A special kind of team training

The goal for the weekend was to sail two flat-bottomed boats, named Strijd and Nirwana, on the basis of collective effort and above all safely, from A to B; thereby turning a mere group into a true team.

A previous generation of our apprentices tackled the Ijsselmeer in a similar way back in 2012, and was likewise enchanted by the positive influence that it had on their spirit of joint enterprise. Kuhn Edelstahl then took the decision to repeat the sailing event this year, with the objective of using it to strengthen the positive, cooperation-based team attitude of its trainees.

The weekend did not begin without first establishing objectives based on Kuhn’s principles: right from the first evening, the trainees themselves decided what the objective of the team training exercise was to be. The plan was to sail both vessels into the destination port at Enkhuizen at roughly the same time on Sunday evening, with no more than six minutes between their respective arrivals.

It was – and is – important for us for trainees to be fulfilling a joint goal, rather than working in competition with each other, as it is ultimately only through such good cooperation that our employees are able to deliver the quality and flexibility that typifies Kuhn as a business organisation.

The leg from Enkhuizen to Hoorn was used to practice all the required manoeuvres for the first time, and the trainees quickly learnt from day one that a lone-wolf sailor is of no use on board the vessel. When Sunday came around, everyone had learnt how to work together smoothly and master the task of brining the boats into dock via the lock gates at Enkhuizen. The vessels arrived with a time difference of just 58 seconds – amply fulfilling the objective.

Photos: Kuhn Edelstahl