Every month Corporate University holds various training events: workshops, training and business sessions, professional conferences. And not only do our trainers give our participants the necessary knowledge, but also receive sincere positive feedback. You can read feedback on some Corporate University training sessions which took place in December and January. Below you can find some feedback on the December and January training sessions.

From December, 11th till December, 15th, АВС Airlines Aviation Security Dept. employees together with their co-workers from VDA completed a refresher course “Aviation security training workshop”.

The series of lectures complies with IATA program on effective implementation of civil aviation standards and recommended common practice. It included a comprehensive study of aviation security history, current peculiarities of aviation security maintenance, as well as prospects and forthcoming challenges in this field.

Not only did our employees manage to extend their knowledge on risk study and terroristic threats and vulnerability analysis at a flight planning stage, but also practiced freshly acquired skills by modeling stressful situations. The situations were presented in the form of a business game and required the use of computer technologies.

The aviation security fundamentals update as well as their practical implementation enabled Aviation Security Dept. employees to master the current aviation security maintenance and terroristic threat procedures and counteraction, to fine-tune the interaction with the help of new knowledge, detect weaknesses and work out a course for further professional development and self-improvement.

– For five days, we took a break from our immediate duties in order ourselves the following questions: What do we do? Do we do it right and do we do enough to ensure our staff and aircraft security? What do we need to do in order to improve what we do? – shared his impressions Anton Reznichenko, Aviation Security & Counter Terrorism Division Leading Expert, ABC. – During the course, each and every person learned

something new, refreshed their knowledge of what they learned in the past, drew conclusions and changed organization of their work. I consider that specific training sessions should be held on a regular basis. In this very case, our company will be able to maintain leadership within the industry and will set the example for competitors.

Another ABC Transport Security & Certification Group Lead Expert, Alexander Shipov, has recently completed a training course “EU ACC3 Program Independent Validator” held in Geneva, Switzerland. He was awarded with a certificate, which made him the first and only Independent Validator in Russia.

– The training course held in Geneva was very useful! I’ve learnt a lot from the course. The trainer and the students were colleagues, so we shared our knowledge and experience with each other, – Alexander pointed out.

АСС3 validation (Air Cargo Carrier to EU from the Third country) is an obligatory procedure which ensures that an air carrier delivering cargo to the EU complies with aviation security procedures at the previous airport (of the country which is not a member of the EU). Basically, this procedure is an audit carried out by an Independent Validator certified by the EU qualified aviation authorities.

ABC is sure that providing validation services for air carriers at the airports of the former USSR countries (and others) will become a new service performed by Volga-Dnepr Group.

On December, 27th, there was another training session for new employees in Moscow. Sergey Shklyanik, Group Senior Vice President told new employees about the company’s history, values, corporate culture peculiarities and work ethic.

The participants have shared their impressions:

Dinara Zubairova, Specialist of the planning department, ABC:
– The most impressive and useful to me: Volga-Dnepr does not stand still, it develops continuously and has its employees developed, as well as works out ambitious plans. It draws conclusions, corrects and prevents mistakes at different stages, if any. Generally, all these indicate a successful company, and I am glad to have become its part.

Adelya Kupayeva, Recorder of deeds, VDM:
– I was positively impressed, everything was really well thought out. I could see professional approach! This training session helped us get acquainted with new employees of our company, take part in entertaining quizzes and listen to history of establishment of Volga-Dnepr told by Sergey Shklyanik, Group Senior Vice President.

Anton Semenets, SAP BO Developer, ABC:
– Being a new team member of Volga-Dnepr Group, I found it very interesting to visit the training session as part of schooling for newcomers and learn all beneficial information regarding the company’s vector of development, goals, mission statements and history.

Alexandra Popova, Document Management Specialist, VDA:
– At first, I’d like to point out the task we were to perform in groups. Our objective was to answer a raised question. This task created a necessary atmosphere and helped each participant open up. Being Volga-Dnepr Group’s new employee, I found it very educational and interesting to listen to the company’s history firsthand, learn the meaning of creation of the company’s values, what goals were and are now set for Volga-Dnepr. I left the classroom feeling proud of myself, as I was so lucky to work and develop in such a strong company!

Konstantin Krivda, Auditor, VDTM:
– The most unforgettable was Mr. Shklyanik’s excellent speech! I think that this training session should be held not only for new employees, but, from time to time, for current employees as well in order to refresh their knowledge and inform them about a current situation.

On January, 30th, within operational management reserve school, there was a training session “Volga-Dnepr Customers Premium Product Development.” The trainer was Andrey Krysanov, Deputy General Director SCO Specialized Services, ABC, who is also a graduate of the second group of the company’s strategic management reserve.

– The training session was a kind of upgrade for me, extension of knowledge in the field of pharma, unique, e-commerce and special cargo transportation services, – noted Natalia Mitroshkina, Management System Specialist, VDM. – I was positively surprised by intelligibility and clarity of the language. It was very educational and structured!

