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"You get people with emotions. So we have to get more emotional."  

When I heard this statement, question marks started buzzing through my head. 

My name is Sophia and I am a trainee at HORSCH. I listened attentively to an interview with Toni Grauvogl, head of training at HORSCH. But when I heard this sentence, my head started to rattle: What does he mean? What is he trying to tell us? 

Emotions, becoming more emotional - these two expressions ran through the conversation with Toni and more and more messed up my concept. How can an apprenticeship be emotional? You can't compare an apprenticeship with a wedding. Or maybe you can? 

Perhaps an example will help me 

I imagine doing an obstacle course. Together with a friend who already knows the course inside out, and me who has never done it before. My objective is to complete the obstacle course the next day without her help. 

My friend's idea for completing the course is: I will start alone and try to find my own way. She will be waiting for me at the finish line. 

Let's get started 

First obstacle: I balance on a rope 30 cm above the ground. One foot in front of the other looking towards the finish. It works well. Now another difficult step onto the intermediate platform. Too wobbly for me. I can no longer keep my balance and fall off the rope. Nothing to worry about. On to the second station. My friend cheers me on. I climb up the ladder, it works perfectly, and I reach the top in one piece.  

Target reached! 

I am completely out of breath when I arrive at the finish line and meet my friend. Just happy to have made it. And all that without her help – all on my own.  

But back to the beginning – What do the example and the quote have in common? 

I compare my obstacle course with an apprenticeship. 
My friend is Toni Grauvogl and I am the apprentice. So what makes Toni so special? 

Toni is a mentor, supporter and companion. Toni stands at the sideline and cheers me on. He watches me as I find my own way. This is exactly how he works with the apprentices. He trusts the young people to be able to carry out activities independently and to develop their own solution strategies. Trust. For Toni, this is one of the most important keys regarding apprenticeship. Toni enthusiastically tells us that this year, he, together with the apprentices, will try to create learning content by using virtual reality glasses.   

Encouraging talents and assets. How does Toni do that? It actually is quite simple. Strength develops when apprentices do what they are passionate about and what they are talented for. In this context, Toni also mentions the term work-life balance. For him, the term implies that work per se is something bad. His theory is that too many people have a job they don't enjoy. Therefore, everyone should think more about their talents and assets. If you have a job you love, suddenly everything is easy and effortless, and you do no longer need a work-life balance.  Only those who do not enjoy what they do want a work-life balance.    

Mistakes are something natural and mistakes are something good.  

Toni tries to convey this mindset to the apprentices. It's not so easy at first, he admits. The apprentices have to make mistakes. It strengthens them and is important for their personal development.  

"Emotions, becoming more emotional"  

Apprenticeship has to be rethought. It should not be a learning system based on weakness, the emphasis has to be on the individual personalities. In this respect, agile learning methods play an important role. For a more emotional apprenticeship, you have to make the apprentices feel that you trust them. Thus, they can develop further.  

You want to meet Toni personally and are interested in an apprenticeship at HORSCH? 

www.horsch.com/karriere