"Growth offers career opportunities for our employees"
Interview with Dr. Bernhard Buchholz, (Aurelius) Lars Habermehl, (G&N) Lukas Kuther, (G&N)
An overheated printer in the office at night, a car cable fire after a marten bite in the parking garage, a forgotten cigarette in the nursing home – there are many fires that occur daily and are detected early by fire detection technology, thus saving lives and reducing property damage every day.
The G&N Group, with over 500 employees and 16 locations, specializes in high-quality custom solutions in the fields of fire alarm, security, and communication technology. With solid expertise and highly trained employees with years of experience, it is a reliable partner for the realization of tailor-made security concepts.
Clear focus of G&N from Day 1
Founded in 1996 as a three-man start-up, the founders particularly convinced the initial competitors, the 'electricians', that the G&N specialization in hazard and fire alarm technology was an added value for the electricians themselves. Today, most of the G&N Group's customers are electricians who know that these trades, with their high certification and advanced training efforts and ultimately the very specific area of building technology, are in good hands with G&N as a partner at eye level. In 2018 – at this time the company had about 120 employees – it was time for the founders themselves to address the issue of succession. They wanted to find someone who could think entrepreneurially and would continue the growth of G&N. They chose Aurelius Growth Capital – a division of the Aurelius Group, which supports profitable companies in their growth plans and is particularly capable of actively shaping succession and growth through its own managers. "We are proud to provide a home for over 500 employees in the group today and, with our employees, to cover the entire fire alarm and security area from simple service orders to highly complex systems from various manufacturers," says Dr. Bernhard Buchholz. "The details are often crucial, and so we learn with every employee and each company that joins us."
Growth = Career Opportunities for Employees
The pace at which the G&N Group is growing is impressive. "We are often asked what our goal is with this growth. The answer is quite simple: We want to give our employees the chance to develop," says Dr. Bernhard Buchholz. "In established companies, rapid promotions are often more a matter of luck, since positions are already filled. Through our growth and the integration of companies that don't have natural succession solutions, there are always open positions with more responsibility – at our company, the employee determines the pace of their career."
Specialization in technology with a wide spectrum nonetheless
"In addition to the services mentioned, our portfolio includes intrusion detection technology, building radio systems, video technology, voice alarm systems, and telephony," explains Lars Habermehl about the range of services. "Often, these trades are found together. It starts with small industrial buildings and extends to complex bank buildings."
Legal Requirements and Standards: Scaling Up Through Size
The legal requirements and regulations regarding security technology firms are becoming increasingly extensive, causing many companies to complain. "As the G&N Group, we have one or more experts in the group for (almost) every issue – this way, we can take a lot of the 'administrative burden' off our branches and group companies," says Lukas Kuther. "That was also a reason why a great company with seven employees joined us recently and is now a full G&N member."
Focus: Providing a Home for Employees
Successions in medium-sized businesses are often emotionally charged: In many cases, with the departure of the previous owner, a 'father figure' leaves the company. Then, for the first time, some employees might ask themselves 'Why am I working here?' "Many of our employees started in small family businesses. When they come to us, some immediately see career opportunities, because they can 'finally make and decide' more – for others, it is emotionally a challenging journey that the 'father figure,' as they knew it, no longer exists," clarifies Dr. Bernhard Buchholz. "Our task as an organization is to provide our employees with a home, with an attractive workplace that is certainly 'different' from having previously celebrated Christmas at the boss's house, but also more open and with more opportunities for personal development. We can offer a lot as a company – from more pleasant and exciting projects, a four-day workweek, and higher-quality further education through our own training center, to a high degree of digitalization, which means tablets instead of paper lists – but at the core, we need to win over every employee who comes to us, so that they become a 'G&Nler' by conviction. Our goal is to excite new and existing colleagues every day for our group. We want to convey that working with us is not just 'lifetime against money,' but that the G&N offers a level of personal freedom that is unique in the German medium-sized business sector."