Employees - March 2023

Attractive career entry

The next generation of leaders

They are young, talented and committed: The participants in Geberit's development programme “Operations Development Programme” provide insights into life and work at the sanitary technology company.

“What's next?” – Many university graduates ask themselves what the next step is. Geberit has an answer for students with an engineering or technical background: the talent development programme “Operations Development Programme” (ODP).

What is the ODP?

The Operations Development Programme (ODP) has supplemented Geberit’s range of development programmes since 2020. The aim of the comprehensive talent development programme is to train talented young people for management tasks in operations. It lasts four years and takes participants to various locations. There, they are introduced to challenging project management tasks under the guidance of the respective plant management: an attractive career entry for talented university graduates.

Experience abroad
Every year, the sanitary technology group awards places to young management talents. And thus offers an attractive career start. “The programme is aimed at young people with a university degree who are willing to gain experience abroad, learn new ways of working and live in a foreign culture,” explains Antonio Rinaldi from Italy, a first-time ODP participant. As an engineer, he gained two years of project experience at the ceramics plant in Ekenäs, Finland, before moving to ceramics production in Carregado, Portugal. There he develops solutions to optimise the production flow and increase productivity.

Close accompaniment
In addition to the experience at different locations, participants particularly appreciate the close support: “I was always supported by managers and never left alone in my growth process,” says engineer Alessandro Simeoni, who started the programme at Geberit's Villadose plant in Italy in 2020. After realizing process optimisations in Pfullendorf (DE), the Italian is now supporting the technical team at the Haldensleben (DE) plant as a project manager in the area of production processes.

Personal and professional development
Karolina Pacocha is the latest ODP newcomer. Since the beginning of the year, the engineer has been getting a taste of practice in Pfullendorf. “The opportunity for personal and professional development” was what motivated the Polish woman to apply. “Travelling to another country, getting to know a foreign culture and experiencing a new perspective on work is what broadens your horizons,” she explains.

In addition to professional development, there is a lot of room for private exchange: “Colleagues involve you in their projects and in their everyday life. In this way, you are also integrated outside of work,” says Antonio Rinaldi. And he adds: “I felt warmly welcomed right from the start. It's like a big family.”

More information about the programme and the application process on our website.