The boss places importance on the constant further education and training of her 14 employees, and Brigitte Jacob doesn’t exclude herself from this either. “Only those who are proficient with the latest technology and can, consequently, offer their customers modern, individual and optimal solutions can prove themselves on the market.” A recipe for success, with which Brigitte Jacob has proven herself as a woman in a male-dominated domain for decades. “You have to show people that you have mastered the electrical trade,” smiles Brigitte Jacob self-consciously. “Daily when dealing with customers and, back then, when dealing with our employees, when I took over the business from my husband, who retired for health reasons. This seems to have worked to me, because no-one ran away from me.”

As a specialist company with experienced, qualified and motivated employees, the family business has definitely left its mark in and around Magdeburg as it has laid countless metres of cable to date. From the complete renovation of hotel rooms in today’s Maritim Hotel at the beginning of the 1990s, to the sophisticated lighting system for a care home, which was just finished, and in which dementia patients are being cared for, or in the security system on the campus of Magdeburg-Stendal university.

As a young girl, the certified economist actually dreamt of managing a large hotel. And this wish did not come out of the blue. Raised in the Erzgebirge, Brigitte Jacob’s parents ran a hotel near Oberwiesenthal. After studying at Leipzig’s commercial college, she was meant to be making her way in the direction of the Baltic Sea. “However, I only got as far as Magdeburg, as I met my husband Walter, who was managing his father Walter Jacob’s business, which was founded in 1945. So, I didn’t lose my heart to the Baltic Sea. Instead, it went to the River Elbe,” laughs the 58-year-old company boss. With the take-over of the company in 1995, the businesswoman stood completely on her own feet; bought today’s company premises near Magdeburg airport and had a new building put up. “Our corporate philosophy was always independence. Not quite so easy during the GDR era. However, my husband managed to steer the company business around some rocks. So the bar was raised quite high when I took over the company. However, the vote of confidence from my husband and my vision that this company must continue to exist helped me to overcome the big and small problems.” Boss Brigitte Jacob also solves the problem of the ever more difficult search for specialist workers in her own way. “We all regularly go back to school, even my project managers. This is not only good for specialist competence. It is also a good way to make new contacts and exchange experiences.”

As a result, Brigitte Jacob is among the almost 28 percent of women occupying managerial positions in private companies in Germany. This was determined by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) on the basis of the results of the microcensus. This also showed that the proportion of female bosses has increased in the last few years and reached a new high point in 2010 with 27.7 percent. Nevertheless, the proportion of women in managerial positions is still considerably lower than the proportion of female employees in total (45.6%), according to the Federal Statistical Office. Brigitte Jacob has never regretted her decision, even if it has not always been easy. Her advice: “With the necessary specialist and social competence, any managerial position can be filled by a woman. Don’t lose heart.”

Author: Dagmar Perschke

Contact:

Elektroanlagenbau

Walter Jacob GmbH

Managing Director Brigitte Jacob

Carnotstraße 25

39120 Magdeburg

Tel. +49 (0) 391 628900

Fax: +49 (0) 391 6289020

E-Mail: jacob@walter-jacob-gmbh.de

www.walter-jacob-gmbh.de