At the Eurhonet Talent Academy, participants from different disciplines and countries work together to solve one of the pressing issues faced by public and social housing providers. At the end of the week, they present their solutions to a professional jury. One of our long-standing jury members is Klaus Graniki, CEO of German housing provider DOGEWO21. Klaus was a jury member at the very first Talent Academy in 2014. To celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Academy, we caught up with Klaus Graniki…
Photos of the first Talent Academy in 2014 (left) and last year’s Talent Academy (right)
Can you tell us a bit about your background and company?
Klaus Graniki: “DOGEWO21 is number 17 on the ranking list of German housing companies, with 17,000 dwellings in Dortmund, Germany.*
I started in the housing industry in 1975, as my father did before. Housing providers fulfill an important mission for society as a whole, and I am glad to be part of this.”
*(In Germany, the AGW – the working group of German housing companies – conducts a survey of its members according to the number of properties owned and managed).
Photos: DOGEWO21
What are your memories of the first ever Talent Academy back in 2014 (then called the Junior Executive Academy)?
Klaus Graniki: “Ten years ago, we started a new experience bringing young people from European public and social housing companies together in Bochum. Bochum is my hometown and the location of EBZ (European Business School), one of the biggest universities for housing and real estate in Germany.
As a member of the jury, it was exciting for me to see how young people were offered the opportunity to network in the housing industry beyond their own national borders for the first time within the framework of Eurhonet.
Over the years, the Talent Academy has evolved. For instance, now it’s open to people of all ages and at different stages of their career. The further development of the programme initiated from bauverein AG in Darmstadt brought us a new and interesting view. We say thank you to Sybille Wegerich, Armin Niedenthal and Jennifer Nickel for the big support on this way.”
Photos from Talent Academy 2022
You’ve been a strong supporter of the Talent Academy over the years…
Klaus Graniki: “It is interesting for all of us to spend one week together with European colleagues, discussing the development of our companies and tenants’ wishes with employees working in the same sector.
For the jury it is always a pleasure to see a lot of group dynamics in this week. Also, to recover my knowledge of English in this special week!”
Photos from Talent Academy 2017 (left) and 2018 (right)
What would you say to people joining the Talent Academy this year?
Klaus Graniki: “After 10 years in Germany, we are looking forward to meeting for the first time in Brescia, Italy and we really appreciate that ALER BCM is our host in 2024.
To people joining this year, I say: Take every opportunity you can to come together with colleagues from European housing providers, and enjoy!”
