Vocational training in Brazil

HORSCH attaches great importance to the training of young people. At the HORSCH site in Brazil, too, the training of apprentices is scheduled to start this year. Anton Grauvogl, head of training, together with four apprentices flew to Brazil to prepare a training plan and to support the Brazilian colleagues on site. He and Stefan Vorwerk, COO in Curitiba, told terraHORSCH how they developed a training plan and what vocational training will be like at the HORSCH site in Brazil.

terraHORSCH: Together with the apprentices, HORSCH is running a project to integrate a vocational training system according to the German example in Brazil. How did this come about?
Stefan Vorwerk: In Brazil, there is no vocational training as we know it from Germany. The training mainly is carried out in technical schools and, as in many other countries in the world, only provides theoretical knowledge. You then have a theoretical training with a certificate, but only little practical knowledge or none at all. This is not advantageous if you want to start a professional career. For HORSCH the practical orientation is very important. Moreover, we want to encourage the strengths and the personality development of our apprentices.
Anton Grauvogl: Last year, Stefan contacted me and asked: “We would like to train apprentices. Can’t you come over to develop a strategy together?“ He went to Brazil eight years ago to build up and manage our site. A lot has happened since that time and HORSCH do Brasil grows continuously. To get well-trained young people, Stefan came up with the idea to offer them vocational training. I immediately liked the idea and in the course of our further conversation we decided that an apprentice should come with me to Brazil. But as we have 140 apprentices in Germany, we wondered who I should take with me. With such a large number, this was not a simple decision.

terraHORSCH: How did you make your choice?
Anton Grauvogl: We decided to arrange a competition among the apprentices. Anyone who felt like it could apply for the project. The form of application was up to the apprentices. In writing, with video or podcast – everything was possible. In total, we received 17 applications from 24 participants. They partly were so incredibly good that it was extremely difficult to choose only one. So we thought about taking more than one apprentice with us. After Cornelia Horsch gave her ok, we started to select the participants. Together with Stefan in Brazil we finally settled on four people: one of our industrial management assistants from the third year of apprenticeship, and three mechatronics engineers from the second and third year of apprenticeship.
On 14th January we headed to Munich airport by train and flew via Madrid to Sao Paulo and from there to Curitiba.

terraHORSCH: What were your tasks on site in Brazil?
Anton Grauvogl: We had a very intensive working week. We had to develop a concept and a strategy how to put it into practice. First, we set up a draft what the job profile would be like in Brazil, in which sectors we most urgently need employees and which skills are important, which competences, skills, abilities and knowledge we have to convey to our apprentices. It all was very complex, but our apprentices were not put off, they rolled up their sleeves and got to work. Kudos to the young people! They mainly had to communicate in English. And they really did a great job.
Lorena, the industrial management assistant, dealt with the organisational issues and with topics like the HORSCH Check-in Days which always take place in Germany at the start of the apprenticeship. We agreed to organise this in Curitiba, too, in a slightly adapted way. For these days are very helpful at the start of an apprenticeship. The newcomers get a lot of information, and they can get to know each other and the company right at the beginning. The other three apprentices deal with the topics from the industrial-technical sector, and they are working out the details at the moment. They will determine the skills and qualifications that have to be conveyed by the respective department – so they are very close to our products.

terraHORSCH: And what will the vocational training you developed be like?
Anton Grauvogl: Because of the conditions in Brazil, we were aware of the fact that we will not be able to copy the German vocational training system one-to-one, but we will be close to it. We studied the conditions on site and talked a lot to Stefan and the colleagues in Curitiba. In Brazil, a normal vocational training takes two years. And we, too, will basically offer a two-year apprenticeship.
Stefan Vorwerk: Our concept provides for a mix of several job profiles. In Brazil, we really need employees in the sectors welding and assembly. This is why we will create something new from the job profiles of a production mechanic, our assembly specialist, a construction mechanic, the metal and welding specialist, and of a mechatronics engineer whose job profile includes many features from the electric-electronic sector. The result will be something like a HORSCH Assembly Specialist. The certificate will be issued by HORSCH. Those who perform well will be allowed to add a third year to their training so that they can graduate as a mechatronics engineer according to the German example.
Anton Grauvogl: The theoretical lessons will be carried together with SENAI, a large training institution that runs a training centre in Curitiba similar to the German vocational schools. We will prepare the content for the vocational training in the specialist departments from Germany, translate it to English and then forward it to the Brazilian colleagues so that they can translate it to Portuguese. However, we also consider offering the apprentices in Curitiba English courses right from the start.

terraHORSCH: Is it possible to put this concept into practice in Brazil?
Anton Grauvogl: Yes, there also are chambers of foreign trade and co-operations similar to the German chambers of industry and commerce. We were allowed to visit Bosch Curitiba. They do it the same way. This confirmed our conviction that we are on a good way. They also work with apprentice projects like we do at our German sites. Of course, the apprentices will work quite traditionally in the production department to learn everything they have to know about the production of our machines. And they will get theoretical lessons. But in my opinion, they can develop many additional skills with these projects. It simply is important to have confidence in the young people and to show this right from the beginning, to meet at eye level and especially, to make them do things themselves without predefining everything. And the projects always have a practical reference to the vocational training.
We want to include the topic of personality development into the vocational training of the young people right from the beginning. Of course, we need the practical side that is part of the job profile as they have to fulfil their tasks within the company, but in our quickly changing times this is no longer enough. Our apprentices have to learn to think in an outcome-oriented way so that they can efficiently meet the challenges and changes of everyday life. Therefore, they have to understand that it is quite normal to leave one’s comfort zone time and again and that they must not build up limiting mental walls in their head which then do not leave any room for changes. This is the attitude we want to convey.  
Stefan Vorwerk: For us, it was very important to get the support from Germany. Toni has been working with the apprentices for so long and he knows what is important to develop a successful training and to prepare the young people in an optimum way for their professional life. Moreover, we attached great importance to including the apprentices from Germany. They are right in the middle of their vocational training and have many ideas to support us. In addition, the apprentices can connect, and we can create and encourage an active exchange. Thus, we can learn together and from each other and we can offer the best possible vocational training.