Responsibility and sustainable project work are a matter close to the heart of the 26-year-old Philipp Küst. In the corona crisis, he worked up a sweat.
As a junior manager at Reckitt Benckiser, Philipp Küst looks after a customer with a turnover of millions. Sustainability is deeply anchored in the trainee program. By rearing bees, the 26-year-old is able to live his values and is learning, as it were, to develop ideas and inspire others to do so.
My start:
I was already interested in marketing and sustainability during my Abitur, which I did in Brandenburg. We have beautiful nature there, many lakes and rare animal species – but unfortunately also devastating forest fires, huge monocultures and persistent periods of drought. These topics have shaped me, and it was clear to me early on that we all have to live more sustainably in order to preserve our environment.
I then decided on a double bachelor’s degree in “International Business Administration” in English, which I completed at the Viadrina European University in Frankfurt (Oder) and in Manchester. I was able to focus on marketing and sustainability right away and wrote the bachelor thesis on sustainable consumer behavior.
I then completed my master’s degree in management and marketing at the FU Berlin. During my semester abroad in 2017 at the University of St. Gallen, I was lucky enough to get to know the consumer goods company Reckitt Benckiser (RB), whose German location is in Heidelberg, at a career fair. The company, which manufactures cleaning and hygiene products, presented its trainee programs there – including the two-year Future Leaders program. It enables a fast career and – what I particularly liked – the opportunity to take part in sustainability projects.
My chance:
The Future Leaders Program came at the right time for me. Especially since I find the consumer goods industry fundamentally attractive. I applied directly – and RB wanted me. I was so happy because I knew straight away: “I can now try my hand at something that really suits me.”
So I’ve been working in Key Account Management Sales since April 2019. Right from the start, RB gave me a lot of personal responsibility and placed my trust in me. I look after the hypermarket operator Real – a customer with millions in sales. That is extremely exciting, but also a great challenge.
Because although my supervisor is at my side, the operative business for hygiene and cleaning products is entirely up to me. I have to plan promotions and convince customers of new products. The corona crisis made me sweat a lot, because from one day to the next the demand for disinfectants increased immensely. Then I became even more aware of the responsibility I have.
That was really exciting: of course, we immediately expanded our capacities and found short-term solutions. It was important to us to provide the best possible help in this crisis. We have therefore also launched a donation project for mobile geriatric carers, on which I worked. Disinfection products, protective masks and funds worth more than two million euros have been donated to the DRK, the Diakonie and the ASB.
Until then, however, I was also very involved in “my” sustainability project “RBees”. As the name suggests, it is about bees. It is part of the overall project “Create a cleaner world”. I can bring in my personal values wonderfully: fairness, diversity, sustainability.
A total of 25 trainees deal with biodiversity, the extinction of species, water scarcity and sustainability issues of the UN: In their “Agenda 2030” with its 17 goals for sustainable development, the United Nations have a global plan to promote sustainable peace and prosperity and to protect our planet developed. We’ll take part.
My development:
All of this is ultimately the basis for our further development. It’s not just about promoting our own commitment. In the same way, we want to inspire others – also beyond the company. For example, we impart our knowledge at employee meetings or in presentations at schools.
Together with my project team, which consists of seven trainees, I learn first-hand about the importance of bees in an ecosystem from a beekeeper. We started with a colony of bees in the spring and built our hive with the local elementary school and painted it together with pupils. Due to Corona, we could not implement everything as planned. However, a few appointments were possible with a corresponding interval.
For example, we were able to create an offshoot and hurl the first honey! In the next year we will have two colonies and we can really take off. All RB employees should get involved in social or ecological projects. Everyone has two days a year for this, which the company makes available to us. But because it’s so much fun and makes sense, we also like to get involved outside of our working hours.
For us trainees, project work like this quickly shows the connection between people and nature – and this connection should ultimately also be reflected in the company’s brands. For example, our project is linked to the Airwick room fragrance brand, whose repertoire also includes scented candles and scented wax.
