Training Insights

Interview #1: Diversity is the key

Sabine Blum | Founding member of Formation4you and trainer from the very beginning

Sabine Blum offers individual workplace analyses (APA) and consultations including evaluation of further measures along with training, courses, and keynote speeches in applied ergonomics for managers and employees from various professional groups. Additionally, she is a trainer for Formation4you doing training courses in Renault’s sales network. Today we have the pleasure of introducing her here in our blog and getting to know her a little better.

Formation4you: Dear Sabine, thank you very much for taking the time to answer a few questions about yourself and your role at Formation4you. As a qualified human motion educator, mobility is the umbrella term for your work. How and when did you get to know Hubert?

Sabine: That was a really long time ago. I actually had to do some research. It was in 2006. I was working for a Swiss management consultant at the time and was organising the training courses for the sales staff of Nokia, Renault, and Nissan. I had been there for four years at the time and was actually already on my way out.

I met Hubert at an event back then. He had joined the organisation as the new trainer and manager for Switzerland. After that, it all just kind of fell into place. Hubert had the idea that I could continue working for the company as a trainer. He was one of the reasons why I stayed with the company after all. I switched from administrative event organisation to active work as a freelance trainer at these events. I’m a motion educator by profession, so I know all about training and I have been interested in cars since I was a child, so it worked out well. Hubert has always been an attachment figure for me. And in two years it will have been 20 years already! Man!

Formation4you: How did your journey together continue then?

Sabine: At some point, the idea came up that Hubert wanted to set up his own GmbH, a limited liability company. He’d had the tools on board for a long time. So we sat down together one weekend and brainstormed ideas and possibilities. On 3 December 2015, the time had come: Formation4you was entered into the Swiss commercial register and Hubert and I shared the management. In April 2019, I left the management team because my company ergolive gmbh took up more of my time.

I am still here for Formation4you as a sparring partner and trainer, however, since then it has belonged to Hubert alone, both financially and legally. Of course, we still have business and friendship ties and hopefully always will.

Formation4you: I was able to experience you as a trainer for myself, at a virtual classroom training session together with Jörg, which was about the new Renault 5. What special experience do you bring to these training sessions?

Sabine: Because of my history at Formation4you, I see my role as keeping an eye on quality assurance, taking an all-round view, so to speak, or the meta-level. I’m responsible for the planning – i.e. putting together the content of the virtual classroom training sessions and then linking the workshops to the face-to-face training sessions afterwards. This means that I take the templates that have already been developed in France, restructure them, create the content of the presentations, and create the logical pedagogical structure. I try to create the best possible dramaturgical arc for the quiz questions and chat information and also maintain the common thread for the training courses in the sales network. Hubert does it himself in the spare parts area. I’m his sparring partner when it comes to content design and the methodology and didactics of conveying text. That’s where my strengths lie.

You could also say that sometimes I’m the unpleasant one. The one who asks questions. I’m the one who points it out to the managing director if I see opportunities for optimisation.

Formation4you: What is it like being a woman in the automotive industry?

Sabine: The automotive business is still a male domain. Being accepted is one of those things. When participants see you, the first thing they think is that you are the administrator standing at the entrance handing out name badges.

I remember the first time well, when I was there as a trainer, around 18 years ago. It was also a challenge for the participants. As a woman in male domains, you actually have to be twice as clever, deliver twice as much, and be twice as friendly to be accepted. My big advantage is that people have known me in the industry for so long. The automotive world is changing extremely quickly and many contact persons at Renault have also changed positions. Hubert, Jörg, Romeo, and I are like the rock in the surf, the fixed stars that are still there.

Nevertheless, I have always tried to incorporate the female principle into the training sessions, which was perhaps sometimes irritating for the participants, but we were also very successful with it. We sometimes even – if we felt it was necessary – went for the ambitious.

Many years ago, for example, I remember it was about the then-new Renault Laguna. The model is no longer available on the new car market. There were quality problems in the first generation, which were eliminated in the second generation. But how was it possible to convince the dealer network of the improvements in the long term? We focussed on haptic exercises and appealing to the senses. We had three different vehicles in the training room, with the logos masked so that the models could not be recognised. The participants were blindfolded and sat in the different cars one after the other. They could feel which vehicle had the best material appearance, which odour was the most pleasant, and how it felt. The Renault Laguna actually came out on top, although the other two models were much more expensive.

I believe that the range of possibilities expands when you include both sides – in this case female and male perspectives. If you decide – regardless of the industry – to address emotions as well, experiences become firmly anchored. So we are very well positioned.

Formation4you: Because you’ve already mentioned sustainability, that brings me straight to the next topic. How does the Formation4you concept sustainably support the service and sales processes?

Sabine: I think we ensure sustainability through the training materials, the content, and the presentations and we do it in such a way that they have the desired quality in terms of structure and preparation for learning. 

In every training course, I focus intensively on the sustainability of the learning methodology and didactics and what can be optimised on an ongoing basis. I’m always on the lookout for new learning opportunities, always bearing in mind the client’s budget, of course. But we don’t get bogged down in any ideas. We keep the tried and tested and integrate new things.

Formation4you: What excites you personally most about everyday training?

Sabine: I am someone who is creative, who is very much in the moment. I’m the one who sets sparks flying, who develops new things. I’m strong at finding ideas, collating and processing information, finding solutions, and then passing them on. I’m not the one who tends the fire once it’s lit. Other people are much better suited to that. I’m a hub that tries to bring information, find solutions, and then offer them. That’s what makes me special. And that’s fun: Always new people, always new situations, adding a spark and bringing in the humour. Coming in and offering my knowledge on a silver platter. Then there are fireworks. And that inspires me anew every day.

Formation4you: Thank you very much Sabine for your openness and the insights you gave us into your work and the history of Formation4you. I could literally feel your enthusiasm for what you do during our conversation.

If we have now been able to arouse your interest in innovative and customised solutions, we look forward to hearing from you and getting to know you without obligation! Together we will find solutions!