Trigema boss Wolfgang Grupp likes to present himself publicly as a tough entrepreneur. But how do his employees see him? A long-time employee unpacks.
Burladingen – There is hardly a medium-sized company in Germany that appears in the media as often as the textile manufacturer Trigema out of Burladingen ( Zollernalb district ). And not without reason: with his striking and sometimes provocative sayings ensures managing director Wolfgang Grupp (81) always makes headlines. Only batted last his derogatory statements about works councils high waves. But how does your own workforce deal with it? The works council at Trigema is apparently taking it all in stride. As works council leader Karl-Josef Schoser explains, they actually have a very good relationship with Grupp.
“We have no problems, we get our wage increases every year and there has never been any short-time work,” enthuses Trigema works council leader Schoser in an interview with the Stuttgart newspaper. The 62-year-old, who runs the knitting factory in Burladingen, has been working at Trigema for more than 45 years. He obviously gets on very well with the boss personally: “Mr. Grupp,” he says, “is a very social person.”
Trigema works council boss appreciates cooperation with Wolfgang Grupp: “More together than against each other”
According to Schoser, the relationship between the works council and management at Trigema is characterized by harmony. You will look for trouble, conflicts or internal fights here in vain. “It’s more about working together than against each other, problems are solved, there is a willingness to compromise on both sides.” Schoser doesn’t seem to be bothered by the fact that the Trigema boss recently publicly blasphemed about works councils. Instead, he advocates not just looking at his boss’s statements superficially. “You just read the headline. When you read the text it has a different meaning.”
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As Grupp already explained, he chose the “good people” for the works council himself right at the start of his work as Trigema managing director. So he personally approached the respective people and said to them: “You have to go to the works council. I said: You have to help me and see that problems are solved in a timely manner.” The Trigema boss is convinced: “The good people cannot be appointed on their own.” Instead, the right candidates have to be persuaded first. It stands to reason that he also personally chose Karl-Josef Schoser for the position.
What does the head of the works council say about Grupp’s provocative statements?
Schoser says about his relationship with Grupp: “He appreciates me, I appreciate him.” Provocative sayings from Grupp on the topic of home office the works council boss looks relaxed. They are “just sayings,” he says Stuttgart newspaper. In the Swabian Alb things are not “so squeamish”; none of this is meant in a bad way. He admits that some employees do not approve of Grupp’s statements about working from home. In principle, working from home is not prohibited at Trigema. For example, those who are often in the office would occasionally work from home.
Even though some of his employees would probably like to work from home more often, the Trigema boss sticks to his opinion. The patriarch values short decision-making processes and therefore had all the walls in the Trigema administration’s open-plan office torn down. Although Grupp sometimes appears very tough and determined in public, the head of the works council sees him as very social in his personal interactions. “When someone is in need, they always step in, even financially, so help is available,” he says Stuttgart newspaper. As an example, he cites the topic of company pension schemes, in which Grupp recently showed itself to be generous and approved a subsidy.
Wolfgang Grupp wants to stay with the company after handing over Trigema to his children
That is Wolfgang Grupp will hand over the management of Trigema to his children on January 1, 2024. However, he announced to stay with the company despite the end of his career. Karl-Josef Schoser has no doubt about that: “Maybe he’ll do a little less, but he won’t give up his chair.” Bonita (34) and Wolfgang Grupp Junior (32) have to rethink marketing as their successors. As they explain, her father is still her “biggest figurehead”. The more he withdraws, the more the children will have to find new ways to maintain the presence of the Trigema brand.
“Thanks to our father’s statements, which we fully support, he has gained a very wide reach on YouTube and TikTok, especially recently,” emphasized Wolfgang Grupp Junior in a recent interview with the Ace25 Marketing Agency. In fact, the number of views for Grupp’s statements on social networks is often hundreds of thousands of times higher. “This shows what potential social media has,” emphasizes the son. “Compensation will certainly be a major task in the next few years.”
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