EMPLOYEES
A warm welcome to the Heinemann Family
In 2021, Gebr. Heinemann introduced both a new Service Commitment and a Leadership Commitment to empower and commit its employees to truly excellent and personalised service – all around the world
A visit to a Heinemann Duty Free shop is an extraordinary shopping experience and leaves travellers with the memory of a spectacular assortment and exceptional service. And this isn’t just a coincidence. The family-owned company has “this special something” that sets it apart from its competitors in the Travel Retail market. Richard Hoyer, Vice President Sales Eastern Europe & Central Asia, Middle East, Turkey, Africa, gives the reason behind this: “Gebr. Heinemann stands for impressive employees who understand and fulfil the needs of our travelling shoppers. And that is a promise we make based on our mission statement. In order to keep it, we want to provide our employees with the necessary support and freedom, so they can truly impress and welcome our customers into the family.”
Committed to excellence
With this in mind, a Service Commitment and a Leadership Commitment were introduced to the shop floor in 2021. The global initiative is Gebr. Heinemann’s response to a fast-changing retail market, new travel trends and customer needs with the aim of empowering and committing its employees to truly excellent and personalised service. The first to take part in a specially designed workshop, were the sales staff in Budapest (Hungary), closely followed by their colleagues in Vilnius and Kaunas (Lithuania). The worldwide rollout is planned for 2022.
Christoph Schmidt, Team Leader Learning and Development at Gebr. Heinemann headquarters, sees it as a very worthwhile investment, explaining, “We know that excellent customer service has a huge impact on sales. By empowering our team members around the world to really get behind both, the Service Commitment and the Leadership Commitment, we are investing in the long-term success of our company.”
Leading “the Heinemann way”
“Creating unique shopping experiences for the travellers is really important to us, and it’s down to our leaders to inspire and lead their team members to make this happen,” says Karen Koa, Senior HR Partner at Gebr. Heinemann. She adds, “We have defined a common standard to help managers lead ‘the Heinemann way’ and honour the Leadership Commitment.”
The next step is for leaders and learning ambassadors to promote the new Service Commitment among their staff, giving guidance to the sales teams on the shop floor. To live and breathe service is the Heinemann mindset as the most human-centric company in global Travel Retail, creating value in an inspiring and emotional way.
This special something
The Service Commitment and the Leadership Commitment not only ensure the extraordinary shopping experience in a Heinemann shop, but also have a high recognition value and become part of the onboarding programme for new colleagues. Karim Moustafa, Global Sales Trainer at Gebr. Heinemann, introduces teams worldwide to the new commitments: “The workshops are about putting our travellers in the centre. We take a blended learning approach with virtual and classroom training courses and aim to keep engagement high with follow-up sessions and a lively feedback culture.”
See what Anna Hajmasi and Erika Kun from Budapest have to say about excellent leadership and what it means for sales teams on the shop floor. Also find out how Lithuania sees the leadership commitment.