From December, 11th till December, 14th, the final 4th module of the second group’s “Future Leaders of Volga-Dnepr” strategic management reserve training was held in Moscow. The main topic was regular management procedures: participants practiced writing regulatory documents for the core processes, building organizational structures and even became architects of the future and mastered a new tool– system engineering. At the end of the first stage of “Future Leaders” second group’s training, a reporting session on results of project work was held. A lot of interesting things lie ahead of the 38 graduates of the second group!

It should be reminded that the presidential program – training of management reserve for our company– is being implemented by Corporate University on the basis of the established professional schools, knowledge management system and mentorship under the strategic project “100 qualified leaders of new generation to implement the strategy”.

Emotions under Control

On the first training day, Olga Popova, Customer Training Program Manager, GE held a training session on emotional intelligence. The reserve members learned how to detect their own and other people’s emotions, as well as how to manage these emotions.

– I really like to work with this group. It is not the first time I have seen the participants, – noted Olga Popova. – They are really curious, and curiosity is one of the main characters of a leader. When the leader is curious and inquisitive, he/she develops. Thanks to the group for being involved and for the great vibes!

Egor Baranov, one of the participants, Head of Fleet Warranties & Guarantees Management Dept., ABC said:

– I remembered a very interesting game: a piece of information was presented on the screen and it was passed through seven people. After comparing the info received by the seventh person with the original info, we found out that it was completely different. The most of it was lost and the remaining part was radically changed. Thus, any information must be duly presented to other people, whether it is a letter or an oral reminder; moreover, one should take into account the knowledge and the emotions of the person he / she passes the info to. The importance of emotional intelligence became more obvious.

Architects of the Future

The second training day was dedicated to the topic of regular management procedures. Andrey Dyatlov, Director Organization Development, VDM told about what core models comprise Volga-Dnepr architecture, as well as about the ways of developing effective organizational models and regulations for the core processes. The reserve members solidified their knowledge working in groups: creating organizational models of operations bases, niche products and the International Group of Cargo Airlines for the three processes: managerial, core and supporting.

The next topic of Andrey Dyatlov’s presentation was lean production. He elaborated on how LEAN was implemented in the Company, what tools were used, and emphasized that the key term of the lean production was value for Customer.

At the end of the LEAN training, an entertaining business game was held by Igor Gribkov, Engineering Technologist, VDTM. It was dedicated to organization of the work place according to the 5S system. The main point was the following: participants were offered to imagine that the customer was not satisfied with how maintenance and

repair of aircraft are conducted; the customer suggested it was caused by disorder at tool storages. The objective was to find out why it happened that way and, using the tools for implementation of the lean production, to clean up the storage.

After that there was a presentation by Vyacheslav Kondratyev, Doctor of Engineering Science (Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology). He got the reserve members acquainted with a new world trend – development of complex high-tech services 2.0 by way of architectural modeling. “Future Leaders” tried themselves in the role of “architects of the future”. The participants were divided into managers, their assistants and system engineers to study the quick joint architectural modeling and parallel architectural modeling.

– We basically got a tool for solving objectives which had no right answer, – summed up Rasim Shakirov, a reserve member and Head of Management Planning, Accounting and Reporting, VDM.

Learning from Customer – together with Customer!

On the third day, “Future Leaders” were joined by current leaders, as well as graduates of the first group under the strategic management reserve training program.

Following the tradition of learning from customers and together with customers, Alex Vasilyev, Regional Director, Russia and CIS, of one of our company’s customers – Alibaba Group – shared his company’s experience of building an organization, told the participants about regular managerial procedures, values and answered raised questions.

Then there was a presentation by Alexey Isaykin, Group President. He was talking about organizational modeling and noted that a built management routine is a foundation for managerial creativity.

Mr. Isaykin pointed out that organizational modeling was one of the tools for turning a crowd into an organization. An organization starts with determining the Customer, with understanding what customers we would bring value to and what services

would bring that value.

Justifying their name – “strategic reserve” – the participants in cooperation with the managers and invited experts developed their proposals on the decision tree (with KPIs) to ensure implementation of АВС‘s strategic goals in 2018.

At the end of the day, there were leadership workshops held by our company’s BUs’ General Directors.

At first, leadership secrets were told by Mikhail Smirnykh, General Director, VDA:

– Being a leader means motivating others to demonstrate excellent performance, be a pioneer, solve unusual objectives, be self-confident, ready for changes and be a creator and initiator of changes, be an architect, create new value, not to be afraid of taking responsibility for decisions made and continually develop.

After that, Pavel Tereschenkov, General Director, VDTM, a graduate of the first reserve group told about the leaders of the future. He noted that the future required the newest skills from leaders and organizations and presented TOP 10 skills to be developed, including strategic foresight, digitalization and fast innovations.

The next one to share leadership secrets was Sergey Lazarev, General Director, ABC, who, among other things, told about key working principles for a leader: risk anticipation; system approach; personnel involvement; cooperation and partnership; personal responsibility; consistency and patience; continuous training; clarity and openness; honesty.

