How Thalia develops store managers who lead like entrepreneurs.
- Client
- Thalia Buch & Media GmbH
Austria - Industry
- Book trade
- Zortify product
- Focus
- Leadership development and onboarding
The programme at a glance
Hidden potential made visible
a personality analysis revealed strengths and development areas that had not been visible before
Coaching for every manager
individual coaching based on each person’s analysis and needs
A clear onboarding path
a practical, self-directed programme into the store manager role
Flexible and efficient
remote coaching at times that suit each manager, saving time and resources
Every bookstore is unique, and so is every manager
Store managers hold key positions at Thalia. They work hand in hand with their teams to bring Thalia’s vision to customers, and stable teams with low staff turnover are a top priority for every local bookstore.
In the fast-paced world of book retail, Thalia needs managers with an agile mindset, and wants to identify and promote these people early in their careers. Development has to fit each individual, not follow a single standard track.
- What Thalia looks for in a store manager
- 1Takes responsibility
- 2Thinks critically
- 3Acts entrepreneurially
- 4Brings an agile mindset
Three questions from Thalia’s people developers in Austria and Germany
How can employees become genuine leaders and entrepreneurs in a short time?
How can new managers learn the basics quickly, so they settle in and become effective in their new role?
How can knowledge pass smoothly between positions when high potentials need it?
Four steps from potential to store manager
Analyze
A personality analysis measured the five basic personality traits plus entrepreneurial capital.
Coach
Zortify coached each employee individually, based on their analysis and personal needs.
Onboard
Thalia’s “Onboarding Programme into the Management Role” is practical, individual and self-directed, and teaches on three levels.
Act and reflect
Clear, transparent expectations allow every new manager regularly check their actions against them and reflect.
The full picture of a future leader
The five basic personality traits show who a person is. Entrepreneurial capital adds how they think and act as an entrepreneur, which made previously hidden potential visible.
Coaching that fits into retail life
- Individually scheduledCoaching appointments agreed with each manager
- Location-independentRemote coaching, whatever store a manager works in
- Resource-savingSaves time and other important resources
Thalia Austria
At Thalia, an agile mindset and entrepreneurial thinking and working are essential for store managers in the fast-paced world of book retailing. Zortify has focused on these aspects in its precise analysis.
“This analysis provides us with an excellent basis for developing our new store managers in a very targeted manner and giving them the best possible support in their new management role, with all the challenges they face.”
What Thalia gained
| Area | Result |
|---|---|
| Talent insight | A wide range of previously hidden potential and development areas identified |
| Development | A targeted, individual development basis for every new store manager |
| Onboarding | A practical, self-directed programme into the management role |
| Clarity | Transparent expectations that managers use to reflect on their own actions |
| Efficiency | Time and resources saved through flexible, remote coaching |
Thalia is the largest bookseller in the German-speaking world. In Austria it operates 37 bookshops, the online store thalia.at and the “tolino” e-reader range, with around 800 passionate storytellers who combine quality, personality, inspiration and service. Thalia builds a bridge between people, their lives and stories, and is committed to a world where content counts and reading is becoming increasingly important again.