We were looking for a long-term solution that would enable our dealers to shift the operational side of the Audi brand to an entrusted person, an Audi Manager. Finding the right partner was in this situation essential for the future success of Audi. With Cubiks we found a team that understands the business implications of what needed to be achieved and demonstrates the agility to ensure that all stakeholders had an engaging and positive experience.
As part of the global Audi 2020 strategy, the company’s mission to ‘delight customers worldwide’ is central. Audi Belgium recognised that it needed to establish a succession strategy in its dealerships to work towards achieving this goal. Existing Dealers were often too busy with daily operational work managing multiple brands to focus on Audi and prepare the best of the next generation to step up to more senior roles. Cubiks’ international footprint and expertise made it a natural partner to assist Audi Belgium with translating the global strategy into a local initiative.
Audi Group operates across four continents
Excellence is in the Audi DNA
Over 80,000 employees internationally
It was important that selecting future leaders focused on the notion of ‘customer delight’. A new ‘Audi Manager’ role was created to encompass this, with job competencies based on the company’s goal of becoming the world’s number one premium brand.
By adjusting the role of Dealers; business strategy responsibilities could remain in the hands of these experienced individuals, while the new Audi Managers would act as ‘brand evangelists’, focusing on the day to day management of the Audi brand in each Dealership.
A key hurdle for this project was consolidating the new role’s competency profile across Audi operations in Belgium. Cubiks collaborated with Audi stakeholders to map the 23 competencies required by Audi Headquarters in Germany into an agreed set of 8 essential competencies for Belgian Dealerships.
Once the core competencies were agreed, a job description was developed for the new Audi Manager.
To thoroughly explore a candidate’s skills and qualities, they are first asked to respond to a series of online assessments.
At the assessment centre, Cubiks consultants take participants through a Competency-Based Interview, focused on the Audi competencies. Candidates also have a chance to demonstrate their hands-on skills with a managerial role play and an Audi business case.
After this, participants are provided with feedback on their performance, as well as a discussion around their PAPI profile. These ‘live’ feedback sessions are essential to the credibility of the process with candidates as well as the existing Dealers.
Audi District Managers are included in the feedback, working together to design a training plan for successful Audi Managers. As many participants are internal candidates, it is vital that those who are unsuccessful receive constructive feedback and decisions are explained fully.
Audi Dealers have reported that their new Managers have enabled them to dedicate more of their time to strategy and exploring the future of their dealerships with Audi. They have full confidence in the quality of these new hires and their ability to promote the Audi brand. Launched in 2012, the goal of this initiative was to hire 68 Audi Managers by the end of 2018. So far, 48 new Audi Managers have been hired, and the process is ongoing. The project with Audi led to Cubiks being awarded ‘Best People Assessment and Testing company’ in Belgium’s 2015 HR Excellence Awards.