The last leadership workshop was held by Mikhail Khoroshaev, General Director, VD Gulf, who told about a leader’s role in transformation as exemplified by VD Gulf: what served as drivers for transformation, what critical issues were encountered and how changes were implemented.

Ready for Great Performance!

The final day of the module was very emotional for all “graduates” of the second group as they presented the results of their project work which was performed in groups during the second semester. The reporting session was split into three rounds: at first, one project team reported to another, then – to experts and, finally – to the customers and clients of their projects. The project customers and invited experts were really expressed by thorough preparation and arrangement of each project.

– When evaluating the groups, I tried to find out strategic management decisions from each presented project, – shared her impressions Lubov Ponomareva, an expert, Director Strategic Management, VDM. – I’d like to specially focus on design. It’s amazing! It took so much effort and time to visualize really difficult things, which we sometimes fail to do.

– I’d like to point out not only excellent design which is very important, but also the applied role of what we have learned today, – said Sergey Reznikov, Vice President, VD UAC.

Following the results of the session, three project teams which gained the most number of scores were awarded with certificates with three options: a team building event, external training or certain amount of money for implementation of their project.

– It was exciting, challenging and just awesome! – said Alexey Zotov, one of the reserve members, Deputy Commercial Director, Regions, ABC. – Such experience of project work, when you plan your every step by yourself and are solely responsible for completion of objectives, is very useful!

– It was also very important to realize that the knowledge we obtained at Corporate University may be already applied at our work places tomorrow, – added George Shklyanik, Head of Logistics Support Unit, VDA.

– I see that the future of all Volga-Dnepr companies radically depends on human resource, people working for them, – said Caroline Wu, General Representative in Beijing, ABC. – And Corporate University provides to all of us the chance to obtain knowledge and share it with others, and also teaches us how to bring our knowledge for the company’s benefit. This is a circle. A manager should be creative, build a team which brings knowledge to the company. Then, together, we build new future for our company using our knowledge.

Then, the company’s TOP-managers awarded the most outstanding reserve members with copies of their most favorite books signed by them.

– It took a lot of effort to present results, but it was necessary to understand what Customer considered the most important at that moment, – addressed the “graduates” Alexey Isaykin, Group President. – From all the great work you need to draw exactly what would work for the customer, what would make the customer turn to you and focus on it. When you communicate with representatives of some company, you should always understand that at the moment this organization is represented by a certain person with his / her certain peculiarities. After I have seen you, everything you have presented, I am sure: we are going to succeed!

At the end of the program, there was a culinary team building event, where the reserve members mastered cooking Italian dishes.

his is not the end of the program for the second reserve group: we are looking forward to the second training year, and HR committees will decide on further development of “Future Leaders”. For example, they may be promoted, appointed as a project manager and so on. Stay updated on the latest news!

Participants’ Impressions

Igor Gordeev, Leading Lawyer, VDTM:
– The 4th module started with a presentation by Olga Popova from GE, Crotonville, who again dipped us into soft Psychology.
We learned about emotional intelligence and that sometimes it was more important than IQ. Moreover, the brightest moments were, of course, system engineering topics, where, though stressed, we managed to set our mind straight for a very short time and develop, albeit fantastic, a project of Volga-Dnepr operating base on the Moon. Furthermore, stories told by the current leaders always draw our attention. The way they have made really inspires us not only to take the first step, but also go on toward the goals of Volga-Dnepr Group, sparing no effort!

Vladimir Ostroumov, Head of Corporate Reporting Dept., VDM:
– Of course, the thing that stuck to my memory most was the reporting session on the project results. The participants had been preparing their projects for several months. On the session, we needed serve the complete “dish”, which required consolidation of skills and creativity of all participants. I was glad that one and all project teams were scrupulous about the reporting session and each project was effective and really beneficial to the Group.
I also remember leadership workshops held by M. Smirnykh, P. Tereschenkov, M. Khoroshaev, S. Lazarev. Their presentations were really educational. Each BU’s leader has his own vision of leadership.
The lecture and workshop on system engineering by Professor V. Kondratyev were extremely interesting. We managed to understand the principle of system architecture under digitalization in general. I remember Alex Vasilyev’s (AliBaba Group) story about management values and principles in Ali Baba, one of Volga-Dnepr Group major customers.
The unforgettable final of the session was team building at Julia Vysotskay’s Culinary Studio. I am going to try all the recipes!

Anatoly Stepanov, Deputy Operations Director, Regions, ABC:
– As for me, it was one of the brightest modules, where besides training (I really liked an architectural approach to matrix modeling of artificial objects), really interesting leadership workshops and meeting a real customer – A. Vasilyev, we managed (I really hope so) to demonstrate to the trainers, internal customers and experts that work and time spent on participants were not a complete waste.

Kirill Khroni, Analyst of Asset Management Dept., VDM:
– I liked the training session regarding emotional intelligence very much. We work with people and need understand them. It is useful from the viewpoint of both Conflictology and Management.
The parallel process elaboration skills we have gained are as much useful. I cannot say that it is something new for us, still, practice makes perfect. Additional practice shows a necessary tool to our brains.

