How Deutsche Telekom's inhouse consulting prepares its consultants for the future and enables them to move up. An insight into the training portfolio of CSP.
An automotive supplier is in the news: the company underestimated the importance of electromobility and is now cutting thousands of jobs. Such crises are often the result of having a too narrow view of one's own portfolio. To avoid such a situation, companies use consulting services that provide an important external perspective. But it is also possible to combine the roles of consultant and manager in one's own company.
This is the way the Center Strategic Projects (CSP) works in its training courses to train and develop future managers of Telekom. They combine the “consultant perspective” with management skills. To achieve this, our training & development team offers a comprehensive range of development programmes, also for junior consultants. In addition to technical expertise and methodical knowledge, the focus is on management methods and leadership skills. In this way, we constantly replenish Telekom's talent pipeline and deliver the highly trained managers of the future.
Management training for consultants
The training programme offers the following options:
- Consulting boot camps
- Individual training based on professional and methodical needs to reach the next consultant level or for management tasks in different projects
- High-quality individual training and coaching to prepare for management tasks – the Business Reviews
- The Center Excellence Programme (CEP) with its own modules
The Center Excellence Programme (CEP) forms the core of the training programme at CSP. It prepares our consultants both for the highly demanding strategic transformation projects they will be working on in the future as well as for the tasks of a manager.
The content is divided into various topics and modules, covering all aspects of management training from the basics of communication and project management to leadership topics and coaching. In each case, they are tailored to the current career level that is being pursued and provide useful help in shaping one's own career path.
Topics are constantly updated and adapted to changing business requirements. For this reason, virtual leadership, for example, has been one of the key topics for some time now – a decisive measure during the Corona pandemic.
Experienced managers as coaches
Executive training courses are only successful if they are run by experienced experts and trainers. Consultants plan their training programme themselves, but when it comes to implementation, we rely on the coaching experts of Goll Consulting. Their leadership programmes are aimed at managers who want to take the next step in their careers.
As a partner, Goll Consulting has adapted its training programmes to our needs. Many Goll trainers are seasoned managers with a broad view of management and leadership. Through them, we receive valuable input from outside Telekom. In addition, we have internal trainers who complement our training courses.
This gives us the unique opportunity to work with an experienced team of coaches who specialise in communication, leadership and presentation skills. In contrast to other development programmes, young employees receive the same top-class training as experienced managers.
The Goll Consulting coaches consider this to be an exciting task: “Consultants of the Center Strategic Projects have great intellectual capacities, an extremely keen interest in personal development, a high demand for personalised impulses from coaches and colleagues, steep learning curves and an active feedback culture,” says Hans-Walter Goll, Managing Director and founder of Goll Consulting.
Preparing for management tasks
Our consultants gain access to a personal network of experts to prepare them specifically for key positions and management functions. In addition, executives, project managers and colleagues take on the role of developing all consultants on the job every day.
The advanced training concept for our employees and colleagues is one of the main strengths of the CSP. The various training formats, our Center Excellence Programme, as well as the use of internal and external trainers make us unique within the company.
