Ms. Sneha Jha, a student of the Indo-German Training Centre, Mumbai goes down memory lane and narrates her experiences during her stay in Germany. “An experience never to forget………………. I was thrilled on receiving the news that I had been selected by my training company Bosch Limited for a two month training stint at Bosch, Germany. I couldn’t believe that my dream of getting an international exposure in a leading German MNC was about to come true! I was keen to experience the cross cultural work environment, which would broaden my knowledge base.

7th November 2009, I landed at Frankfurt and I was welcomed by the chilly breeze of the approaching winters. I was given accommodation at the Bosch Guest house where I interacted with the other International employees of the company. There were people from Czech Republic, China, Turkey and me from India. We all belonged to different countries and different cultures, yet were all united and tied in the same string as we belonged to the same company, the same “Bosch World”.

At Stuttgart, I was supporting the functions of the Human Resources team of Bosch, Germany Gasoline Divisions. The work culture, style and environment was indeed different. The employees were extremely professional and I must say the punctuality there was something to be adorned. The environment was quite friendly and everyone was treated with the same respect irrespective of their designations and positions.

My training was quite interesting. I was supporting the Human Resources Department to implement a common process for Reorganization at Bosch Worldwide. My project mainly involved creating a Post Merger Integration Checklist and Assessment measure which could be used at Bosch worldwide. I was instrumental in creating the Excel tool for the Employment Measures that Bosch is planning to implement and I translated the guidelines to create Organization Charts for the Gasoline Systems in English. The mode of communication in office was German and since I am familiar with both the languages (German & English) I tried my hand at some English translation of the documents of HR Policies, Guidelines and Standards.

The two months in Germany have been the most cherish able moments of my life. This experience of mine was definitely a stepping stone in my career. There was a lot to learning, both professionally and at a personal level.”

Ms. Mira Parekh, another student of IGTC, Mumbai narrates her experience of her three-month training stint at Bosch, Germany. “My training in Germany was a dream come true.In Germany; I was trained at the Corporate Headquarters of Bosch in Schillerhöhe. An Orientation Seminar at Bosch was an eye opener for me. It made me realize how differently the Germans think. The Seminar was specially kept for expatriates in Germany to make them accustomed to the German lifestyle. It was a nice intermingling of Culture and Thoughts.

I worked with the Corporate Human Resources Department (CHM). I was fortunate to work with two separate departments of Human Resources during my three month stint in Germany. One of them was the CHME which is theCorporate Human Resources Executive Department. The main tasks of this department were to perform management potential/ salary reviews and reactive staffing. I was actively involved in the function ‘Rewarding’ which was by way of an Annual Salary Review worldwide. My first set of assignments required me to submit a Status Report on the Annual Salary Review. I was required to know the International Executive Compensation Tool (IEC) and the Management Executive Development Tool (MED).

My second set of assignments required me to use my German Language skills to make a list of all the Personnel Announcements for the Bosch Portal in both the English and the German Language. I was instrumental in developing a manual for the MED Tool users. The 2nd department that I worked for was the CHMI which is responsible for International Assignments. Here I was required to design a Matrix for the Social Security Agreements worldwide. My training here was very fulfilling and gave me a wonderful opportunity to work the ‘German way’ i.e. with Precision, Perfection and Punctuality.

On the personal front, the thought of spending Christmas alone was a bit disturbing but I was lucky enough to be invited by one of my colleague to celebrate Christmas with her entire family. For the first time ever I experienced what traditional German Christmas was like – beautifully decorated christmas tree, singing of carols and hymns, munching on delicacies like “schokolade kuchen” and exchange of gifts at the end. All was simply fantastic.

Traveling was a rejuvenating experience for me. Be it getting the panoramic view of Stuttgart city from the oldest Television tower/Fernsehturm or dreaming of owning a Porsche one day at the uniquely designed Porsche museum. I truly enjoyed my travelling mainly because of the well organized network of trains with not even a minute’s delay in the train timing despite of the bad weather. That’s was sets this country apart from other countries across the Globe.

Overall, my trip to Germany was an experience which would always remain embedded in my mind for the years to come.

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