To get things done, be happy
This article appeared in MarktImpulse, edition 2/17
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Photos: Torsten Helmke
Someone arriving at a meeting five minutes before it is due to start at ten really has no reason to apologize, even if the visitor just happened to arrive fifteen minutes beforehand. Unless one is a particularly polite and expert host.
The visitor has made themselves comfortable in the glass reception area of the company headquarters in Bochum, just a few minutes' taxi ride from the main train station, while sipping a cappuccino, brought right to them by a caring member of staff, and is about to take a close look at historic typewriter displayed in a glass cabinet, before Christian Mohr arrives: "Please excuse the wait, my appointment took longer than expected."
The managing director of the Gerhard Mohr Malerwerkstätten in Bochum is the walking embodiment of a "natural leader". A tall, athletic guy; optimistic and energetic. People with such presence can be intimidating. But Christian Mohr is different. He shows true interest in those around him and when he smiles, which is often, his eyes sparkle.
Christian Mohr, Managing Director of Gerhard Mohr Malerwerkstätten, Bochum
Christian Mohr, 48, is the third generation to run the business founded by his grandfather Gerhard in 1923. From 1967, his father Dr. Gerd-Bernd Mohr also ran the company successfully for over three decades. The Gerhard Mohr Werkstätten currently employs 177 members of staff at the Bochum, Marl, Mittweida and Münster sites.
Positive productivity
When touring the labyrinthine building, there is constant, relaxed chitchat. A query here, a little joke there. This setting of such positive productivity has characterized the business right from the beginning. The phrase, coined by grandfather Gerhard Mohr still applies, on founding the company in 1923: "To get things done, be happy."
The assumption that taking on this life-filled motto contributed to the company operating successfully for what is now more than 94 years could well be more than just speculation. Images taken right at the start show exuberant company celebrations, with saxophone, accordion and banjo music. This love of music has also continued over generations in the Mohr family. Katrin and Christian Mohr's three daughters all play an instrument (viola, cello and flute).
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Employees at the one-year anniversary, before operations were first established in Bülowstraße 27.
Scatter some crumbs for the return
Today, at the Bochum headquarters alone, Christian Mohr employs 130 staff, across seven teams, which are largely self-managed. For new arrivals, the building seems like a rather confusing network of main and branching corridors.
The company headquarters expanded with each growth spurt. The first floor is currently undergoing renovations and is being extended. Visitors have the feeling that "if I were alone here, I'd need to leave a trail of crumbs to find my way back!". In addition to the head office, there are sites in Münster, Marl and Mittweida in Saxony, all part of the Gerhard Mohr GmbH corporate group. Up to 100 construction sites are supported at once.
That fact that the largest client, conglomerate Evonik, generates less than six percent of sales at Gerhard Mohr GmbH is no coincidence. Christian Mohr is convinced that "a certain piece-by-piece approach results in independence."
Filtering out the cheapest
Another strategic decision lies in not participating in the "undercutting" process in public sector tenders. His formula for frivolous, low-cost estimates: "Just throw the cheapest one out." Then all applicants would be encouraged to provide a proper estimate, or he hopes. Price dumping here has been particularly irritating.
But Gerhard Mohr GmbH is going against the grain with ever more precise project planning. "I can still see potential for us in this area. The goal is not necessarily to be faster, but to be more efficient." Christian Mohr has a penchant for numbers and data. "Of course I get a bit annoyed when the figures for a project go into the red," he confesses (unsurprisingly!) but when invoices aren't increasing, that is what really makes me mad!" And he adds the reason behind this: "You can't make improvements without knowing the error."
Through perseverance, and also with the help of partially self-developed computer programs, Christian Mohr has been able to pinpoint further opportunities for optimizing the business process. "The percentages that we gather here are also decisive to our success."
