The Transformation Engineers are enjoying some early spring freshness as a not-so-new face has returned to our ranks: As of the 1st of February, we had the pleasure of welcoming back Lukas, our former Corporate Development Intern, as a Junior Transformation Consultant among the Transformation Engineers. Over the past six months, Lukas has been supporting us with internal challenges, but that was not the first point of contact he had with WARGITSCH. Instead, we worked together much earlier already:
Welcome back to WARGITSCH! Please feel free to tell us a little about yourself and your now completed studies.
Lukas: I am happy to be back! My name is Lukas Straube and I am 23 years old. I am from the (in its own way) beautiful Ruhr area in North Rhine-Westphalia. In 2020, I decided to study business administration and moved to the town of Hof in upper Franconia to study at the town’s university. After four semesters of basic studies, I decided to focus on “Entrepreneurship & Tech Start-Ups”. This specialization provided me with in-depth insights into the start-up scene in Germany as well as the rest of the world and taught me how to set up and market business models. Thematically fitting, I also started working as a working student at the digital start-up center Einstein1 on the campus of Hof University of Applied Sciences. In my private life, I am interested in a wide variety of different things and pursue various hobbies. For example, I’ve been producing music in my spare time for two years now and have recently started performing in small comedy shows.
The first point of contact between you and WARGITSCH took place in the context of a project with Hof University of Applied Sciences. What topic did you deal with and how did you hear about the project?
Lukas: The collaboration with WARGITSCH started through a project as part of a course run by Prof. Christine Brautsch and Prof. Günther Hilmer. I heard about this course via an e-mail and found the idea of a very practice-oriented project exciting, which is why I finally signed up for this course. As the students were assigned to the various project topics, we didn’t yet know which companies stood behind the project topics presented. As I am very open to many topics, I ended up with the project entitled “Development of a “Sustainability” competence field in a consulting company” somewhat by chance. After all the students were divided into teams, the representatives of the various businesses presented the companies and the projects at the kick-off in Einstein1. Our contact persons from WARGITSCH at the time were Dr. Christina Weigert, Carsten Gundlach and, later on, Michael Urban.
How did the project then result in you completing both your internship and your bachelor's thesis at WARGITSCH Transformation Engineers?
Lukas: During the project work, we gained many impressions of what WARGITSCH does and, above all, how the company works and thinks. These impressions are also largely due to a visit by our team to the WARGITSCH office in Pfaffenhofen, where we had the opportunity to talk to some Transformation Engineers and understand what WARGITSCH is aiming for with the topic of “sustainability”. All of these impressions were entirely positive for me, as I got the feeling that I had learned a lot and still have a lot to learn. This is why, after completing the project, I asked whether it would be possible to complete my mandatory internship at WARGITSCH and write my bachelor’s thesis in cooperation with the company. This request was received very positively, which further strengthened my decision and led to me starting as an intern in the Corporate Development department at WARGITSCH in August 2023.
What topic did you work on in your bachelor's thesis? Feel free to present it briefly.
Lukas: My bachelor’s thesis is also thematically classified in the area of “sustainability” and is entitled “Elaboration of a development plan for the establishment of sustainability reporting at WARGITSCH & COMP. AG as an impulse for the development of a sustainable corporate strategy”. In the thesis, I deal with the legislation of the European Union (EU) regarding corporate sustainability reporting. This was fundamentally revised and resulted in the Corporate Social Reporting Directive (CSRD), which was adopted in December 2022. The CSRD extends the reporting obligation in the EU. As a result, the number of companies subject to reporting requirements will increase from around 11,700 to around 50,000. Additionally, the CSRD obliges all affected companies to report in accordance with a new, uniform standard, the European Social Reporting Standards (ESRS). My task was to examine how the new legislation affects WARGITSCH and to derive recommendations for action.
When and why throughout this time became it clear to you that you wanted to stay with WARGITSCH - was there any particular highlight?
Lukas: My studies were completed with the submission of my bachelor’s thesis and the completion of my internship. By the time I handed it in at the beginning of November 2023, I had already been at WARGITSCH for three months and felt very much at home. By then, I had already implemented several projects working with Michael Urban. One highlight for me was the workshop we held for the article “What are we transforming?” in the third issue of the Transformation Telegraph. In this workshop, we got to the bottom of WARGITSCH’s DNA with Dr. Christoph Wargitsch, Dr. Christina Weigert and Christian Gleissner. Once again, I was able to gather a lot of knowledge and impressions. But to reduce my decision to stay with WARGITSCH to simply that would not be entirely correct. The team, who welcomed and supported me right from the start, also played a big role in my decision.
We are of course delighted to hear that! Finally, what are you particularly looking forward to in your new role - both professionally and personally?
Lukas: After taking a short break in January, I’m now back full of energy. However, I’m no longer working in Corporate Development, but as a Junior Transformation Consultant. I’m particularly looking forward to working with the WARGITSCH clients. The internal development in the area of sustainability is also something I’m very excited about.