ROSATOM: results can be achieved only in a team

Rosatom State Corporation traditionally pays special attention to the training of future specialists and supports the International Engineering Championship "CASE-IN".

In the beginning of the season, the company prepared a case for the participants of the "Digital Atom" direction of the Student League. Within its framework, IT specialists will create a prototype of a digital system for remote immersion of new employees in the environment of the Rosatom State Corporation. 

"For us, the CASE-IN championship is a great opportunity to introduce young developers to Rosatom's digital agenda and talk about our ambitious goals, including not only the development of nuclear energy in Russia and the world, but also the creation of a domestic quantum computer, digitalization of the Northern Sea Route, and launching our own digital products. The case proposed by us is intended to complement the friendly interface addressed to new Rosatom employees. And we are very interested in giving the authors of the best project the opportunity to put it into practice.", – underlined Ekaterina Solntseva, Director of Digitalization at Rosatom State Corporation.

The Deputy Director General for Personnel at Rosatom State Corporation told RBC+ about working with personnel, including during the pandemic Tatiana Terentyeva.

- Rosatom topped the annual ranking of the best employers in Russia. What changes in personnel policy have affected this?

- We were ready for a rapid transition to new modes of operation without deterioration of its quality. The ability to transform dramatically is a consequence of what has been happening in the State Corporation over the past decade.

We promptly created a single platform on which HR processes were built even before the pandemic began: a single center for expertise, policies and standards, a single HR operations service Center, a single career and succession management system, and a single educational environment. During the first weeks of the pandemic, about 40 thousand people were transferred to remote care. About 40% of office staff will continue to work remotely or in a hybrid format.

- Many even large companies are faced with the problem of communication, both in relations with contractors and with their own staff. How was it with you?

- We were able to cope. I would identify three key factors: effective communication, timely monitoring of employee feedback, and the creation of a digital educational environment. The most important communication was the weekly video messages of the CEO. They were watched and listened to not only by our employees, but also by residents of the "atomic" cities. The appeals provided timely answers to most of the questions that worried people at the height of the coronavirus crisis. We regularly conducted pulse surveys to understand the current state of employees and their loved ones. They even launched a psychological help line.

Online learning has become an important supporting component. Many new digital formats have appeared, from the usual webinars and conferences to special programs for families and children of employees, such as the Children's Academy, ART—Family, and Atomic Charging in the morning, which has become one of the most popular formats along with English language courses and work in distributed teams. More than 450 thousand people took part in 3 thousand online events. There are 800 new courses. As part of the Rosatom for Rosatom program, each employee had the opportunity to share their expertise and skills with colleagues.

The staff appreciated the open dialogue with the management. According to the Axes Management survey, the confidence index in the decisions made by the corporation reached 83%, and the main business result was the smooth fulfillment of the state defense order and Rosatom's international obligations.

- What impact has the digital leap had on Rosatom?

- Any crisis opens a window of opportunity. For Rosatom, the digital leap has become a powerful catalyst for positive changes and transformation of relationships with employees. For many, the digital environment has become virtually the only opportunity to interact with each other and partners, including international ones. HR digital services such as Personal Account, Digital Assistant, Record Mobile mobile training application and many others proved to be very timely and relevant. We are continuing to work in this direction. Our goal is to robotize all routine operations and reduce paper usage to zero.

- Why has the principle of human centricity become mainstream in large corporations and how exactly should companies create conditions for the realization of the abilities and talents of their employees?

- The pandemic has changed the world. People have ceased to be a resource, they have become a goal. The coronacrisis cannot be dealt with alone. Rosatom has 26 cities of presence in Russia alone, and we do not separate full-time employees from residents. Where a nuclear power plant is being built, education, technology, and the general standard of living are reaching a new level. All this requires not people who simply occupy positions in the bureaucratic system, but talents who need to create conditions for realizing their potential and encouraging the generation of ideas. The policy of human-centricity presupposes a different level of relationships with employees and raises the question of a new type of leadership. By creating an industry environment for development, we are essentially moving into a mode of collaboration with employees. This increases their level of maturity and responsibility. As an employer, it depends on us to what extent the environment helps employees to develop, to be always relevant to the company's tasks, and to what extent employees trust us as their partner.

- Why are corporate training programs now aimed at developing soft and change skills?

- The coronacrisis has shown that it is impossible to cope alone: only in a team can you achieve results. In our experience, the development of soft skills stimulates the number of cross-functional teams, the entrepreneurial culture, the level of trust and awareness of employees, which is critically important from the point of view of our strategy. In addition, according to research by Boston College, Harvard University, and the University of Michigan, as automation of work processes increases, improving soft skills increases employee productivity by 12%, and the return on investment in their development is 250%.

- Who is the ideal employee of Rosatom?

- The topic of profession is already disappearing, because competencies and skills are required at the junction of several specialties at once. An employee should not only know the entire production lifecycle, but also be able to work in a team, speak a foreign language, have negotiation skills, and navigate a multicultural environment to communicate with foreign partners and customers. Our ideal employee has 5°C skills — Communication, Collaboration, Critical thinking, Creativity, Communication, is flexible and open in interaction and is ready to learn everything and everywhere.

 A source