Rasym Shakirov, Head of Management Planning, Accounting and Reporting Dept., VDM:
– The most unforgettable thing of both the 4th module and the whole training process was the last day – the reporting session. It was really thrilling and emotional. We “sold” the results of our 6 month work to the customers. On that day we understood that doing a perfect job was not enough. It was necessary to present your product to Customer appropriately, do it briefly and clearly, draw his/her attention and answer all raised questions.
In the course of preparation and during the session, we realize that every Customer requires a peculiar approach because every Customer have their own unique experience and issues. Thus, the key to success in the course of interaction is knowing the Customer.

Yulia Celetaria, Customer Service Manager, Global Standards and Training, ABC:
– The complete year 2017 with all 4 training modules has had a significant impact on the way I will be applying the obtained skills and generally a big eye-opener for me in professional aspect.
The last module had excellent content and very knowledgeable trainers and presenters. It was great to get an opportunity to improve aspects of communications that may seem like common sense but are often overlooked.
The last day was very rewarding which gave us a chance to show and present what we have been working hard and also to get a third place among all project teams! I am very proud of our team and want to thank Bacchus, Alex, Jonny and Andrey for great team spirit despite the long distance and time difference.
Overall, the Future Leaders project exceeded my expectations, it wasn’t always easy but definitely worth it!
Big thanks to Corporate University for their professionalism and patience.

Innokenty Roschupkin, Head of Schedule Operating Management Center, ABC:
– I liked all the four modules, it was very interesting to learn new tools which we could use in our work immediately! Another source of knowledge was presentations by our TOP-managers because it is always interesting to know and understand what they are driven by when making tough decisions. I particularly remember presentation by Tatyana Arslanova, where she openly talked about past mistakes. But the main thing is not to despair but move on and use negative experience in order to mitigate mistakes in the future!

On the whole, thanks to Corporate University for organization of such a training session! It took you so much effort to implement this! Once more thank you very much! Let me assure you, the knowledge we have obtained will be exceptionally beneficial!

Mikhail Panov, Head of Regulatory Documentation and Analytics Unit, ABC:
– I’ll emphasize the training session carried out by our Customer from “e-commerce” expensive cargo sector – Ali Baba Group, which let us assess their ambitions, requirements and potential for our partnership and joint development.

Evgeniy Demin, Head of Ground Flight Support Dept., VDA:
– The fourth module is not perceived as separated from the previous ones but a logical ending of one-year long training process. If we compare our presentations at the fourth module not with our first spring presentations but with the preliminary presentations – tests our supervisors had carried out for us, we can see a great contrast indeed. I’d like to specifically point out the form of the final event –mixed feelings of responsibility for project results and of celebration. As usual, I really liked the presentation by the representative of Alibaba. A great number of questions raised after his presentation showed genuine interest and strive to know the customer better. And, of course, the workshop Corporate University kindly arranged for us exceeded all expectations. To sum up, I can say that I’m looking forward to the next year, new knowledge and challenging and ambitious tasks.

Oleg Novikov, Director Marketing and Business Development, ABC’s office in Shanghai:
– I am impressed by a great variety of topics – from usage of emotions in leadership to regular management and architecture of the future – and the main thing is timeliness and capability of immediate application of the total training outcome in daily work with customers. I liked the workshop by Alibaba/Cainiao very much. It was another example of how the company’s values could and must play the key part in building and managing business. And, of course, the unforgettable thing was project presentation – it was thrilling, competitive, creative and festively!

Maria Ermolenko, Director, QA and Ethics, VDA:
– The module was very emotional. It was influenced by participants’ New Year mood and atmosphere of the approaching holiday. On the first day, we were reminded of emotional intelligence. The thing that impressed me was the telephone game illustrating how differently people perceive information. It also was interesting to take part in the task regarding developing a management decision tree. Each team approved itself and presented its own, original view of the tree. After the presentation held by Alibaba’s representative, I realized that values were not ideology any more, they became a real tool for managing a company and its team. And, of course, project presentation appealed to me. I did not think that the “Future Leaders” would be so creative and make a real show. A special thanks for the “tasty surprise”. Joint dinner cooking made the project participants even closer and was unforgettable experience!

Nailia Shigabutdinova, Leading IFRS&MA Specialist, VDA:
– The final module impressed me by the training session held by Olga Popova from General Electric, where we increased our emotional intelligence, which would help us solve difficult issues without unnecessary emotions.
The unforgettable thing was the training session held by V. Kondratyev, during which the teams developed the models of the future. We passionately solved challenging complex objectives, developed new models of the objects of the future, As a result, it helped us realize the working process and look at it in a different way, as well as take decisions, considering a lot of details.
The most thrilling day was the one when we presented our projects. The project we had presented was called “IFRS Reporting Automation.” I’d like to express gratitude to the whole team for the joint work and, as a result, becoming runners-up.
In general, I’d like to point out that during the whole program, we were involved into responsible objectives and projects, obtained knowledge on different aspects of Volga-Dnepr Group operation. So, this year, we acquired diverse and valuable experience!