– The training session left positive impressions. The meeting was held in a friendly manner. Andrey’s presentation was simple and natural, he strictly followed the planned time for each topic, which he also does well in the daily routine, – said in addition Sergey Barinov, Head of Technical Dept., ABC. – I am quite familiar with this topic because my working activity in the Group concerns “products” and I interact with Andrey. What I liked most is that we were told about the company’s planned vector of development, as well as life stories.

– I liked that Andrey was relaxed and natural during the presentation, – shared his impressions Denis Bushmanov, Leading Specialist Sales Dept., Atran. – The stories he told really helped take mind off things and set our mind on the next information unit. It seemed to me, that the main message Andrey wanted to deliver was that we should not be afraid of changes.

– I liked the training session, the speaker was very interactive, – said Elena Kavtyreva, Head of Project Management Dept., VDM. – Of course, I am familiar with the subject of premium product development, still I have learned several interesting facts regarding such customers as Amazon and Alibaba.

A “Time Planning” training workshop for managers of Moscow and London offices was given by Roman Kravtsov, English training consultant on 5 February 2017. Participants shared their planning tools and practices of making plans for a year, month, week and day.

– The Corporate University pursued several goals in setting up this workshop – comments Roman Kravtsov – First of all, participants had an opportunity to share the tools and practices they use for time planning. It was interesting to note that in the current age of all those gadgets, planning apps and infographics dominating everywhere, people still did not give up on such classic things as a diary and a pen, providing reasons and demonstrating advantages in favor of both approaches.
Secondly, one of the most effective methods of planning and prioritization, in my opinion, was considered, i.e. the Time Management Matrix by Stephen Covey, a guru of organizational management. This method enables quick distribution of tasks based on their urgency and importance.
Finally, it is worth mentioning that the workshop was held in English. Speaking in a foreign language publicly on complex subjects is quite a non-trivial task in itself. However, our participants put decent efforts to do it. So, wrapping up the event and referring to the old saying of hitting two birds with one stone, I would insist that we hit three birds in our case!

– It was a clever decision to hold such trainings in English. I found it interesting and useful to learn how the Group President and colleagues plan their activities! – said Pavel Tereschenkov, VDTM General Director.

– The presentation by Roman Kravtsov (the glass with stones and sand) on how to allocate priorities in making a “to-do” list was good, – said Elena Kavtyreva, Head of VDM Project Management. – It was a wise idea to hold the workshop in English allowing the participants to practice their skill and feel themselves associated with a truly international company. I will apply the acquired knowledge of time planning in my routines.

Another adaptation workshop for new employees was held on 14 February 2017.  The workshop was given by Eleonora Surina, VDM Accident Prevention and Flight Safety Director and Ekaterina Furenkova, VDM Lead Business Ethics Specialist.

Impressions of the participants:

Sergey Rastopchin, B747 First Officer, ABC:
– The training was useful! I got to know the history of how the company was created, its ongoing development and prospects. Most of all I appreciated the extent of the company’s attention to its employees, flight safety aspects, and logistics. The company pursues a transparent atmosphere of mutual trust, and it is very important to mention that the company has the strategy, goals and confidence in the future!

Ekaterina Khoroshilova, PA to Commercial Director, ABC:
– Thanks for providing an opportunity to receive knowledge about the company in a comfortable environment of the Corporate University. We were able to learn more about each other, find out about the company’s history, better understand its cultural values, as well as perceive the structure and system of successful communication among all company units. It was very interesting and informative!

Maksim Shevelev, B747 First Officer, ABC:
– Most of all, I remembered and conceived the corporate spirit and feeling of being part of a big friendly team striving to achieve a common result. It’s now my second employment with the Group, I knew where I was going and tried hard to get here, now in a new profession. I am glad to be back in the team!

An “Emotional Intelligence” training workshop was held in Ulyanovsk on 20 February 2017 as part of the Operational Management Pool School.
Do our emotions help or hinder a modern person? What tools and techniques can develop the emotional intelligence? These and other questions were answered by the workshop led by Anna Shevtsova, Corporate Education Specialist.

Feedback from participants:

Andrey Krivosheev, Loadmaster, VDA:
– In my opinion, it is one of the most important topics for a manager. Psychological management of people always exists where more than 1 person is involved. That’s why it is a must to know the appropriate tools in this area and be able to use them. It was really interesting to learn about Stephen Covey’s circle of influence and circle of concern. I liked the way the material was delivered, constant involvement of participants in interaction and further explanation of their behavior. I consider the practice of encouraged communication (in this case emotional-wise) among participants to be very useful for developing the skills required in our work. I left the classroom with a strong desire to deepen my knowledge in this area.

Andrey Salanov, Deputy Head of Fuel Purchasing, VDA:
– In this training, we got to know what “emotional intelligence” is, a new concept for many of us. The emotional component plays one of major roles in our interpersonal relations, and that’s why, I suppose, it is very important to have knowledge in this field and be able to manage it efficiently.