Committed to progress
Careers at stoba Precision Technology in Backnang: creative drive welcome
Michael Fesenbeck joined stoba in 2011 as an apprentice machine operator. Today, he is the head of a team of 23 people. His development shows: If you want to develop, grow and help shape the company, stoba gives you the chance to do just that. In this interview, Michael Fesenbeck gave us an insight into his experiences at the company: first an apprenticeship as a machine operator, then on to become a cutting machine operator and finally a permanent position in production. This meant that Michael Fesenbeck had already passed through several stages at stoba. However, when short-time working began with the coronavirus lockdown in 2020, it was clear to him that he couldn’t stop there. “That’s why I decided to take a weekend course on my own to become a master craftsman,” says the 29-year-old. “I regularly spent my Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays at school until I completed the course at the end of 2021.” A decision that required a lot of commitment and motivation in addition to working at stoba in a 3-shift model, but was more than worth it in the end: “A position as head of department was advertised internally in January 2022 and I applied for it straight away,” says Michael Fesenbeck. And with success: since the end of last year, he has been responsible for a team of 23 in his new position. He had no experience as a manager before then. “But I know the other side and know what I expected and wanted from my manager back then. I can therefore put myself in my people’s shoes very well and am aware of what they do every day,” he explains.
Accordingly, mutual appreciation, fairness and openness are important to him. Every day, he starts at 6 a.m. with a tour of his department to check on things and discuss potential challenges for the day. “I want to be personally available as a contact person for my team and signal that there is cooperation across all levels.” stoba encourages this unbridled desire to get involved and develop the future personally and technologically. Roland Gaus, Head of Human Resources at the Backnang site, confirms this: “stoba thrives on the interplay between people, cooperation, technology and the future. We naturally offer creative and motivated minds who fuel this conviction with their commitment and creative drive the space and support they need to do so!” Last but not least, numerous further training programs, some of which begin with the apprenticeship, are an integral part of the company. For Michael Fesenbeck, one thing is already clear: if possible, he would like to retire from stoba. “I find my work both challenging and enjoyable. Every day is different. And I still have a lot of ideas that I would like to implement – whether in terms of production or organizational issues such as optimizing the bureaucratic workload of our processes.” When asked what people should bring to the table if they want to apply to stoba, he has a clear answer: “A passion for the job, ambition, a clean and tidy way of working as well as reliability and quality awareness.” You can find an overview of all vacancies at the Backnang site as well as the opportunity to submit a speculative application on our People & Jobs page.