Volga-Dnepr management reserve training program started in Moscow on February 13. “Unforgettable!”, “Unique”, “Professional and inspiring” – this is what the participants of the program second intake (44 VD employees from the company offices across the world) said about a 4-day module.

The keynote speech made by the company president Alexey Isaykin was devoted to the company values and leadership. The president admitted existence of inborn leaders, and also underlined that leadership qualities could be acquired through training. He mentioned that leaders were the company urgent need to take up the tasks the company was facing: “We are looking for heroes ready to take responsibility, so, take this training seriously as preparation for real deeds. Be brave!”

Another first-day speaker Elena Kalmykova, director of the Entrepreneur Museum, continued speaking about values. She focused on the principles and cultural values of the Russian entrepreneurs of the 19th-the beginning of the 20th centuries. The participants got familiar with the history of Russian entrepreneurship and took part in the performance about the Morozov family.

The training opening ceremony was done by Alexey Isaykin, the company president, Michael Smirnyh, VDA general director, and Sergey Lazarev, ABC general director.

Another three training days were devoted to “The Leader Key Competences”. The training was conducted by Olga Popova, customer training manager from GE, and Sudhir Sebuth, IPM consulting trainer from SkyNet Group.

– I would note the participants’ high intellectual potential, – says Olga Popova. – They easily solved complicated tasks, read the instructions. They are highly competent in understanding complex texts. They were 100% involved, interested and inquisitive. It is really appealing to see that the participants are so willing to grow and learn something new.

Here’s the participants’ best impressions:

Vladimir Osroumov, head of corporate accounting department, VDM:
– The training atmosphere and team spirit was really notable. It was useful to network with the colleagues from different company offices and departments. The GE trainers are real professionals highly experienced in different business fields, broadly educated, capable of very efficient teaching. The president’s keynote speech underlined the importance of the corporate values in th e job of every employee. He gave the examples from the company history which proved the corporate values consistency and practical sustainability. The training helped to structure the knowledge about the leader key competences, to understand how to apply this knowledge in practice, there was also something completely new.

«A leader must be able to listen and to hear, to understand what is important for the customer»

Igor Gordeev, sales department leading lawyer, VDTM:
– Elena Kalmykova’s presentation was remarkable. Her story about the Morozov family illustrated the dream of any enterprising person. That “80 km to the customer” and personnel care converted into a strategy lingered in my mind. That’s really insightful, from the point of view of long-term goals and achievements in general.  I was impressed with the GE speakers. They presented simple communication and achievement tools which at times blew my mind, crystallizing seemingly evident and very practical knowledge. Olga Popova’s unique experience kept me interested throughout the training, and the very involvement in the training process was the most valuable, not to mention that famous “jar of pickles” effect. The environment of ambitious people motivated by the same values and growth opportunities was very inspiring and energizing. Besides, ongoing communication with colleagues really worked for teambuilding. It was unique and great! Many thanks to the Corporate University for this splendid opportunity.

The history of entrepreneurship in the appealing format. Elena Kalmykova’s presentation.

Lubov Kamalova, deputy director on economics and finance, ABC:
– The impressions of the first training module are very bright and positive. I looked at the values from a different perspective and re-evaluated them. It’s not only about our inner world and rules of conduct. The company values can trigger efficient relationships in business. The GE training was useful: professional and experienced trainers, applicable knowledge, friendly training atmosphere. Communication beyond operational needs was also very important. I’d like to thank the organizers! Looking forward to the next training module!

Konstantin Turkin, head of public relations, VDA:
– Super! Keep it up! I really enjoyed the course language format. The event venue was a wonderful opportunity to get to know our colleagues from different departments and offices.

Selecting key events for description!

Inna Troshina, head of general procurement department, VDA subsidiary in Moscow:
– These 4 days were really eventful and informative! We shared the way we saw the company values, and found commonalities in the values of both companies – General Electric and Volga-Dnepr.  I remember the lecture about the Morozov family animated by our colleagues. This story sank into my heart, so when back home I found and watched the documentary about Savva Morozov. The GE training on leadership was remarkable. It was comprehensible and nicely balanced in terms of theory and practice. The trainer Sudhir Sebuth could easily keep us engaged.  The DISK behaviour model was completely new to me. The deeper we went into the type analysis the more I realized the reasons of my uneasy relationships with some of my colleagues. The task to work out a new board game impressed me most. Every team was strong in its own way – in ideas, in marketing, in promotion. Our strength was in advertising video which we made with the cell phone in 5 minutes with no rehearsals. It all went very quickly. The idea popped up at the end of the set time and revealed my group mates’ acting skills. So, the training module was beneficial in terms gaining new knowledge, practical tasks and teambuilding. The training format contributed to networking and knowledge sharing with foreign colleagues.

“The material delivery was perfect. Sudhir Sebuth could easily keep us engaged!”

