How to find champions

Employers are trying to fill in the gaps in the national vocational education system. To select staff, corporations hold competitions where candidates are tested on real business cases.

One of the common ways to train future staff is to attract students for internships and internships at a company that is a partner of the university. Large business structures are more creative and purposeful in their corporate strategies. The most proactive employers are industrial companies and IT structures. Among them are Norilsk Nickel, Sibur, Nestle, Rusnano, Unilever, Yandex, MTS, Kaspersky Lab, says Mark Goichman, head of the analyst group at the Center for Analytics and Financial Technologies.

The competitive principle

In order to attract the best young professionals, large companies become partners of large-scale case championships, during which students develop new competencies and skills (soft skills), as well as conduct their own internal ones.

For example, Norilsk Nickel annually holds its summer educational academy "Conquerors of the North". Participants are offered case studies based on real-world situations. So, last year, as part of the first case, participants had to work out a project to digitalize the production, social, and administrative processes of the Copper Plant (part of the Polar branch of Norilsk Nickel). The teams should evaluate the tasks set in terms of production, economic and social efficiency, calculate the risks and, taking all this into account, present a plan for the implementation of their initiatives.

The second case was related to the prospects of introducing the industrial Internet of Things in the workplaces of Norilsk Nickel employees. As part of the third case, it was necessary to develop a concept for a new volunteer project aimed at comprehensively improving Norilsk Nickel's production, environmental and social indicators in the regions where the company's main production sites are located.

The point of such educational programs is to give the most practical knowledge to the most capable young engineers based on the principle "We do not teach a profession, but we teach management." All programs related to the training of potential employees are initially aimed at attracting HiPO professionals with high potential, young people who can be entrusted with complex projects, Norilsk Nickel explains.

The practice of holding competitions, during which companies from various industries develop business cases and offer them to teams of players to solve, is relatively new to the Russian market, but it is becoming popular. Cases can be related to product promotion, business processes, and branding, explains Mark Goichman. He cites as an example the country's largest case-championship, the Meng Cup Russia, in which more than 5,000 students and recent graduates from all over Russia took part last year. Assignments for them were developed and evaluated by companies such as MTS, SAP, Mars, Raiffeisenbank, etc.

Throughout the year, more than a dozen similar case championships are held in Moscow and other regions, organized by the Changellenge Case League. There are even separate competitions taking into account the specifics of specific industries, for example metallurgy, IT, retail.

During such championships and educational events, it is possible to attract future specialists not only in specialized professions, but also the most scarce IT personnel in today's labor market.

For example, Sibur needs specialists with digital competencies in the field of chemical technologies, and the company has become a partner of the Petrochemistry branch of the Student League of the International Engineering Case-In Championship. The company is currently in partnership with Tomsk State University and Tomsk Polytechnic University develops educational programs in the field of digital chemistry and engineering.

Not all IT specialists are ready to work in the manufacturing sector, which is not directly related to their profession. According to the company, Norilsk Nickel uses IT to the maximum extent, including social and environmental projects. Here, they rely on attracting IT personnel to solve interesting professional tasks related to the introduction of technologies such as blockchain, cloud solutions or artificial intelligence. The number of employees of Norilsk Nickel with IT experience already exceeds 1,200 people. In 2019, the company plans to recruit a new staff of data engineers and data science specialists.

From schoolboy to principal

Many Russian companies are seriously concerned about training personnel directly from school, and in such a way that theoretical knowledge is simultaneously supported by industrial practice.

Government initiatives are also contributing to the development of this trend. In September last year, the Future Leaders Foundation, with the support of the Presidential Grants Foundation, launched the Eureka federal educational program for schoolchildren. Education of the future". Just like in the adult championship, teams of schoolchildren present their developments to experts, their cases are also related to production situations in various industrial sectors.

FabLab scientific and technical creativity laboratories have been operating at Norilsk Nickel for several years (located in Norilsk and Monchegorsk), the number of permanent residents reaches hundreds. The company also holds a competition for very young inventors of I Make. Six winning projects of this competition have already received three gold and three silver medals at the recent International Exhibition of Young Inventors in Indonesia.

Industrial giants are trying to continuously develop their human resources. Norilsk Nickel is also implementing a "Leadership Program" aimed at attracting technical experts with up to three years of experience. This program has several goals at once, the company emphasizes. At the same time, this is a search for candidates with outstanding managerial potential, their adaptation in production and in the team, and the training of a professional leadership team.

According to the results of the program, the most successful participants can be appointed to senior positions, and the company can replenish the personnel reserve with qualified managers.

Source: RBC