At the Engineering Design Centre, we do our best to ensure that all the individuals employed are aware of their full development potential. Training is an inseparable part of our corporate reality. We assign great priority to continuous improvement. Our ambition is to build a strong organization with the participation of fully-fledged managers and thoroughly committed employees. The employees at the Warsaw-based design center are offered a program of flexible training courses adapted to their position and developmental goals. We provide them with a set of tools that support their development and help them expand their horizons according to their individual needs.

In 2018, we held:

✓ 304 preliminary training sessions for new employees;

✓ 40 language courses;

✓ 264 technical training sessions;

✓ 103 training courses developing soft skills and Project Management Skills

✓ 429 training sessions on labor standards, entitlements and provisions in force;

✓ 45 training sessions developing leadership skills;

There was a total of 1,529 training sessions in 2018. All sessions attracted a total number of 9,303 participants.

 “Soft skills” trainings

Our training courses on soft competences are designed, in particular, to help our employees acquire and improve their interpersonal, communication and presentation skills. The meetings take the form of workshops – carried out in medium-sized groups (around a dozen people) by a trainer who is simultaneously an expert in a given field. During the training sessions, our employees learn new behaviors, have an opportunity to practice and discuss them with the group, as well as plan the way they want to utilize this knowledge in the future. Soft training courses are selected by our employees themselves, depending on their needs. Alternatively, they can be referred to such training courses by their superiors. Participation in our workshops generates a series of practical benefits that can be used in everyday life and constitutes an excellent source of inspiration for managing one’s work, projects and team.

Technical trainings

To enhance their professional qualifications and gain more opportunities for development, employees, with the consent of their manager, enroll in training sessions dedicated to technical issues. Each employee’s development path includes both mandatory training and courses which can be attended in one’s free time.

Technical training is divided into:

• stationary – conducted on site, on EDC premises, by our qualified and experienced specialists;
• global – conducted in English via an Internet messenger or by telepresence.

Leadership trainings

People who lead teams at EDC, can also participate trainings dedicated to them. There are trainings that are assigned to each person who is promoted to People Leader role – there are obligatory for People Leaders e.g. Leadership training for new manager. Also, organization provide external/ internal trainings ‘on demand’ where Manager decide which competences he/she wants to develop.

CoSE (Centre of Skills Excellence) Trainings

As part of the improvement process, we provide our employees with training courses that develop their non-technical skills as well. Thanks to the workshops conducted by internal trainers, the participants expand their knowledge and improve the skills that help them achieve greater efficiency at work and in private life. These training sessions are available to all employees and are held outside of their working hours.

Development and recruitment programs

Edison Engineering Development Program (EEDP)

The EEDP is an international program designed for fresh graduates (up to 2 years after graduation), who would like to embark on a professional career in engineering. The program is primarily focused on increasing technical skills, learning problem solving methods in engineering projects, as well as enhancing effective teamwork skills. Daily work is combined with learning and dedicated training sessions. Throughout the program, the engineers circulate amongst 3 or 4 different teams. Such circulation makes it possible for them to better familiarize themselves with the organization and the various areas of engineering work. At the same time, the programs’ participants receive a large dose of knowledge. Practice shows that they take active part in all the classes and do their best to take full advantage of them.

In 2018, we invited a total of 11 individuals to participate in the Edison Engineering Development Program. Those people are gaining experience in the areas of GE Aviation and GE Power.

 Industry-based training

The priority for each employee is to gain the status of a professional in his/her field. As an employee friendly organization supporting the professional goals of our employees, we make it possible for our specialists to take advantage of various developmental program.

Such programs differ across all the areas of our organization. We mostly offer goal-oriented program so that our employees can concentrate on the objectives they have set at a specific time. These programs are diversified and dependent on numerous variables, including experience. The employees use a tool based on functional models, allowing them to assess their level of knowledge and plan their own technical development. A useful tool for planning their professional career is offered by matrices with templates of technical and soft competences, specified at the levels of the employment structure. Using such matrices, our employees analyze their specific skills and predispositions, and then, based on the observations, receive a dedicated development path directed towards the selected area. The matrices stimulate employees to learn, as well as allow them, despite the rush of daily activities, to still focus on the future and their own development. They are also useful to the management of our organization in their daily managerial activities, in assigning tasks or planning the workload. Thanks to competence matrices, we can discern and monitor the path leading to an ideal state in which we have a fully flexible, cross-trained team.

Furthermore, our organization has implemented the process of “exchange”, which makes it possible for employees to acquire knowledge about projects executed in each of the departments. The benefit of this solution is the possibility of exchanging views and experiences between employees of the same business area, openness to new solutions and attempts to diversify the work. The criteria for the exchange are manifold – the employees migrate between departments within specific program or as a result of available resources in the particular teams. This process is intensified by the employees’ participation in technical discussion groups, where engineers at all levels can, on a broader forum, exchange information about state-of-the-art methods, technologies and processes, as well as share their ideas and newly developed solutions, thereby stimulating innovation.

 Talent Development Program (TDP)

In 2018, we launched a special edition of the Talent Development Program in the Aviation business, giving engineers a chance to develop in the area of systemic thinking. Eleven participants are given an opportunity to strengthen their skills in examining systems in terms of their complexity, sensitivity to a change of a single variable, or tendency to deepen or attenuate a given system parameter in time. The outline of the program was developed on the basis of the developmental needs identified in the participants concerning three main areas, namely product development and certification, product integration with the system, as well as technical program management. One of the key elements of the program is technical mentoring. Participants are able to discuss issues related to their daily work and professional development in terms of systemic thinking and specific products on which they are currently working, taking advantage of the knowledge and experience of selected experts. This way, the organization will facilitate simultaneous achievement of professional goals and development of future technical leaders within the organization. Power Talent Development Program (Power TDP) Power TDP, implemented in 2015 and continued in 2017 is a 1.5-year-long program for talented engineers of GE Power, designed to enable them to professionally develop their leadership skills. The program is primarily focused on learning the methods of problem solving in engineering projects, as well as improving the effectiveness of teamwork. Meetings are held once a month and cover such areas as: entrepreneurship, ownership and accountability, communication and cooperation in various teams as well as leadership. In 2018 edition of the program, for a mixed group from various EDC businesses started 11 people.

