Flexible training options for employees
We are in the midst of the age of the Internet of Things, which brings not only extensive networking but also constant change. The business of Heraeus Comvance as the world's largest manufacturer of fused silica is therefore very dynamic. This also presents the employees of the Global Business Unit with new challenges every day. They have to keep up with the pace of further developments and constantly adapt their knowledge and skills. For this reason, in addition to on-the-job training and the Group's online training courses, the business unit has established the so-called Heraeus Comvance Academy - a unique training program that responds flexibly to the specific needs of employees.
The Academy's declared goal: to use, pass on, and share knowledge that is already available in the company. In this way, the facility closes the gap between the Heraeus Group's online and on-the-job training courses. "All of our trainings are conducted by internal experts," explains Gina Rolle, Specialist for People & Organizational Development at Heraeus Comvance, who is leading the program. "They are designed to always take place in person, live and interactively, or in times of Corona as digital events, unlike online-only training." Participants not only listen, but also actively participate and learn or work on specific business unit issues. "This makes the training sessions very agile and flexible; participants' wishes can be responded to spontaneously and individually," says Rolle.
The training offered covers a wide range of topics such as Excel, PowerPoint, SAP, but also agile project management, change management or products & processes - and is always tailored to the specific requirements of the business unit. In principle, the training courses are voluntary and not tied to specific jobs, so anyone who is interested can also take part. "However, some modules are explicitly geared to specific job profiles and are therefore only recommended for these," adds Rolle. The trainers receive their feedback directly after the course, so they can further adapt the content and optimize their training. This also applies to the course offering itself, which is adapted again and again - based on demand, for example.
Real experience values in use
Another special feature is that participants are explicitly encouraged to approach the trainers in their day-to-day work - for example, with specific problems - and ask for support. Working documents and practical examples can also be brought along to the training sessions themselves and discussed. "Real topics from everyday work have the decisive advantage that they are much more relevant for the participants than, for example, fictitious examples brought along by external trainers. In addition, these topics can often not be discussed at all or only to a limited extent with trainers from outside the company for confidentiality reasons," explains Rolle. In practice, this ensures that the participants participate particularly actively and are also better able to use the newly acquired knowledge later in their day-to-day work.
Heraeus Comvance launched the Academy in 2020. Since then, the program and its topics have evolved in an agile manner - based on initial experience. Employees make active use of the program, and the number of participants is growing steadily. In this way, not only the employees benefit from the know-how passed on, but - due to the increasingly broad knowledge base in the company - ultimately also the customers.
- published: October 2021 -