Camping trips – and trips to the dentist – with his daughters
Although working 12-hour days is not unusual for Christian, he manages to participate fully in family life. He usually takes an hour free over lunch to spend time at home with his wife Katrin and daughters Hannah, 15, Christina, 11, and seven-year-old Luisa.
The family home is just a few hundred meters away. His parents and two of his three sisters also live in the area, the third in Gelsenkirchen. "We feel at home here, because we belong," says Christian Mohr, who has spent his entire life in the area around Bochum's Kohlenstraße, apart from an exchange year in the USA and completing his business studies degree in Bayreuth.
He has an appointment scheduled with his youngest daughter the following morning. Luisa has a dental appointment at 11.30 and may need some help. No other appointment is more important than that. One thing is clear – Christian Mohr has been a family man for a long time. He diverts all work calls during holidays (yet listens to them on his return), shares stories during a camping weekend with daughter Christina at a friend’s summer party in Limburg, and encourages Luisa to jump in from the 3 m diving board, leading her to qualify for the silver young swimmers’ medal – Christian might be a numbers person, but family comes first.
Three quarters of a century in the company
Family extends to the employees. "Everyone that works with us has the right to be happy. Making this happen is part of my entrepreneurial responsibility," says Christian Mohr.
If it's true that the length of time employees stay in a company indicates how satisfied they are working there, then staff retention is particularly high at Bochum-Weitmar-Bärendorf. One family (father, daughter, grandson) has even been represented across three generations! And another member of staff worked there for an almost unimaginable period of time: 76 years. Heinrich Eichenauer began his painting apprenticeship with the firm way back in 1937, when he was just 14 years old, and continued working there until he passed away in 2013.
"Tough on the outside, soft on the inside", recalls Christian Mohr warmly, of the only employee he ever allowed to address him informally. "When I took over management, I decided to stick with a more formal mode of address at work for fundamental reasons. But Mr Eichenauer also made a choice, for contrasting, if equally fundamental reasons! A conversation with him could go something like this: Me: 'Mr Eichenauer, you ought to be pleased you climb stairs every day, surely it keeps you young!' Him: 'For sure, you might well be right there, Christian.'"
Even today, not all work on churches can cover the costs. But other things count, too.
Christian Mohr, Managing Director
Diverse commitment
In addition to all painting work, metal coating, concrete repair and glasswork are all part of the range of services that are constantly being realigned with market needs. And of course, church restoration. "This was particularly close to my father's heart. But even today, not all church work can cover the costs," smiles Christian Mohr quietly. He is well aware of this, having studied finance. "But other things count, too."
The demolition of the Church Vierzehnheiligen in 2014 particularly affected his father. Gerd-Bernd Mohr, who successfully led the company from 1967 for several decades, fought passionately to preserve it, right until the end, as a former member of the church board. Looking beyond simply doing business is part of the company's philosophy.
And Gerhard Mohr GmbH is committed to a variety of causes, taking the form of charity and sponsorship. Among other things, Christian Mohr sits on the board of the regional painters' guild, on the supervisory board of the Volksbank Bochum-Witten, is part of the Stiepel Monastery Foundation and active in the Bochum-Hellweg Rotary Club, as well as being part of the Jury of the Brillux Design Award.
And as a shareholder in Bochum Marketing, he is equally able to sympathize over the fact that Deutsche Bahn is no longer traveling to Bochum with the ICE, as well as even out columns of figures that don’t tally.
And how does someone like Christian Mohr relax? Maybe he puts his feet up? Far from it; he's a runner. And of course, he doesn't do that without ambition, either. If it's less than ten to twelve kilometers per hour, he doesn't bother. "Christian, can't you move like a normal person?" his wife asked him once. No, of course not.
And annual tours with his racing bike group are not just relaxed pleasure tours, but racing trips of up to 150 kilometers. In fall, he will be touring through the Pyrenees, following the wheelmarks of the Tour de France. As always, with a healthy dose of competition. And yet, as always, with a sparkle in his eyes and a smile.
