Together we are strong

Global Station Management (GSM) is the element that links our 47 breeding stations and is the body that controls all activities in the fields of training, technology, strategy and services.

It has a multicrop mindset, i.e. a strategy based on cooperation across all crops. We act as one team at all breeding stations – regardless of the special aspects of a particular crop. In order to promote that goal, the first Multicrop Station Manager Meeting brought together 70 breeding station colleagues in Lower Saxony in February 2020.

Jonas Wielert is the scientific advisor to Global Station Management. He explains the joint benefits of cooperation among our 47 breeding stations: “Creating synergies is the foundation for more efficient processes. We don’t need to search long and hard for costly external consultants because we have a huge diversity of personalities and know-how in our station network. The aim of joint controlling is to transfer that know-how to where it’s needed at another breeding station. That’s the basis for our long-term strategy.”

Five years ago, there was no strategy for sharing knowledge. Some knew too little about what the others were doing, in particular outside their personal network. Station managers gathered once a year for separate meetings on the crops sugarbeet, cereals and corn. Some attended two meetings because they work at multicrop stations, i.e. ones that have more than one crop, and so were invited to both.

Identification of synergies and cooperation

GSM aims to change that: “The stations can identify synergies and cooperate,” says Jonas Wielert. “KWS wants to move away from crop-specific topics.” Each site benefits from each other’s experience and so may have the chance to grow from a crop-specific station into a multicrop one. One example of a station that did that is Roye in France, which now has potatoes in its portfolio in addition to sugarbeet. “There may also be stations that only grow sugarbeet in the future, for instance. Nevertheless, creating close ties with other stations makes sense,” says Jonas Wielert.

Station managers from all over the world now come together once a year to promote dialogue. The first such meeting was held in Volpriehausen near Einbeck in February 2020 and was attended by 70 colleagues. The feedback has predominantly been positive, according to Jonas Wielert. Our South American colleagues weren’t able to be there this year, but will come to the big international meeting of the network in Lower Saxony next year.

Agenda for the first get-together

The agenda of the three-day meeting was as diverse as the stations themselves. One technological focus was on use of drones in phenotyping and the FieldExplorer, which has been developed at the company as an ecosystem for our field trial and seed production activities.

In the strategic part of the program, the R&D Core Team presented its planning and gave an insight into the Asian and Brazilian markets. The Human Resources department spoke about its HR roadmap as part of ONEGLOBE. Lars Frotscher from Contact Management presented the possibilities offered by the new ticket system, with a particular emphasis on aspects specific to a breeding station.

Station Academy

Jonas Wielert presented his idea of a Station Academy, a virtual learning environment, which is suited especially for colleagues who otherwise have little chance to further their education. “Training courses on Excel are easy to stage, but there are hardly any offerings for field workers,” says the initiator. He is drawing up a concrete offering in collaboration with colleagues from breeding: The team answers questions like “How do I choose the right fields?” or “How do I identify diseases and what can I do to protect plants against them?” in a training course that has been designed in-house. Jonas Wielert also sees the academy as a means of recruiting. “Breeding stations depend on their junior staffers. We need to convince tomorrow’s talents that they can grow together with KWS.”

In order to strengthen the sense of community, the GSM organized a team cooking event, a bus tour and active breaks. Many breeding stations now want to offer these breaks at their locations. Jonas Wielert’s verdict after the three days was a good one: “We’re all on the same page as to where things go from here and everyone has a positive attitude toward this culture change. The potential that we can free up is huge – now it’s up to the breeding stations to pick up the ball and run with it.” |