In October, current and former management trainees met to exchange ideas. In this article, you can expect exclusive insights into projects and valuable lessons on leadership, mentoring, and career planning.
Henrik Ihlo started his career at Burda as a Trainee in 2008 – today he is heading a business division. Ihlo manages Client Services at BurdaDirect’s full service agency direct interactive and is in charge of Key Account Management, Search Engine Marketing, Email Marketing and Social Media Marketing.
Using the trainee program to build up a network
After his course in Media Economics in Stuttgart, Ihlo made a conscious decision to start his career at a media company. He had already been interested in Burda as an employer during his time at university. “What appealed to me in particular besides the well-known brands were Burda’s versatile digital business models, ranging from online marketing to e-commerce and from performance marketing to subscription.”
“I realized early on that Burda offers its staff members and junior managers a wide range of development opportunities. Over the years, this has always motivated me”, Ihlo says. He extended his leadership skills further as part of the in-house Basic Management Program and enlarged his Burda network. Supported by Burda, he has been completing an extra-occupational MBA course of study in England for two years.
Development opportunities across departments and companies
Besides training and continuous staff development, he considers his superiors’ consistent trust in him as particularly important in retrospect: “My former bosses gave me the opportunity to take on management responsibility and to change departments in the course of this. In my view, offering development opportunities across departments and companies is the most important tool at Burda to support talented young people in their professional development and to encourage long-term loyalty to the company.”
“People come first”
This is exactly what appeals to him: the variety, creativity and practised entrepreneurship. In Ihlo’s view, these characteristics make the media company as agile and competitive as it is. “Our managers and staff members are required to take on responsibility, think outside the box and develop business models.” He does not only like his job at Burda, however. The open-minded corporate culture at Offenburg media park also makes him feel comfortable. “To me, Burda’s culture is unique: Every unit acts in an entrepreneurial and goal-oriented way but as a member of staff, you also feel you are part of a big family. The numerous events for staff members at Burda like Schmudo or Burda runs show that people come first at Burda and that having fun is also an important part of working life.”