Mentoring

Mentoring at the EDC was developed to address the specific needs of our staff, as a form of support for employees in their quest to achieve their individual goals. This cooperation is based on knowledge sharing. The receptiveness to dialogue and employees’ opinions are the foundation of our organizational culture. The mentoring process involves all the employees at our center. Activities involve mutual inspiration, stimulation and counselling by specialized experts in specific fields, as well as assistance in achieving success by our talented staff. We place great emphasis on the partner-based nature of the mentor employee relationship. It offers much freedom – each employee can choose his/her own mentor or ask his/her superior for assistance in this regard. The role of a mentor is entrusted to experienced employees of the company, who have extensive experience and knowledge in a given area, as well as highly developed personal and social competences. As a supervisor of an employee’s professional development, a mentor supports mentors in solving any emerging problems and provides them with specialist knowledge about the work performed. Furthermore, a mentor helps mentors follow their individual career paths tailored to their needs and expectations. An unquestionable advantage of mentoring in our organization is the growing commitment of employees to their work, the strengthening of internal communication and good atmosphere both within a team and across the entire EDC. Mentoring at the EDC has so far been mainly informal in nature. A more formalized form of mentoring is offered by the One GE Mentoring Program, which pairs up mentoring individuals from various GE sites in Poland, as well as fosters the exchange of knowledge and creation of relationships between various businesses.

Development programs

In 2018, in order to address the developmental needs of managers, we continued the Engineering Development Leadership program. Within the framework of the program, there are developmental sessions which include motivational speeches by inspiring speakers, exercises, discussion panels, articles and films on issues related to leadership skills necessary in the current business conditions and the changing reality. The management staff from the Aviation department took part in 4 sessions

Acceleration Lab

In 2018 we launched a new development initiative within GE Power business. 12 participants had a chance to face real-life business challenges such as developing knowledge-sharing tool, recruiting interns or preparing Power heritage campaign. The goal of the program is to develop leadership skills in practice by learning “on-the job”. To support those activities, the participants has a series or meetings with GE Power and EDC Leadership team, took Gallup’s Strengths Finder talent assessment and each of them had a mentor assigned. The program lasted one year, and the formal graduation took place on Engineering Recognition Day ceremony.

Power Mentoring Program

The one-year Power Mentoring Program has been launched in 2018 to strengthen the cooperation between two parts of Power business – design and services as well as give our young talents exposure and visibility. The mentees were 10 engineers starting their career in GE Power and the mentors were the technical experts (Controlled Title Holders) and system engineers. The program has some formal boundaries but mostly offered flexibility to choose the right topics, meeting frequency and goals. The mentoring covered both technical topics as well as business discussions and career advices.

GE Volunteers – we offer help

GE Volunteers is an initiative established by General Electric, which was adopted at the EDC in 2010. The principal motto of GE volunteers is to provide direct support to those in need chosen by the employees involved in charity initiatives. In our opinion, involvement in the employee volunteering programme helps both the company and its employees obtain mutual benefits. They include, amongst others, the creation of the image of a responsible and socially involved organisation, as well as the integration of employees and enhancement of their job satisfaction level. Our employees take conscious decisions about helping others, in accordance with their own needs and potential. We support all those who participate in joint charitable projects and inspire them to take further actions.

In 2018, our employees organised 26 projects, during which we worked together for 1300 hours.The campaigns concerned 4 areas, namely education, local community support, health-oriented issues and increasing environmental awareness.

By helping others, we support the development of science through:

Tutoring and sporting activities

Our volunteers selflessly help youngsters from the Janusz Korczak Children’s Home No. 2 and the Children’s Home No. 9 in Warsaw with their learning difficulties. Most of our employees are people with scientific minds. Therefore, they enjoy sharing their knowledge through tutoring sessions in mathematics, chemistry, physics and foreign languages. The classes were held at our centres, depending on the children’s needs – from 1 to 5 times a week. Besides tutoring, during the summer and winter sport seasons, our volunteers have organised periodical training courses for children in outdoor team games.

The Young Explorer’s Club

In cooperation with the Academy of the Future, GE Volunteers organise regular classes for children and youth of the Young Explorers Club. On the premises of the Institute of Aviation, along with volunteers, young club members carry out scientific experiments in physics, chemistry or natural sciences. The relationships amongst participants based on mutual trust and inspiration, joint determination to solve fascinating puzzles of nature, involvement and passion of both sides are more than just slogans.

GE Volunteers organized a few recurring events for kids from Children’s Care Home No. 2 in Warsaw, such as ice skating and bumper cars driving at the National Stadium in winter and bike tours or horse riding when the sunshine came back to us. They also coordinated numerous educational events for Warsaw’s primary schools’ students – the youngsters had even an opportunity to learn how to program a robot to recognize and avoid objects on its path! The Volunteers did not forget about our little brothers – along with the kids from the above-mentioned Children’s Home, they constructed nesting boxes for birds. Newly built shelters were later handed over to the Forest Inspectorate of Celestynów.

The previous year concluded with a tasty action called “It’s a piece of cake”, where the Volunteers collected 3600 PLN selling homemade cakes and pies baked by EDC managers.