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„HE SHARED THE ATTITUDE OF THE PEOPLE OF SWABIA“


Paul Kerschbaumer spent almost two decades working alongside Hans Staeger. Staeger had selected him out a total of 63 candidates in 1976, and he later made him the Technical Manager of the company. In 1994, before leaving the company, he gave Kerschbaumer overall authority to take his life's work forward.

 
Paul Kerschbaumer.
spent almost two decades working alongside Hans Staeger

 
Mr Kerschbaumer, what was Hans Staeger like to work for?
Hans Staeger expected me to provide him with precise information and to carry out my assigned tasks reliably, but as a boss he was also always interested in my life outside work and he was a particularly good listener.

How did he generally appear in the company?
He was actively involved in all the departments, he had a detailed knowledge of what was going on, and he always kept a close eye on work processes. He backed any improvements, and he also rewarded the people behind them because motivating staff was very important to him. He was someone who the staff could go and talk to.

Can you add anything more about his management style?
As a boss he made sound decisions about staff. He had vision and he always worked assiduously to secure the company's future. He had the Swabian attitude to work, and he didn't accept anything less than total commitment. For us staff he was someone who led by example and was always ready to help.

How did he represent OCTANORM externally?
Hans Staeger got on really well with partners and customers – he had a special empathy with

 
other people and their experiences. I found him to be both a strategically astute entrepreneur and a really tough negotiator. He was extremely gifted in this respect, and he used his network of contacts with consummate skill from the very beginning.

And how did he promote the development of new ideas?
His strength was memorising things that he had seen anywhere in the world, and then at some point in the future generating an idea for a pro-duct as a result of this. He had a special flair for this, and he could see in advance how successful product developments should be carried out!

What for you was his most characteristic quality?
His sense of responsibility towards the staff. He was the one person who was particularly committed to safeguarding jobs at OCTANORM. When times were hard Hans Staeger set an example by reducing his own expenditure – he cut out expensive flights and made sure he had a cheaper company car. He was a great mentor for me, I've got fond memories of him and I often think of him.