The sun is shinning, the weather is warming up and spring is in the air. And this can only mean that the Heimat Trails Trophy 2023 is just around the corner and team pascom can’t wait to get going. Once again, pascom are proud sponsors of the Heimat Trails Trophy (HTT) regional outdoor sports event and our team will be out there on every route, supporting, motivating and pushing each other as we galavant acrosss the stunning Bavarian countryside and this year, we’re determined to get a podium finish!
It’ll be tough, there will be blisters, cuts, scrapes and some very sore limbs, but none of these will stop us. We love the challenge, and we enjoy the commardarie on the trails even more. Then there is of course the pascom Get Fit Challenge, something that we at pascom are very proud of. As many of you will know as a company, we’re very active in the community, especially when it comes to sports and child welfare, so it goes without saying that the efforts of all our employees will be rewarded, podium finish or not, as for every KM of each route, they will be raising money for charity.
What Is The Heimat Trails Trophy?
Frequent readers of our blog will know that over the last few years, we’ve mentioned the trophy a few times in connection the pascom Get Fit Challenge, but actually is it, what is pascom’s involvement and why? Well, it’s in the name - Heimat means “home”, so it’s literally an outdoor sports trophy where the competitors compete across local biking or hiking trails. The event takes place from May 1st to October 21st and includes six locations and includes 4 sporting disciplines - Mountain Biking, eMTB, Hiking and Trail Running.
Unlike other outdoor competitions, the Heimat Trails Trophy is designed to promote our local region as an adventure and outdoor sports destination. Therefore, it is not purely for professional atheletes who then compete against each other on race day. It is open to everyone and each trail is open for a 2 week period in order everyone to find the time to get involved. Furthermore, there are differing routes for different experience and fitness levels, meaning that even families get involved and discover the wonder of the Bavarian Forest Natural Park.
Sponsoring the Heimat Trails Trophy is almost like a win win win for us, our employees and the local community. Our goal is to show people what it means to be a member of TEAM pascom. pascom is a place where we work hard, but we also have fun doing it. We treat everyone equally and we’re always there for others when they need help.
Employee Welfare Benefits
Firstly, as we all know a healthy body promotes a healthy mind and employee welfare and health has always been central to us as employers. However, during the pandemic, many of the activities that we used to do where no longer an option, so we started the pascom Get Fit Challenge as a way of reconnecting and engaging with our colleagues.
After months of HomeOffice and remote working, the concept behind how the Heimat Trails Trophy is organised actually fitted perfectly and provided a COVID safe opportunity to get outside and do some sports with out colleagues, so we actively encouraged pascom employees to register, get involved with the trophy as way of keeping fit and connected with each other socially.
As such, we pay registration fees for our employees and we even enable the team to do the trails during working hours, often providing transport to get to the far flung locations.
Employer Branding Benefits
Secondly, we weren’t the only ones who took to sport and the outdoors during the pandemic. In fact, HTT participant numbers have grown significantly year on year.
In fact, in 2022 8,000 people took part and there were 5,500 media uploads related to the event. These figures only tell half a story, as they only cover the people who actually registered and the routes are open to everyone. Obviously, as an IT Telecommunications company looking to boost brand awareness as a great place to work and excellent potential employer, sponsoring an event that we already found really cool just made sense!
Increasing our Standing in the Community
Getting actively involved and becoming an event sponsor has dramatically increased our visibility amongst businesses and local governments across the region and we’re not talking about lead generation. Having these connections means that have become more integrated into the community and can therefore become even more involved in local events and causes. For example, last year our paricitpation in the Heimat Trails Trophy led to schools approaching us to present at career days, or help with class projects. Given that our objective is to help our employees and find new employees, these kinds of reactions are exactly what we are looking for again in 2023.
Last but by no means least, when it comes to community, by enabling our employees to participate, they wave the pascom flag for us - both literally and metaphorically, both online and offline.
As reward and incentive, every activity that the team undertakes, counts towards the pascom Get Fit Challenge, which means towards employee bonuses and the company supporting local causes with its annual donation. The more activities and fitness training the team does, the more money we raise to help causes such as the Kinderschutzbund (Child Protection Agency), Sportler helfen Sportlern (Athletes helping athletes), Grass roots football teams or the charitable donations made by our TEAM pascom colleagues in Serbia last year.
About pascom
Founded in 1997, pascom are the developers of next-generation UCC Telephony Solutions and we upgrade business communications.
With pascom as the heart of their communications, businesses have a centralised, intelligent hub giving them total control over their organisation’s communications – no matter how diverse the workforce or dynamic the business communication channels.
The pascom platform offers excellent scalability and is highly customisable to exactly match even the most specific customer requirements. This is why pascom phone systems are the perfect choice to support Small Medium Enterprises to communicate smarter, more efficiently and more cost-effectively.
Visit www.pascom.net to learn more about pascom, our solutions and the pascom Team.