Following his doctorate, Matthias received a request to join TARGUS. As he had previously worked as a management consultant, he decided to take a closer look at TARGUS. As he was convincing in the selection process and TARGUS impressed him with its philosophy, the decision was made to continue his career together.
'Entrepreneurial thinking is promoted by regularly discussing and working on topics that affect both the immediate work environment and the strategic direction of TARGUS all-together.'
Dr. Matthias Heinicke
During my studies for Industrial Engineering and Mechanical Engineering in Magdeburg, I had the opportunity to support fellow students as a tutor, passing on my theoretical knowledge and participating in industrial projects. Subsequently, I started working as a research assistant for the department chair, which had given me the chance to gain practical experience early on and apply my acquired methodological knowledge in a business environment.
Methodological expertise as the foundation of my later consulting career
In addition to academic teaching, I dedicated myself to refining and adapting methods of Operational Excellence and factory planning in the context of my doctoral thesis. The focus was on resilience as the ability of a system to adapt to changing environmental conditions. Through applied research, which I was able to actively advance within industrial projects, I gained further experience as a management consultant, utilizing the adaptability of companies to improve them. In essence, despite being employed at the university, I was already living half the life of a consultant. I traveled to Lippstadt or Dortmund every week for 2-4 days, stayed in hotels, and worked long hours. Working with clients was always rewarding, often enlightening, and sometimes exhausting due to the need for persuasion against the status quo. The diversity of projects and clients, as well as the varied tasks, appealed to me because they constantly challenged me. My projects at that time were mostly limited to specific technical or procedural problems.
My path to TARGUS
After completing my Ph.D., I decided to work in a corporate setting to be able to directly effect change. When I was approached about joining TARGUS, I inquired about who TARGUS was and what characterized the medium-sized management consultancy. Ultimately, I was convinced by the philosophy and approach of TARGUS: close to the customer, always goal-oriented, and methodically sound. Moreover, the connection to the C-level promised the ability to make an impact by implementing things directly.
Personal growth, new challenges, and a common aspiration
Due to my academic background, I was quickly able to prove myself as the head of the Know-How team for Supply Chain Management and factory planning and thus had the early opportunity to further develop internal team members. I then took on leadership roles as a project manager. Here, I was challenged to lead, guide, and coach both client teams and colleagues. TARGUS supported me in this by providing targeted leadership training to meet this challenge in a short time.
In addition, as a project manager, I became the primary contact for the client – not only regarding technical questions but increasingly beyond that. At TARGUS, I had the freedom to develop my own style and to build sustainable customer relationships while always having my mentor or someone from the executive and partner circle by my side to explore different approaches. Despite generally similar demands and mindsets, the different styles of my respective contacts offered me a variety of options to try out and adapt until I found my own way. TARGUS also allows me to have a direct impact on the company. Entrepreneurial thinking is promoted by regularly discussing and working on topics that affect both the immediate work environment and the strategic direction of TARGUS all-together. Everyone is encouraged to contribute their ideas, whether it's streamlining travel expense accounting, adjusting the slide master, or improving the onboarding process for new colleagues. What unites us is the common aspiration to deliver top performance for our customers and support them in what truly advances them. This also means questioning our own approaches, processes, and structures.
Successes are celebrated together
What impresses me about TARGUS is the collective culture with which everyone interacts. No matter what problem arises, you can ask anyone for help at any time and either get the support you need directly or receive advice on who to turn. Thus, there is a communal spirit where everyone encourages each other to achieve excellence and celebrates successes together.
The latter is clearly evident to me in the Best-of-Consulting awards that TARGUS has won through excellent results with clients. I personally participated in these awards with 3 projects and am delighted to celecrate every time with the whole team. The Hidden Champion Awards also testify to how much our work is appreciated by clients, who repeatedly highlight the practicality of our solutions and our implementation strength in shaping their future together with us.
