Accelleron and Sauber Motorsport: where teamwork drives success

“I very much believe in high-performing teams – it’s a subject very close to my heart,” Annika says. “When you have worked in one, when you've had that experience, you don't settle for less. And that’s a feeling I would like all our colleagues to share.

“People thrive most when they work in an environment where a team is pulling together, when there’s trust among individuals, there is a willingness to support one another, and the motivation to achieve higher goals.”

As an organisation that first entered Formula 1 in 1993, Sauber has spent the last 30 years fine-tuning its teamworking processes to achieve maximum performance.  

“This partnership allows us to draw upon Sauber’s knowledge and experiences, and provides another valuable perspective,” Annika explains. “When it comes to teamwork, whether in sport or in business, when you have a high-performing team around you, that's when you can perform miracles.”

Accelleron’s Head of Group People & Advancement, Thomas Lienhardt, plays a key role in developing a teamwork training concept with Sauber. He believes that for teams to work well, and to achieve their goals, individuals must be well trained and able to execute their own role in the process – as well as understanding the vital contribution others make. 

“We see this in Formula 1,” Thomas says. “The person who lifts up the front of the car at a pit stop needs to know when those at the rear of the car are finished. The feeling of anticipation and automation, almost without thinking, is what makes a great team.” 

And for Thomas, the perennial search for a sporting advantage in F1 is another area of particular interest. “A great-performing team will always have the same focus in relation to its challenges; a desire to do a better job than it did yesterday. It can be tough if you are really good at something and always want to improve, and that applies to both our organisations. 

“This links to the sense of confidence that we have at Accelleron as a new, independent business. We must believe we can go further to achieve even greater things in the future.”

Accelleron’s four key values are inextricably linked to the mindset required to deliver strong teamwork: trust, going further, curiosity, and entrepreneurship.

Trust is the most fundamental component of teamwork. If individuals can trust each other to deliver the best job possible, this understanding and togetherness can unlock a whole world of possibility. Accelleron is benefiting from Sauber’s experience when it comes to underlining the importance of trust, particularly when good teamwork is at stake.

“We have launched a new training initiative for our middle managers,” Thomas explains. “During this exercise, our employees went to Sauber’s HQ in Hinwil and were able to see how the operation was structured. They also took part in a hands-on pitstop simulation in which trust is a key element.

“For Accelleron, trust is almost like the mothership of everything we do. When it comes to our interactions, our customer focus and especially entrepreneurship, trust is the number one element. The pitstop challenge was a perfect way to illustrate this and to get everyone to feel the situation and their commitment to each other.”

When determined to develop and improve as a team, it is also important to adopt an appropriate mindset and set of expectations. For already high-performing organisations, where large and sudden gains are unrealistic, a consistent supply of smaller wins is more often the target. This is an ethic instilled at Accelleron through a range of training initiatives.

“We have brought into the training at Accelleron the mindset of ‘innovation versus continuous improvement’,” Thomas continues. “When we were learning about teamwork during the pitstop challenge, we were trying to emphasise that innovation does not always have to require something big to be achieved. When we broke down the exercise into little elements, we considered where we could make our gains and innovate. Where could we do something different? 

“With Sauber and Formula 1 in general, the ethos is about recording continuous improvement under pressure. That is so inspiring.”

Trust within a team can be secured by having a collaborative mindset, an openness to new ideas and a competitive attitude. These qualities are commonplace in Formula 1. And they closely match Accelleron’s key values. They indicate not just who we are today, but who we want to be in the future.

  “The partnership with Sauber is super beneficial because, in addition to trust, we can do so much with Formula 1 when it comes to ‘going further’,” Thomas points out.