The participants of the first enrolment of the Volga-Dnepr Future Leaders program had their final session on 22-23 December in Moscow. Twenty-six Program graduates presented the results of the second training year to their mentors and the company senior executives.

– We put much hope on the future leaders, – emphasized the company president Alexey Isaykin addressing the graduates. – We still have a lot of challenging tasks in the company with nobody to tackle them. It’s important that you understand what you are capable of. And your mentors are sure to support you.

The program graduates received valuable feedback from their mentors and the company executives on the results of their second training year. The presentations were preceded by creative video-clips showing the process of tasks performance.

At the end of the seminar the graduates got New Year presents from their mentors and the company top managers.

To download all the seminar presentations, video-clips and pictures go to my.volga-dnepr.com.

– Corporate University ran a high quality program which was interesting, useful and practicable, – said Marina Kasyanova, the company deputy HR director. – The majority of the program participants have evolved and many of them have been recently promoted. I remember them at the beginning of the training program, the way they presented themselves and information. Now they’ve become more experienced and professional. I wish them successful career growth, high professionalism, further development of management skills, and same friendly attitude.

– They have become more confident about their career route, – added Alexander Bashkov, “Atran” general director. – They have started to see future possibilities, have matured in managing people, understanding strategy, economics, and different processes, which generally is quite beneficial for the company. Besides, their successful work laid the foundation for other company employees to join the Future Leaders program. It has a positive cultural effect, too: people are ready to learn, grow, climb career ladders, they welcome changes and innovations. Now it’s important to apply this knowledge into practice. I wish I had had the same learning opportunities when I was at their age. In some way I envy them and think they should use these opportunities to advantage.

Here’s what the participants shared:

Pavel Popov, financial director, АВС:
– Despite the fact that I was the last speaker of the first very busy and tiring day, I managed to ask all questions I had, and seemed to properly answer the questions addressed to me. Disputing with Alexey Isaykin was exciting, and at the beginning quite challenging, and as it seemed to me we found common ground and understood each other, which was very important! It’s essential for the employees to have a chance to share their ideas and concerns with the company top managers who take them as something really important. This is where recognition starts. It proves again that I am on the right way as we share the same values.

Ivan Strelnikov, commercial project manager, RS:
– I’m glad that despite being really busy the company top managers considered it important to see the management reserve training results. The most important thing is that every program participant has progressed on the way to their goals and is willing to succeed in accomplishing them.

Ramil Aitov, head of legal regulation department, VDM:
– The Future Leaders program including today’s report is a very efficient venue for identifying the company active professionals. The most important thing for the company senior executives is to listen to future leaders and assess their potential. Unexpectedly our video-clip made just before the session won the competition and got the first place which again proved that we shouldn’t give up even if the chances are not big!

Konstantin Surkov, chief accountant, VDTM:
– The president’s message that the company badly needed heroes to deal with challenges was really important and memorable. The atmosphere of the event was very natural and friendly with much support from the executives. As for me, I left the training venue in high spirits and with a present from the Corporate University.

Anastasia Lokteva, electronic service specialist, АВС:
– I’m really thankful to the event organizers – it was a working, although very comfortable and friendly atmosphere. I know it well how difficult it is to manage so many people in one place, especially at the end of the year. I’m also thankful to the mentors for support in preparation of the final presentation. It was important to get feedback from the company top managers. It helps to realize that whatever you’ve been working on will be rewarding and will be valued. Annual reports are also important to make sure you are on the same page, moving in the right direction.

Natalia Ivanovskaya, head of transportation organization department, АВС:
– The most valuable thing was the questions asked by the senior executives, their genuine interest, not just presence.
All the program participants have become a team since the first team-building session in the forest – we have learnt how to communicate, how to complement each other depending on the purpose: someone is better at seeing a goal, others help to get there.

Alexander Kartashov, key customer service specialist, VDA:
– I would like to express my gratitude to the Corporate University for organization of this final session and for support and cooperation for the whole year. It was really useful to get feedback from the senior executives on our performance. We will definitely benefit from their valuable comments.