Interview with Dr. Klaus Beulker

An easy one to start with, Dr. Beulker: You just moved to the Ortenau region in Germany, correct?

That’s correct. As you know, my job means that I’m responsible for operations, and one thing that’s important within that context is to live where my team members live so I can get a real feel for things.

What’s your first impression of HYDRO?

What I’ve come upon is a storied company with a management approach characterized by a personal touch. And it’s obvious to me that there are plenty of good long-term prospects that emerged from the company’s tradition and that have continued to grow and develop through the years.
I’ve seen a lot of innovation in the company’s products so far, which has obviously left an excellent impression. And the way I see it, this means that the company has consistently made efforts to provide customers with increasingly better and more specific solutions than the ones already available on the market. In fact, I’ve become familiar with a lot of future-oriented solutions in the short time that I’ve been here, and I’m not just referring to the products that are already part of our portfolio and are known to the market: I’m also extremely impressed by the things that are in store for the future. All in all, everything looks tremendously promising.

It goes without saying that innovation requires for team members to have extensive product and industry know-how...

That’s right. And one thing became perfectly clear to me right from the first contact with HYDRO: The know-how we have concerning our products is simply unrivalled no matter where you look. The people joining forces here have an enormous wealth of experience and are tremendously loyal to the company, which I personally think is the most important foundation for the future: I see innovation, I see product know-how. And all based on highly qualified team members who are truly committed to the company.
On top of that, I see that everyone enjoys coming up with products for our customers. Sure, you often hear people talking about internal processes a lot, but the one thing that everything ultimately comes down to is having a product and service that enable the company to provide customers with good solutions for specific problems. And I’ve noticed that this is already part of the company’s DNA. It’s something you can’t just simply buy or fake.

The COO position is new at HYDRO. Why would you say it’s necessary?

Well, let me just say one thing from the get-go: Before you can solve a problem, you need to understand it. In other words, I can’t really tell you yet what specific issues I will want to tackle in the first few weeks or months.
One of my duties is to be responsible for our value stream. In other words, for the creation of value. It’s a great thing to do, and I actually find it to be an honor. Ultimately, it all revolves around the people who create value with their decisions and actions, and that should come as no surprise, as a company’s success is based on the expertise and contributions of every single team member. And I mean that literally. So the logical conclusion is obvious: We need to look at every single team member as an invaluable individual and make sure that we improve their working conditions and help them further develop their skills.

Could you go into greater detail?

For me personally, this means spending time with team members on the ground, i.e., exactly where things happen. In other words, where I can see the context for myself and get a better picture of things. That’s not only the best way to help team members with their day-to-day activities, but is also crucial in enabling us to make better decisions by actually giving us an idea of what’s really going on. On top of that, I think the best way to show respect for a person is to actually walk a mile in their shoes and see the situation the way they actually experience it.
For me, the crucial takeaway is that a company’s performance and productivity depend on its team members’ skills. This also means that a company’s productivity and performance are directly proportional to how fast team members can learn. Needless to say, it’s our responsibility to make sure they can learn as fast as possible.

Will the customers’ direct experience change now that there will be a COO? And how so?

My professional experience has shown that it’s a good idea to visit customers at their own facilities at least once a month. And I’m actually not talking about sales – I’m talking about myself in my role as head of operations. On top of that, it’s important to do these visits consistently instead of only when there’s a problem with quality or something like that.
When you’re head of operations, it’s absolutely imperative to understand our customers, our specific markets, and the contexts in which our customers need solutions. If you fail to do that, it’s virtually impossible to guide your team members’ actions and way of thinking in such a way as to create a profitable organization that is successful at meeting the needs of customers. In other words, if I fail to understand what kinds of solutions our customers need, I can’t possibly help the organization move in that direction, since we’ll be unable to discuss appropriate solutions. We really need to be familiar with our customers’ contexts so that we can enhance our processes accordingly.

 

A good day at work starts with…

a visit to where things happen, whether that be Production or our administrative offices. Just not my own desk.

I earned my first money…

working at my parents’ business.

If I could chose my seat neighbor on an aircraft…

I’d definitely choose my wife. If it’s a business trip, then I’d really enjoy sitting next to Jürgen Klopp, the coach of the FC Liverpool.

I forget about time…

when reading a good book.

The so far most expensive purchase in my life…

since I’ve never bought a house, this is a tough one to answer. Probably a trip with my family.

I have always…

tried to learn from my mistakes.

I have never…

had to sing in public. Thank God!

Those aiming for a career at HYDRO…

need to focus very concretely and specifically on the challenges and problems that we need to solve for our customers at HYDRO.

When I was 18…

I didn’t really know what I wanted to do with my life exactly. Instead, I was mostly focused on finding out who I was.

Home for me means…

where my family is.