I have been working in the e-commerce sector since April. Here I have a wide range of tasks: I oversee the introduction of eCom-specific innovations, am independently responsible for the online content, for example all images and texts on the Amazon online marketplace, and I implement online marketing campaigns. Thanks to Corona, our online business has of course got another big boost.
Incidentally, our commitment to sustainability also extends into the digital world: Our project team is currently working on replacing Google with the standard search engine Ecosia. Other large companies have already moved there. The point behind it: Ecosia uses the income to plant trees all over the world. There are already over 1,000,000 plantings.
Our commitment to the environment is well received, it is visibly lived in the younger generation. In the workshops, however, we also see an increasing number of older employees who identify themselves and are happy about the company’s commitment.
Of course, we also get a lot of support from our management team, who help us with budgets in the four-digit range. In addition, we sold used laptops to colleagues in a charity sale. We use the money for our commitment to greater sustainability. Customers and cooperation partners also like the idea: They support the project without being paid.
My challenge:
In principle, I have found that RB offers me great perspectives and freedom in everyday life. I have already grown a lot with my challenges – also through the trust and the opportunity for responsibility that I am always given. I admit, sometimes I was queasy, because after all, it is about large sums of money. You don’t want to go wrong.
But I actually see project work as the most important experience in the Future Leaders program. Here I learned very quickly how to develop ideas and get others excited about them.
A good side effect: the projects help to be seen in the house. Of course, that is not the reason for my involvement. We do this as a young generation to make a difference in the world.
The next possible step in my career is the position as an associate, for example in brand management or trade marketing. In a few years, I can also imagine a team leader. In internal and external workshops and training courses, I am already learning relevant soft skills such as conflict management, effective communication and leadership. I can also very well imagine going abroad with RB, which is basically always possible despite Corona.
My environment:
I am very happy to be able to work in an accessible and open environment. Here everyone is on their terms – including the management. That makes a lot of things easier. We can just go there with new project ideas and listen to their opinions. You can feel that this is also in their interest.
Both my former boss in the key account and my current boss support me 100 percent. The confidence was there from the start and I was free to try it out. We work together as a team. We also have mentors: colleagues with management experience from other areas who advise us on the topic of careers or who point out solutions to problems so that we can learn from their experiences.
In general, the company values it very much when young employees take the initiative. This is part of the principle of “promoting and demanding”. It also leads to more agility: In our day-to-day work, we can implement a lot very quickly. The internationality of the company and the exchange with other countries suits my personal orientation very much.
The company will certainly not put any obstacles in our way: We have been working on the move for a long time. Since the beginning of the corona crisis, we have all moved closer together in a figurative sense in order to find solutions together.
In order to maintain the connection to one another despite the mobile work, we as a project team launched the so-called Give Time Varieté in March. We recruit volunteers who give other colleagues pleasure for 30 minutes at lunchtime. It can be anything: some play an instrument or sing, others offer a sports session or meditation, many have reported from their home countries or introduced an exciting hobby. That was really great. The series was so well received and made such waves in the company in a positive sense that we will have our 50th edition at the end of August, in which even our global CEO will take part!
So far, there have always been special events for the trainees: For example, last year we had a picnic on the Neckarwiese or visited an escape room. You get to know each other much better there. Every year in winter there is a privately organized ski trip that all colleagues can take part in. We also have events like a BBQ or the Christmas party. Something like that naturally strengthens the sense of community.
My salary:
The salary is competitive, and Christmas bonus is a given. During the corona crisis, we were lucky enough to be spared salary cuts or short-time work. Due to the strong demand for disinfection products, we actually worked overtime.
If I perform well, I can also get a raise as a trainee. Individual bonuses are possible from the classification as an associate. A job ticket has always been supported as a benefit. We can also register in the gym on favorable terms. A JobRad program is currently being developed. Due to Corona, we have all inevitably come to enjoy mobile work, so to speak. But that works really well. One consequence of the crisis is that there will be even more flexible working models in the future.
