Be strong together

Anyone who enters the company courtyard of Kilian Willibald GmbH lands in a professional working environment in which many things seem unexpectedly calm and relaxed for a company that is active in civil engineering and road construction. Everyone seems to know their tasks clearly and to tackle them without appearing stressed.

The atmosphere at Willibald is special and different, confirms professional driver Florian Ballmann, who has been working for the Lenggries-based company for 19 years: “What sets the Willibald company apart from other companies is the family-like working environment – everyone knows each other and you also run into each other privately all the time.” The latter is due to the fact that most of the company’s employees themselves come from the region and live here. Florian can look down on his MAN parked on the company grounds from the balcony of his private flat.

“The good relationship with colleagues and the regional construction sites are what make the job at Kilian so great for me,”

Florian explains.

In the mornings, he comes to work by bike while, in the evenings, he enjoys the opportunity to have enough time for his family. Family ties also bind his boss and managing director Kilian Willibald to the traditional company. After his great-grandfather, his grandfather and his father, he is the fourth Willibald for whom the company and the family are clearly in the foreground. In a way, the company is part of the family. “I myself have been on the road with our employees since I was on my feet, whether in the workshop or on the construction sites – always,” reports Kilian Willibald. His presence for and in the company has not changed since those first steps – quite the opposite. He clearly sees himself as responsible for continuously ensuring a secure order situation. “Standing still means that we cannot work. It is my job to prevent that,” says the entrepreneur.

Driver Florian is also convinced that he has always driven MAN, of course because there are no other trucks at Willibald, but also out of conviction: “I would always prefer MAN because of the smoothness and comfort,” says the 42-year-old. He spends 70 percent of his day behind the wheel of his truck. That’s only fun when things go really well – as they do with his MAN TGS 35.440 – and the equipment meets personal needs. Kilian Willibald GmbH also pays a lot of attention to this criterion:

“All drivers who get a new truck are invited by the boss and then the boss goes through the wish list with the driver,”

says Florian.

In addition to his work as a driver, Florian spends 30 per cent of his working time actively helping on the construction sites. “The work is hard,” says Florian, “but in a pleasant way, because, at the end of the day, you see what you have done.” In addition, he says, the company’s assignments are also extremely varied. This is also the case with the current project in which the Bavarian company is involved and for which Verena Willibald, daughter of Kilian Willibald, speaks without exaggeration of a world first: “A geothermal project is being built here in which 240 kilometres of borehole section will be brought in at a depth of 4500 metres.” Once the borehole has been successfully laid, a medium will be fed through it, which will then transport heat to a power plant, where it will be used to generate electricity and heat.

Whether and when she herself would gain a foothold in the family business was always an open question. Her father also never pushed for his children (son Christoph has already been with the company for two years) to follow him into the business, says Verena. She herself sees it as a privilege to be able to be in the company. And she also refers to the good working atmosphere at Willibald: “The relationship is very family-like, my father knows everyone, the employees also get along very well with each other and we have a very long company tenure.” That is now rather unusual, especially in the construction industry. “We grow in our tasks together and are guided by the leadership principles: Be a role model – give trust – take responsibility”