GS Group at Technoprom-2014: how to bring up a team for technological breakthrough?

GS Group holding introduced a successful model of how to bring up a team of employees for technological breakthrough on the example of its own specialists training system. The speaker shared the experience with participants of the International Forum of Technological Development TECHNOPROM-2014.

Andrey Bezrukov, Director for Strategic Marketing, GS Group, spoke at the "Blue Collars" in the sixth technology wave" roundtable, which took place within the forum in Novosibirsk on June 5th. One of the key topics discussed during the roundtable was the question of the professional and educational standards for the new generation of workers.

GS Group is an investment and industry holding, operating on the basis of its very own high technologies in telecommunications and innovation. Its major high-tech facilities are located in the private cluster Technopolis GS in the town of Gusev, Kaliningrad region, Russia. Holding’s innovative activities determine the acute need in highly qualified production personnel.

There are now 2000 employees engaged in the Technopolis GS industries, and this number is expected to increase to 5000 by 2017; 3000 jobs among them are to be allocated for the specialists in the high technologies field. GS Group has to solve a number of issues while recruiting employees, such as attracting people with proper skills from different regions, providing them with the necessary working conditions and living standards, so that they are ready to move to work in Technopolis GS.

“The only way to find the sufficient number of personnel with appropriate skills is launching the federal long-term programs that will help to identify the best students of the last school grades, to rouse their interest in enrolling at universities for the key professions and further - in work for Technopolis GS, — said Andrey Bezrukov. — There is an urgent need in the mechanisms of selecting the most talented graduate students from universities and to inspire them for the work at our enterprises”.

“Regions that are supposed to become the drivers of economic growth in accordance with the Russian Federation Government plans, such as special economic zones, require a large number of skilled labor forces, — GS Group representative pointed out. — We sent our proposals on state support of complex investment projects to The Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation. There are options of subsidizing a part of the costs spent for specialists training, as well as the other measures among them”.

Andrey Bezrukov noted that for today only private companies’ efforts and creation of an integrated system of preparation and selection can help find qualified personnel in high-tech private businesses.

GS Group representative revealed the details about the currently running programs of the holding to achieve the above mentioned goals. Thus, a comprehensive career-guidance program for students is carried out at the regional level in Technopolis GS since 2012. Students of 9 and 11 school grades as well as of specialized secondary and higher educational institutions of the Kaliningrad region can visit the cluster enterprises during the annually organized excursions. As for the federal and international level, in the past year GS Group established an annual competition in mathematics among school students. The similar competition in physics will take place this year. Students of graduate courses studying in secondary special education institutions in the Kaliningrad region regularly do internships at Technopolis GS enterprises. GS Group works together with the leading Russian universities to attract the best graduates of technical professions to work in Technopolis GS. Thus, there is a master's program for students of Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University in Kaliningrad, developed together by GS Nanotech, an enterprise within of Technopolis GS, and University professors. In May 2014 GS Nanotech has also signed the agreement of cooperation with Petrozavodsk State University.