Siemens: lifelong learning makes company and employees future-proof
The digitalization waves poses challenges for Siemens and other technology companies. "Some old rules no longer work," says Bram Dehaene, HR director, while Veerle Doornaert, HR business partner, adds: "In the past, a product was first fully developed and tested, and only then launched on the market. Now that is no longer possible, because by the time you are ready, the market has already changed completely. That is a challenge that digitalization presents, but at the same time it also offers the solution. For example, you twin a product or process. A large part of the development can then be done virtually and you limit the chance of mistakes. Or you develop digital services and platforms to support your customers remotely. But that assumes that your employees have the knowledge to work with those digital tools. So you have to give them the opportunity for continuous training.”
Broad range of training courses
Technology federation Agoria is aware of the challenges its members are facing. It has drawn up a charter which companies can subscribe to if they want to make their staff policy future-proof: Be The Change. Siemens undertook to make three out of ten Be The Change commitments and was the first to be awarded the 'Employer ready for the future of work' label. The company owes this in particular to its learning platform My Learning World, which offers a wide range of training courses.
"Thanks to My Learning World, we at Siemens can monitor the growth and learning path of our employees better. At the same time, they are encouraged to continue their education and to remain relevant in their current and future jobs.”
Bram Dehaene, HR director, and Veerle Doornaert, HR business partner
Bram Dehaene: "Our platform includes training courses that are aimed at the entire Siemens group, but also local training courses. We have a very broad offer: general education courses, technical courses, courses focused on specific products ... In all forms you can think of: the traditional classroom model, training with a virtual instructor, webinars, e-books, etc. We have over 90,000 e-learnings and videos."
"In the past, management decided which training was relevant for their teams, but now we let the employees choose for themselves. They can decide through the platform which training to take, where and when. Moreover, the platform uses a smart algorithm that recommends training courses based on the profile and ambitions of the employees."
"To get our employees on board with this culture of lifelong learning, we regularly organize learning weeks. We always set aside a few hours for our people to learn new skills. In this way, we want to give a clear signal: learning is possible and allowed.
"Thanks to My Learning World, we at Siemens can monitor the growth and learning path of our employees better. At the same time, they are encouraged to continue their education and to remain relevant in their current and future jobs. We are very happy that Agoria recognizes these efforts and has awarded us for it.
