Moreover, the offices are cleaned several times per week by a cleaning service. They are the contact persons, check the quality and pass on suggestions for improvement to the cleaning service.
They work together closely with the cafeteria team and the caretaker team. At lunch time Lea Bieber for example is responsible for the cash register of the cafeteria. Moreover, she organises the reservations for business lunches. There are several buildings on the HORSCH premises in Schwandorf. Olga Eichholz and Lea Bieber are responsible for all of them. Per day they cover quite a long distance – sometimes up to 14 kilometres.
In-house technology
Leonard Zechmann and his colleague Reinhard Mayer carry out the janitorial work at HORSCH. Their place of work are the whole premises. They are the first contact for any problems. From the cleaning ladies to the management – they all require their services. Thus, their tasks are varied making their job very interesting. Part of it is for example to arrange the seating for the trainings, to restock the supplies of the cafeteria and the shop, to paint walls, to refill the soft drink supply in the conference rooms of the individual buildings, to manage the trade fair equipment and much more. They see to it that the rooms for the children of the employees during the HORSCH holiday childcare program are cosy and appropriate for children. And, of course, they make sure that the playground equipment like the tree house, the swings, the trampoline and the pool are in an optimum condition. Winter services and gardening are also part of their tasks. They are responsible that the premises are clean, and they carry out little repair works that can be handled at short notice, i.e. a door that rubs on the floor or an air-conditioning system with a fault report. For larger projects they hire external contractors. The two caretakers are the friends in need. They always have an open ear for the minor and major problems of their colleagues – and a lot of creative ideas to solve them.
Leonard Zechmann is also an inherent member of the Agritechnica team. Like at Sitzenhof, he, in Hanover too, sees to it that the stand is in top-notch condition and that everything that is required, e.g. leaflets, is at the right place at the right time.
His son, Simon Zechmann, has been working for HORSCH for four years. The trained electronic technician for industrial engineering is responsible for everything to do with maintenance in the logistic sector. His tasks are very varied. Among others, he guarantees that the forklift trucks run smoothly. Basically, he takes care of everything to do with building technology – for every department at HORSCH. His tasks mainly include things he learned during his vocational training as an electronic technician. Larger projects are transferred and coordinated with external companies. Due to the new production hall the projects he and his colleague Jürgen Ehrnsperger have to oversee have increased considerably. The plan for the future is to establish a whole team that exclusively is responsible for the maintenance sector.