Volkswagen India announced the fourth edition of its elite Sapphire Club, which it says is built on the principle of developing new capabilities and sustaining a strong talent pipeline. The Sapphire Club is the highest recognition programme for sales consultants employed at Volkswagen India dealerships.

As part of its talent development programme, sales consultants across the county have to pass several performance metric tests that enable their entry to the elite club. Post certification, the candidate is recognised as a Royal Blue and Royal Blue Plus member. Both of these are first and second level platforms that identify, nurture and promote talent within the Volkswagen India dealership network.

The Royal Blue plus members then has to go through a gruelling online and face-to-face evaluation process conducted by an expert panel of external professionals who in turn select the top 25 Sapphire Club members based on the candidate’s business acumen, product & process knowledge, attitude and leadership capabilities.

As part of final evaluation process, the selected candidates participate in a face-to-face interaction with an expert panel of external seasoned automotive, business and HR professionals. The initiative enables the candidates for the relevant exposure needed in this dynamically changing automotive environment.

Steffen Knapp, director, Volkswagen Passenger Cars India said, “At Volkswagen, talent development and retention has always taken precedence for us as a brand. We truly believe in our people and their competence reflects our brands’ strength and capabilities. As we are delivering not only a product but also a service, which entails a long-term commitment to our esteemed customers. Owing to which, we encourage our sales consultants to participate in this programme. This rigorous training supports their overall development and enables them to take leadership positions as and when the opportunity arises. I am extremely delighted to welcome this new batch to Sapphire club and recognise their unending support and dedication to Volkswagen.”

Introduced in 2016, Sapphire Club has certified over 100 consultants from its network of 120 showrooms across 102 cities in India.