Excursions and Practical Talks
Work and organisational psychology is an applied subject. In practice, work and organisational psychologists concern themselves above all with fields of work centred on personell. Consequently, topics such as personal and career developement, the recruitment and selection of employees or performance assessment are at the forefront of our work. In order to offer students the possibility to get to know the broad fields of activity in work and organisational psychology practically, the professorship of work and organisational psychology regularly organises national business fieldtrips and practical lectures. The interlinking of science and practice is key to our work.
Exkursion zur Wieland Electric
When travelling to Bamberg by train, it is virtually impossible not to notice Wieland Electric GmbH. Directly opposite the train station, one can see the company grounds—who would guess that situated here is a world-leading brand? We wanted to look at more closely, so in January 2023 around 35 students and members of the Professorship of Work and Organisational Psychology visited Wieland's headquarters.
After everyone was equipped with steel-capped shoes—in accordance with the motto "Safety First"—, Frau Lang and other colleagues welcomed us into an interactive showroom. At first the company was presented to us as a pioneer in safe electrical connectivity solutionsand in the field of pluggable electrical installation for functional buildings. Subsequently the HR department presented the various work environments of its employees—both in production as well as the office and went into their respective details. We were also informed about the policies offered by Wieland to employees to support their mental health.
For the next point of the programme we were divided into small groups and led through production, office spaces and the showroom. Here we comprehensively learned what is concealed behind the terms "electronic connectivity solutions" and "pluggable electrical installation for functional buildings", how these arise step by step and what for the diverse potential applications exist, as well as where in our everyday life we might encounter them.
Subsequently we were even able to talk casually, supplied with snacks and drinks, to the employees of Wieland, whom we plied with questions. Whoever wished also had the chance to become personally active in the handiwork and solder flashlights to a keychain—a felicitous conclusion and a nice keepsake.
We would like to thank Frau Lang for organising the excursion. We would also like to thank the employees at Wieland Electric: the tour through the factory, the insight into everyday life and that they answered all our questions so openly.
WS2019/2020
Excursion to STAEDTLER Mars GmbH & Co. KG in Nuremberg
On 28th November 2019 the Professorship of Work and Organisational Psychology, together with students in the conjunction with lectures on "work psychology", made an excursion to the headquarters of STAEDTLER in Nuremberg. The students received in-depth insights into production and work processes of a middle-sized industrial company. STAEDTLER employs around 2,200 workers and is Europe's largest producer of pencils and coloured crayons.
At the beginning of the excursion, we received a short introduction to the company's history and the industrial production of the diverse product range of wooden pencils, highlighters and fineliners. Subsequently we untertook a factory tour, in which we visited the workspaces and inside the production line. On a tour over the entire factory premises we were able to follow in detail the partly automated work-processes of procurement and productoin until the shipment of orders. On the basis of activity analysis, we discussed the relevant aspects of the work (such as the difficulty of tasks, work demands and conditions, as well as the social and psychological environment of the workplaces), in the course of which new ideas arose for practical intervention opportunities with respect to ergonomic office planning and support of psychological stress factors in during work in production.
We are very grateful to Mr. Rüdel, who led us through the production areas and gave his entire morning to answering our questions.