Bold Awards ceremony in Venice, March 2023 (from left): Steffen Renisch, Michaela Gisch, Ricardo dos Santos Miquelino, Jutta dos Santos Miquelino, Martin Jende
Martin Jende, Chief Human Resources Officer, and Steffen Renisch, Head of Train Driver Training, both from DB Fernverkehr AG, Frankfurt am Main, and Jutta dos Santos Miquelino, Co-CEO and Partner at and dos Santos GmbH, Berlin
DB Fernverkehr AG, in collaboration with transformation consultancy and dos Santos, won the prestigious BOLD Award in the "Boldest Future of Work" category for their innovative approach to redefining job profiles and workplace concepts for train drivers. The winners were chosen by a professional audience from 85 different countries and a high-caliber, internationally composed jury. The award was presented at the ceremony in Venice on March 31, 2023, and was enthusiastically received by the authors of this article, as well as Michaela Gisch (Head of Tf V at DB Fernverkehr), and Ricardo dos Santos Miquelino (Co-CEO of and dos Santos).
The "Employer of the Future" project, which has been implemented since 2018 as part of DB Fernverkehr AG's "Starke Schiene" strategy, began when Martin Jende (then Head of Train Drivers) set out to create a contemporary vision for the future of train drivers.
This is where and dos Santos came into play. The think tank enables organizations to grow from within, consciously become future-proof, and master the diverse technological and cultural challenges of change. It provides access to the knowledge of international opinion leaders from business, science, technology, and culture, combining it with the knowledge of the clients to create a "collective genius." Specifically, this means that employees from the affected areas meet with startup founders, professors from leading universities, high-tech experts, and even Academy Award winners to jointly develop and implement solutions for transformation. This is exactly what happened in the "Employer of the Future" project.
After an intensive analysis phase, and dos Santos assembled a team of highly qualified cultural pioneers and international innovation experts for a series of Workbench Labs (Design Thinking Workshop formats). During these intensive programs, which each lasted about 9 weeks, this high-caliber collective worked with a core team of train drivers and managers from DB Fernverkehr to develop answers to the following questions:
The driving force behind answering these questions is that rail transport is increasingly coming into the focus of society, as there is a need for more environmentally friendly alternatives to cars and short-haul flights in the quest for sustainable mobility. However, this shift towards mobility is countered by the increasing shortage of skilled workers, an aging society, and the changing career expectations of younger generations. There is also some uncertainty about how long the job profile of Tf will last due to the increasing digitalization and automation in rail transport.
Therefore, innovative workplace concepts are needed that take into account the needs and motivations of both older and younger generations and in which appreciation and community, transparency, participation, and individual personality development play an important role.
The future image of train drivers, who interact naturally and seamlessly with the machine, is perhaps best described by Bryan Johnson, founder and CEO of the AI company Kernel: "The relationship between humans and artificial intelligence must eventually be a symbiosis." In addition, the following holistic strategies, innovative solutions, and detailed concepts were developed:
The decisive factors for the development of new job profiles are the massive shortage of skilled workers and the digitalization of the workplaces that flows into the activities. Therefore, it was of high importance to design concrete measures for qualification and talent promotion to ensure the necessary competencies and skills for the locomotive drivers.
The team began by creating various personas to consider the spectrum of pain points and motivations for long-term employee engagement while aligning DB's corporate values with the needs and expectations of the employees. Based on this outcome, the focus then shifted to leadership and learning platforms that can promote active participation, transparency, and community building among the Tf.
For the physical workspace of the Tf, the team next developed a concept for the driver's cab of the planned ICE generation for 2031, a state-of-the-art design that is now recognized as a potential basis for high-speed trains throughout Europe. This concept brought to life the vision of locomotive drivers who:
The third theme focused on the deployment site, where the train drivers rest, train, and exchange ideas with colleagues between their long-distance shifts. Here, the team developed a holistic solution that not only meets the physical needs of the employees – such as balanced nutrition or comfortable rest areas – but also promotes their mental and emotional well-being. New communication tools integrated into the design offer employees the opportunity to not only work and learn in this space but above all to live their strong community.
This innovative concept was already implemented with the opening of a new deployment site of DB Fernverkehr in Mannheim and received much praise from employees and management. This new location not only creates additional jobs. It is a prototype for all other locations. True to the motto "Create enthusiasm as soon as you enter," a meeting space for employees is created where they can exchange ideas and relax, but above all, feel comfortable.
The solutions, especially the concept for the driver's cab of the next ICE generation, have great potential for Europe-wide application, and work on its realization has already begun. Following an article published in Deine Bahn in 2021, interest in this concept grew among train designers.
At the RedCabin European Railway Innovation Interior Summit 2022, representatives of the project team addressed the question: "How does cultural and digital change affect our workplaces and work areas?" Using the concept of the future workplace, they highlighted the changes faced by Tf across Europe, as well as their need for better connectivity and operational excellence in collaboration with various trades on the railway.
At InnoTrans 2022, leading engineers from Siemens Mobility invited them to the High Speed Experience Lounge to jointly consider the experience of Tf onboard the train, closely linking their experiences with those of passengers in terms of comfort and simplicity.
And what about the other operational areas at DB Fernverkehr? ... and dos Santos has been commissioned to develop the "Job Profile of the Future" for the over 8,000 employees of the onboard service. Driven by the vision of creating the basis for motivated and empathetic employees whose competence, efficiency, and satisfaction delight passengers and, in harmonious interaction with many work-facilitating digital services, significantly optimize the travel experience.
All involved are eager to see how the results will further impact the quality of services on the trains, the working world of thousands of employees, and the experiences of millions of passengers traveling by train through Europe.
Source: "Deine Bahn" Magazine, Issue 07/2023
