ACT as a Talent Incubator

Personnel training is aimed at expanding the specialist’s qualifications, improve his/her adaptation to social and economic changes, and the development of new professional activities, as well as obtaining new knowledge and skills based on the development of technologies and international standards. We are observing rapid external (economy, legislation, etc.) and internal (changes in labor conditions, new jobs, technical development, etc.) changes in the corporate environment. These changes suggest that the knowledge acquired earlier requires constant improvement to be enough for professional activities. The US has even invented a specific term to characterize this factor – “competence half-life” – which defines the time after which the previously acquired knowledge and professional experience become obsolete.

Other main reasons for the need for training include:

1. Motivation. Each employee who receives new knowledge at the expense of the employer feels care from the management and seeks to justify the funds invested.

2. International cooperation. In some industries, an employee shall possess many diplomas and certificates to be hired by a large company.

3. Lack of narrow-focused specialists. Employers often tend to train their employees because the labor market lacks the needed specialists.

4. Advanced training. The employee who has gained new knowledge can propose new ideas and quickly solve difficulties that arise in the course of work.

There are two types of corporate training: internal and external. External training means courses, seminars conducted by various training companies; internal training means, for example, mentoring and training of newcomers by more experienced employees. We use both types of training to raise the competence of our employees. An example is the transfer of experience from the mentor to the mentee. Each newcomer is placed in real situations that require decision-making in his/her area of responsibility. The skills of our mentors and flexible management style have contributed to the formation of inclusive corporate culture in ACT and made the company an incubator of talents and an effective medium for young leaders and managers.

Thus, this January, two specialists from the Statistics and Analysis Department have been trained at ACT headquarters in Tbilisi on using SPSS, STG, and data visualization software. The training included a basic course in statistical processing and database analysis – the tasks that we face every day. The trainees practiced in real projects in programming questionnaires, writing logics, database cleaning, data analyzing. For each of our employees, training is also a path to receiving rewards for developing skills through our bonus program.