People before metrics
A resilient culture produces results. It does not work the other way round.
Hanover → Hefei
Alexis Gross
Head of Human Relations
Continental Tires · Hefei, China
Get the culture right. Performance follows.
He joined Continental as an intern more than ten years ago. Today he is responsible for the people behind one of Asia’s largest tire plants. This site is about everything in between.
13+
years at Continental
3
languages
5×
Top Employer China
9,000
km from home
01 — Person
The person behind the role
An HR lead who would rather stand on the shop floor than in a meeting room.
Alexis Gross grew up in Osnabrück, Germany, and grew up trilingual: German and Russian as native languages, English as a daily working tool. That is not a line on a CV — it is the reason moving between cultures comes naturally to him.
In 2013 he started as an intern at Continental in Hanover. The internship turned into a career in human relations — and in 2024 into the move that changed everything: relocating to Hefei, some 9,000 kilometres away, to take charge of Human Relations at the group’s only Chinese tire plant.
His view of the work fits into one sentence he likes to use himself: machines do not create excellence and processes do not sustain it — people do, when the system is built for them. Accordingly, almost every project of his starts with a Gemba walk on the floor rather than with a slide deck.
Off the clock he is a dedicated runner. He gets to know new cities on foot first — a habit he kept when arriving in China.
What he believes
Leadership as an orchestra
Not conducting from the front, but making sure everyone can hear each other.
Let people start
He arrived as an intern himself. That is why young talent gets real ownership.
Difference as an advantage
Other perspectives are not friction — they are what a team is actually worth.
02 — Career
From internship to plant responsibility
One company — but three continents.
2013
joined as an intern
2024
moved to China
18 m
tires annual capacity Hefei (2027 target)
≈ €1 bn
invested in the Hefei site
Milestones
2010 – 2014
Economics degree
Bielefeld University
Bielefeld, Germany
Foundations in economics — the economic view of labour markets, incentives and organisations, before moving into industry.
since 2013
Joined as an intern
Continental
Hanover, Germany
The start of a career inside the group that continues to this day. The internship turned into a role in human relations.
until 2023
Human Relations
Continental
Hanover, Germany
Building HR expertise at group headquarters: recruiting, people development and international assignments — among other things he enabled colleagues to take up assignments in Hefei.
since January 2024
Head of Human Relations
Continental Tires Hefei
Hefei, Anhui · China
Moving to the group’s only Chinese tire plant. Responsible for people strategy, talent development and culture at a site under expansion.
June 2024
Grand Opening Phase IV
Continental Tires Hefei
Hefei, China
Opening of the plant’s fourth expansion stage with group CEO Nikolai Setzer present. Total investment at the site is close to one billion euros; capacity rises to 18 million tires a year by 2027.
2025
Continental Tires Academy
Conti Class · Hefei University
Hefei, China
Setting up a dedicated technical academy and a dual-study class together with Hefei University — a German training model in a Chinese context.
2025 · 2026
Summer Internship Program
Continental Tires Hefei
Hefei, China
Building an international internship programme. Its second cohort brought 18 interns from 11 universities, including dual students from Germany. Last year’s intern now runs the programme herself.
2026
APAC Human Relations
Continental Tires
Bangkok · Rayong, Thailand
Extending the work into the Asia-Pacific region: HR priorities across the APAC network, exchange with the Rayong plant and support for its expansion.
The plant’s awards
2022 – 2026
Top Employer China
Certified as a top employer in China for five consecutive years.
2024 · 2025
Best PLT Plant — Grand Slam Award
Twice recognised internally as the best passenger car tire plant.
2025
100 million tires
Production milestone reached at the Hefei site.
Continuing education
2026 – 2027
Business school programme
thePower Business School
Part-time executive education. (Add the exact title in editor mode.)
04 — Books
The library
A protected area. This is where the books are written and live — write, turn pages, read, export.
Write
An editor with free typeface choice, images anywhere and automatic page breaks.
Turn
Every book is rendered as a real 3D book — cover, spine and page animation.
Export
One click produces a print-ready PDF in publishing quality, or a Word file.
Share
Readers are invited by email — with permissions set per book.
Enter the library
This area is private.
05 — Contact
Get in touch
For professional enquiries, talks, or simply to say hello.
03 — Social Media
Videos from Hefei
He tells it himself — short videos about the people, the shifts and everyday life in a plant that never stands still.
WeChat Channels
@alexisgross
— QR-Code mit WeChat scannen
RedNote · 小红书
@alexisgross
— QR-Code mit RedNote scannen
Latest videos
German Intern Studying in Hefei
German Intern Studying in Hefei 😁👨🎓👩🎓
Do What You Like
Today is a good day 😁✌️🎉
Top Employer 2026
We are Top Employer 2026 🏆🙏😀
FSC 2025
Continental 🐎 meets FSC 🏎️🏁
Hefei Marathon
Neuer EintragHefei Marathon 🏃♂️🏃♀️ Memories 🤩
WeChat and RedNote do not allow their videos to play on third-party sites. Those posts therefore open in the respective app — on a computer via the QR code, on a phone with a single tap. Videos uploaded here play directly on the page.