Our history can be reviewed very seriously - but you can also do it in a self-ironic way, tongue-in-cheek.

It all started on a former farm house in Central Hesse. The four founders, three managers of one of the world's biggest management consultancies and a former aircraft captain of "Kranich Airline", open their office on the ground floor of the building, and found "Connex Personnel Consulting GmbH" in 1993.  As the four founders come from different parts of Germany, they work and live together in the old half-timber house during the week. It's their personal experiences that led to their ambition to establish a management consultancy which works as professional as the prestigious consultancies. However in combination with totally non-standard new approaches in this sector: Allowing all consultants to share in the company's success, supporting and developing the company's own consultants on a full-scale basis, and trying to minimise fluctuation. In addition to that there's a slogan which picks up on and emphasizes the crux of the consulting industry as a whole: "Competent consultancy, without arrogance".

As the company is facing a lack of existing clients and there is no good client access, a huge amount of idealism and luck is needed until the first successes materialise. But they do materialise. And, as chance would have it, the first clients are based in the back of beyond.  Whenever they are on longer project assignments, the consultants rent houses on site which they share and work in - unless they are directly working at the clients'. These accommodations display an interesting contrast to the sterling hotels the founders got used to during their former lives as consultants in the previous years.  Their first company car is an allegedly prestigious Mercedes E-Class. Later on, the consultants become more or less reluctant to drive the car with the ultra-large wheel rims; as it resembles harlotry, if anything, but not consultancy.

During the early years, medium-sized companies are CPC's most important clients.  But medium-sized companies proof to be "difficult". They do need consultancy but these clients are often not willing to implement changes, plus they often lack manpower. Back then, the range of clients comprises almost all sectors, and CPC can gain a high degree of expertise in the fields of re-organisation and change management. As medium-sized companies lack money in the mid-1990s, the co-operation is temporally strictly limited most of the times. Thus it becomes inevitable for CPC to increasingly shift its focus to the big companies with which enduring business relations are established.

As a matter of fact, CPC has experienced continual growth of 20 percent a year since its foundation, in some years even 30 percent. Due to this growth in the early years, one or in good years even two new consultants are hired. In the years to follow it's sometimes even 15 new colleagues a year. When selecting new colleagues, in the beginning the founders' main concern is that the new colleagues own a car enabling them to visit the clients all over Germany. But as early as in 1996 applications are starting to pile up at CPC and the company develops a high competence in the field of exquisitely choosing applicants. CPC is focusing on junior employees who are talented and yet act without arrogance. There is no room for lone fighters or overly status-conscious people. In 1996 the company receives more than 600 applications within three weeks. The application files are stored in linen baskets in the hallway and in the offices, making it extremely difficult to access the premises. At that point CPC starts seriously thinking about application management and online recruiting. In 1997 the company is converted into a non-listed stock corporation. Thus the important elements of employee shareholdings and the associated redistribution of shares shall become easier. Up until now the company has been 100 percent owned by active employees. In the case of consultants leaving the company, all of their shares are bought back promptly. In 1999 the company moves its headquarters to Frankfurt am Main. At this point in time, the former "gang of four" consultancy has become a consultancy of 12 permanent consultants, as well as assistants, interns, and freelancers.

Shifting the company's focus to large-scale companies triggers off two totally new core topics in addition to "change management" in the late 1990s: Project management (PM) and reality trainings. Though, in big companies, more and more projects are concluded, project management is still treated overly theoretical. This offers the opportunity to adapt PM methods to the actual client needs in the field. In the period that follows, CPC rapidly expands its know-how and offers various PM services. As the PM methods enable even younger consultants to provide added value to the clients, CPC owns an important means for expansion.

"Reality Training"  is another new core topic. On the one hand large-scale companies meet all requirements to realise these events both in terms of size and financially. On the other hand, big corporations in contrast to privately-owned companies tend to fail less often applying the slogan: "I know that it's right, but I won't do it, anyways" but because of the bigger inertia that occurs with a huger amount of people and more hierarchical levels. In the years between 2000 and 2003 the virtual companies of "Dolphin Aircraft", "Kronau Druckmaschinen AG", "Banco Dos Povos" and "World Motors AG" are created for these reality training programmes. The learning effects of the format evoke storms of enthusiasm. Yet, the realness of these companies often triggers off unwanted side-affects: Many serious applications are being received on the recruiting pages of Banco Dos Povos. In the online-shop of Dolphin Aircraft merchandising products are ordered which in reality exist only once. Commotion arises on a trade fair for car component suppliers in Detroit, as World Motors AG is based on the 22^nd floor of the building, a sports car manufacturer none of the suppliers knows, but everybody would be glad to get to know.

In the years that follow, the company's policy of huge investments pays off: CPC and T-Systems are awarded the "Weiterbildungsaward 2003" of the ZfU International Business School, Zentrum für Unternehmsführung AG for their Dolphin development programme. In 2005 the first open reality training (ORT) is successfully realised, after more than 1000 project managers and executives have completed a reality training. In 2007 CPC is awarded the "Internationaler Deutscher Trainingspreis" for its reality trainings. At the same time demand surges for PM services for large-scale projects. More and more companies want to play it safe and engage the services of CPC for their numerous project-related tasks. At the end of 2008 CPC employs more than 50 permanent consultants.

The implementation of the "Service Akademie" from 2008 to 2010 is an important mile stone in the history of CPC. The aim of the programme is to train the 2500 top executives of a big telecommunication company in the field of service expertise and to sensitise them for this topic in the long run. More than 60 reality trainings are being held in three different locations at the same time. Each training involves 30 actors and coaches.

In 2008, CPC is evaluated "top employer" by an analysis called "Top Arbeitgeber Deutschland" which is supervised by Handelsblatt/ Junge Karriere and conducted by CRF. This underlines the employees' satisfaction with their company. The average fluctuation is very low compared to others in the same industry. CPC gets excellent evaluations in the fields of: development potentialities, job security, corporate culture, market leadership, salaries, and work-life balance. In 2009 CPC is again evaluated very positively and ranks among Germany's top 10 employers. In 2008 turnover exceeds the 10 million mark. Today, CPC employs almost 80 permanent consultants. The company intends to increase this number by at least 15 new consultants in 2011.

What is the interim conclusion for CPC after almost 20 years? Most notably, people who fit together well find each other at CPC - despite the fact that at CPC you can find more diversity than in many companies which praise themselves of being extremely diversified.

So what is the secret behind CPC's success? An outsider would probably say that "CPC's got damned good people on board". We are often asked by our clients how we find these people. But scarcely anybody asks how these people get so good. Good consultants don't grow on trees, and they don't get better automatically if they are given target agreements or challenging tasks. It is rather about an intensive educational process and it is about role models. Everything clients perceive as "good" afterwards is a combination of the virtues and values CPC stands for: commitment, entrepreneurship, team play, as well as a positive image of humanity. In addition to that it is the self-conception of primarily making the client look good and not us. This results in longtime and excellent client relations.

But actually at the end of the day one secret remains - something, that even the key players at CPC cannot explain - how exactly did this company rise? Even though one knows the "ingredients" to the CPC recipe, there is no guarantee that if you mix the same ingredients one more time, you'll get an equal company. In the end the journey with all its trials and tribulations also influences the result. And everyone involved is sure that there is no way to fully explain the uniqueness of CPC.