Friederike Prausuhn
Wow, what an inspiring screenplay for a family film: a young woman comes to do an internship in the Learning & Development department of a global family company, let’s say in the logistics industry. One of her first tasks is to organise the quarterly on-boarding event for new employees joining the company, which is still run as a family business despite its global activities.
Our intern dives headlong into the task with such zeal and passion that she is successful right from the start. Her line managers are full of praise. So far, so good, but this of course is not the end of the story. On the contrary, our young protagonist is determined to make sure that the welcome event that was entrusted to her care will be an even greater success next time, and comes up with the bold idea of persuading the two shareholders at the head of the company to join the welcoming committee in person.
Her boss, instead of shaking her head with an indulgent smile at this young, high-spirited intern, simply sends her straight to one of the managing shareholders. Lo and behold, he’s all for it. And because this is the screenplay for a thrilling film for the whole family, it’s naturally also apparent where it goes from here: after graduating from uni, the young woman immediately gets a job with this successful, friendly logistics company, and soon she finds herself running the Learning & Development
department that she has come to know so well, before being appointed to the International Executive Board as the Head of Human Resources. All’s well that ends well, and that’s the final take – at least for now. To be continued . . .
Sounds too corny? A bit too contrived? Like something that would never happen in real life? On the contrary! That is exact-ly how you could describe Friederike Prasuhn’s career to date. The well-known logistics company has its headquarters in Osnabrück, it goes by the name of Hellmann Worldwide Logistics and is owned by the two proprietors Klaus and Jost Hellmann. To top it all, the real-life Friederike Prasuhn could actually play the starring role in her very own film, with her radiant smile, her captivating friendliness and her charming manner.
Just that her correct description is Chief People Officer (CPO) rather than Head of Human Resources, with Hellmann Worldwide Logistics being an international company. “Since being an intern here, I’ve become Hellmann through and through, and I haven’t regretted it for a single day.” After step-ping up bravely to Klaus Hellmann’s desk for the first time, she has come to know that lean hierarchy and quick decision-making in the company are not just cheap, empty phrases but part and parcel of everyday life at Hellmann. These are also aspects that ensure Friederike Prasuhn enjoys her job every single day.
When asked which three criteria the young CPO as the person responsible for human resources deems to be indispensable in new recruits looking to join Hellmann, her first answer comes swiftly: “Certainly a hands-on mindset, people who simply get on with things and do the job at hand.” After all, this is precisely the foundation for the success of the company, with its 12,300 employees working in 264 branches worldwide to generate turnover of a good 3.5 billion Euro: “We have people working for us who are assertive and practical, who think in solutions rather than problems.” The second indispensable criterion for new recruits also comes promptly from Friederike Prasuhn without any hesitation: “We need and expect people to be open minded.” This refers to having an open-minded approach to new people from all over the world and to new working methods and concepts, as well as being open and willing to keep on learning new things. Good, that makes sense of course particularly for such an international company. What is then the third criterion? This time the HR expert does have to think for a moment: “Well, actually, there are so many other important things, but what I’d like to mention here above all are innovation and an entrepreneurial mindset.” Well, all right, that’s actually two criteria in one, and perhaps the CPO has cheated a little bit with this, but the message is still clear: “We encourage people to take responsibility for what they think and do, and we always welcome new ideas. After all, our employees know best of all what improvements need to be made in their area of work.”
But if we think that all the way through to the end, wouldn’t a real hot head in the team possibly end up just making themselves superfluous with all their new ideas and suggestions for improvements? Friederike Prasuhn bursts out laughing: “Yes, sure, and that would be great!”, because such an employee would of course definitely not be superfluous, on the contrary: “We’ve always got lots of new, exciting tasks for good people to do.” Which brings us right back to the criteria of being open-minded and having a hands-on mindset, that are so important for Hellmann’s success. If they have the choice at Hellmann between applicants with lots of highly specific specialist know-how, or those who have the good social and people skills described here, then the latter are usually more important. Or, to use the CPO’s pithy words: “Anybody can acquire all kinds of specialist know-how if they really want.” The art of selecting and leading staff always consists in finding the right mixture for the teams, with a combination of genius and precision, experience and experiment, reason and research: “It goes without saying, of course, that age, nationality and gender are also important for getting the right balance in the team.”
Speaking of learning and gender: how far has Hellmann got on the learning curve in terms of women in top executive roles? Would some kind of quota be conceivable in this men’s world of logistics? In fact, as a member of the company’s International Executive Board, Friederike Prasuhn is already part of the answer, live and in person, but she has even greater aspirations: “Conceivable? Well yes, of course, it could be conceivable to have a quota, which would take a huge amount of clear commitment, continuity and a great deal of man- and womanpower.” But the company has already come a long way in this context: “In this respect in particular, long-term success depends on us being role models from the top down, exemplifying this kind of envisaged, wanted diversity.” Hellmann’s internal target is therefore to have at least 30 percent women and, similarly, at least 30 percent people with an international background, in global top management positions by the year 2027. “The target will then be gradually extended to include the approximately 2,000 executive positions that the company has all over the world.” A demanding development like this then also offers plenty of opportunities for the workforce, but of course it always depends on people’s own motivation, every time. Which brings us back to the hands-on mindset: “We think that everyone should take responsibility for their own personal and consequently also their professional development.”
The CPO and her linear career in the company is an exemplary role model for such personal motivation, but she also says: “Strictly speaking, they do say you should change your job and employer every three years, particularly at the start of your working life.” But for her personally, the tasks and challenges during her career within the Hellmann empire were always so varied that she had no qualms about staying with the same employer. This also brought her the great advantage of being able to remain loyal to her roots: after being born in Bramsche and attending Schinkel comprehensive school in Osnabrück, she was then able to stay in the city where she now lives with her husband. Her role as the CPO of a global logistics company means she spends a lot of time travelling and staying in hotels, so she really appreciates her hometown: “Of course my husband and I have also thought about what it must be like in a really big city, but all in all we’re quite content here.” She just feels that a more international approach to the little things of everyday life would do Osnabrück good, which in turn brings us back to Hellmann’s criteria of being openminded.
We shall certainly be open-minded and even eagerly await to see how Friederike Prasuhn’s career develops in future, and look forward to being amazed at all the other twists and turns that the real-life screenplay will have in store for her. Possible working title: “The world is not enough“ . . .
Hellmann Worldwide Logistics SE & Co. KG
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