Ariel Zhang, manager-revenue & capacity management APAC, ABC:
– The ice-breaking session of corporate value and training program of GE were both very result-oriented and practical. Personally, the most memorable session is the group Q&A, which focuses on each single team member. Questions that we don’t usually ask were raised, puzzles solved and sincere comments received. Suddenly the team became much closer than ever – a big step forward.

Anatoly Stepanov, head of planning department, ABC:
– The impressions are only positive. Despite a friendly training atmosphere we were speaking about very serious and important things which we sometimes forget about in routine operations. Personnel involvement into the company culture of values is one of the most important tasks of any manager, which makes it vital not only to say the words honesty, labour, trust, but also act on them. Thank you to all the trainers and my best regards to the Roundtable team.

Making up a new board game!

Oleg Novikov, marketing director, ABC (Shanghai):
– The president’s speech about values was really appealing. Values aren’t just slogans; they can be used as a marketing tool to deal with the customer. I also enjoyed the GE training on the DISC model. It helped me better understand myself. It was also beneficial for teambuilding and personal routine and long-term efficiency.

Rasym Shakirov, head of management planning department, VDM:
– It seems to be the most unforgettable training! Its delivery and participants’ involvement were at a very high level. I’d like to thank the organizers. Hopefully, other training modules won’t be worse.

Maria Ermolenko, quality and ethics director, VDA:
– The first module let us get to know each other. The atmosphere was friendly and joyous. The GE trainer’s task on making a board game was very creative and real fun. I’d like to thank my colleagues from Moscow. I also enjoyed the lecture about the history of Russian entrepreneurship. Business culture passed on from generation to generation was illustrated through the Morozov family. I’d also like to thank the president for his heartfelt speech which made us better understand the company values.

Jonathan Celetaria, leading sales manager, subsidiary in Frankfurt-am-Main:
– “Do not underestimate people that you dont know”. Once you set a team goal and understand and define the role of each and single person, you will achieve what others dont expect you to achieve.

Denis Selesnev, finance and economics director, VDA:
– I remember Elena Kalmykova’s presentation about the history of Russian entrepreneurship. She managed to captivate the audience’s attention with the story of the Morozov family, their honest work which led to success. I also liked the GE trainers – real professionals!

Julia Mennibaeva, accounting manager, VDA:
– The GE training on leadership was really impressive. Olga Popova demonstrated various tools which could contribute to teambuilding, to result assessment and conflict management. All the tools are very useful and applicable. In three days we plunged into the atmosphere of leadership and cooperation. It was also interesting to view the company values from a different perspective comparing them with GE values which turned out to be similar. I’d like to thank the Corporate University for the training organization.

Anastasiya Chupryna, leading economist on accounting automation, VDM:
– The event was very well organized, and everyone was tuned to the result. Trainers were very professional, capable of accurate and perfect material delivery. Different participants – we were very much the same in our involvement and willingness to gain new knowledge.

George Shklyanik, head of transportation tracking group, VDA:
– The training was very useful and intensive. We know a lot by intuition, and the training helped to structure and clarify these things. I liked the fact that from the very beginning it all was based on the preliminary testing, which helped us to plunge into the system. Otherwise we would have found it difficult to apply what we learned at work. All the tasks and exercises were very applicable – we kept analyzing our colleagues, employees, executives, customers through the prism of theoretical concepts. Communication inside and out was also very useful. We managed to get to know each other, to understand the value of our future contacts.

Yulia Celetaria, customer service manager, global standards and trainings, ABC:
– A very inspirational course. The content was spot on and the the theoretical aspect was perfectly balanced with practice. We had a very good presenter, very inspirational, approachable, and supportive. Will definitely be putting into practice all I’ve learnt. Delivery was good, very interactive and people were always involved. Excellent theories, models and training… The best part was how tailored it was to our company values. Incorporated GE values were very useful part of the course as well. Thank you, GE and Corporate University for the great and useful experience!

Alexander Treber, head of customer service, subsidiary in Frankfurt-am-Main:
– First of all, I would like to thank the Corporate University to provide me and all the others which such a nice program and workshop
to develop ourselves and bring a gain to the company. One of the things that I always like very much, is that you actually can put some faces to emails. There might be colleagues, to which you have daily/weekly contact, but have never met them. Meet and shake hands is always nice and helps the teamwork amongst colleagues. Also meeting colleagues, to which you never did have contact, but might have in the future. What I specifically liked about the workshop / module was the DISC assessment, which showed/taught me a lot about myself and the way I’m seen. But also some ways on how to react within the team and what is important for a team to function. Looking forward to the second module.

Nikolai Grigoryev, head of commercial efficiency analytics department, ABC:
– I remember the president’s keynote speech, especially its part of the company development. It allowed to better understand the company long-term goals. The GE training on the DISC model was also remarkable. I set the goal to learn to communicate with all four types of people in particular critical situations. The teams were also very creative making their board games. And it’s great that we could instantly apply all the tools we learned.