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RSM’s EEOD celebrates Class of 2011 Deutsche Telekom HR Professionals Programme

Rotterdam/Bonn, November 2011 --- RSM’s Executive Education and Organisational Development’s (EEOD) Executive Director Josette de Goede presented diplomas to the 35 participants of the 2009-2011 Deutsche Telekom Professional Programme HR at their graduation celebration with families, friends and managers at Deutsche Telekom AG in Bonn, Germany.

“There is nothing more beautiful than graduating with a strong network of Professional Programme buddies and new friends,” enthused participants Sarah Risse and Christian Hauer of Deutsche Telekom commenting before graduation.

The ceremony featured a keynote by Deutsche Telekom CHRO, Thomas Sattelberger and a presentation from RSM’s Dr Bill Collins who gave an engaging presentation on a root cause analysis of why participants did the programme, with fascinating insights into happiness. Dr Collins delivered the following good news, 

“The World Values Survey found 80% of respondents said that they were very or quite happy” he said, reminding graduates to celebrate their accomplishments and go forward enjoying the journey, rather than the destination. Presentation of the well-deserved diplomas was made by Josette de Goede, Executive Director, with EEOD Programme Leaders, Wilfred Verweij and Angelique Lentjes present to congratulate the participants with their achievement.

And happiness was certainly the order of the day at the graduation, with plenty of smiles among the impressive group of graduates. Speaking about the programme, Best Student Award Winner Sabine Imberg and graduate Lucia Krings said “The mix of people was great and we could exchange and discuss our ideas with an international group of participants and academic staff on a regular basis.” 

The DT PP HR Class was highly international with participants from 15 different nationalities: German, Dutch, American, Italian, Croatian, Polish, Austrian, British, Hungarian, Slovakian, Romanian, Greek, Czech, French and Brazilian.

HR-professionals from multiple businesses and European countries participated in the Programme and strengthened their networks across the company. The Programme therefore facilitated the gradual development of a social community of HR-experts who can continue to exchange experiences and share ideas.

Graduates Judith Simon Szásne and Zsanett Varga commented the programme had broadened their knowledge and, “…gave us the opportunity to contact other people and share different views - and also to better understand the strategy of DT.”

RSM’s EEOD was approached by Deutsche Telekom to develop the Masters, specifically for Deutsche Telekom as part of an in-house initiative called ‘Go Ahead” aimed at, “developing strategically-minded, business focused execs who are able to understand the emerging demands of their future roles while pursuing career at DT”. The first programme was run in 2006-2008.

The current 2011 graduating class of 35 students began studies in December 2009. Of the 35 students, 31 will be awarded with the Master’s Degree.
 
 The Programme both facilitated and supported the company-wide HR transformation. It combined an in-depth exploration of strategic business issues with an ongoing discussion of the future of HR, particularly vis-à-vis business leaders. The Programme challenged participants to take the lead in shaping their new role (each of them in his or her own circumstances) and provided them with the knowledge and skills needed to perform effectively (in DT), today and tomorrow.

RSM wishes all Deutsche Telekom graduates a successful international career!

Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University is consistently ranked amongst the top 10 business schools in Europe. It is located in the international port city of Rotterdam where core Dutch values of openness, flexibility and acceptance of diversity have attracted businesses on a global scale. Our emphasis is on ground breaking research and practices relevant to business; our primary focus is on developing business leaders who carry their innovative ideas into a sustainable future. Our portfolio includes a broad array of bachelor, master, doctoral, MBA and executive education programmes. www.rsm.nl

For more information on RSM or on this release, please contact Marianne Schouten, Media & Public Relations Manager for RSM, on +31 10 408 2877 or by email at mschouten@rsm.nl.