Management promotion

Learning is a lifelong process – and that also applies to the development of the individual personality, the identification of personal strengths and leadership qualities. Recognising this, the Munich Re Group runs its own management development programmes.

Identifying and promoting potential

The POE scheme (Procedure for Optimising Employee Talents) is Munich Re’s primary instrument for grooming high-potential individuals in all areas. It is also the basis of a systematic succession-planning process. The scheme plays a major role in the identification and timely development of potential senior management candidates, Munich Re’s managers being taken to a large extent from within its own ranks. The scheme was devised by Human Resources in 1997 and is constantly updated to meet the Group’s ever-changing requirements.

There are no standard programmes for developing management talent. Instead, each individual programme is designed by the manager and employee concerned, thus ensuring that it remains focused, practical and effective. This requires initiative on the part of the employee and acceptance of the corresponding coaching responsibility by the manager.

Some 130 employees have successfully completed the scheme since it was first introduced. It comprises on-the-job and off-the-job measures, such as training attachments with subsidiaries at home and abroad and top-level management courses at international business schools. The POE scheme applies internationally, so that we are aware of the talent available throughout the organisation as a whole.

EAS development programme for aspiring senior specialists

Munich Re also attaches great significance to grooming staff for specialist roles. This programme consists of two modules. Participants draw up a personal development plan and meet with their managers to decide whether additional or more in-depth (professional, personal, methodological) measures would be appropriate in the individual case. Candidate and manager may opt for tried-and-tested courses from our specialist and staff development programme as well as on-the-job measures.

ERGO Management Academy

The ERGO Management Academy (EMA) helps managers in the ERGO insurance group to work on their strategic and operational management competences. The aim of all EMA activities is to exert a positive influence on the group’s long-term evolution, the underlying principle being that learning should follow strategy. The corresponding learning and coaching techniques facilitate the application of ERGO’s strategy within the group. Since EMA methods are of practical relevance and can be applied in individual situations, a return on investment is guaranteed. The European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD) rated EMA very highly in its international accreditation scheme, CLIP (Corporate Learning Improvement Process).