Bremen, July 8, 2021 - The pace of development in the digital industry is rapid. New products and technologies are constantly coming onto the market. In order to keep up with this pace, it is essential to undergo continuous further training. Instead of mandating further training from above, the Group relies on the commitment of its employees. Colleagues give lectures, organize CoPs (Communities of Practice) or reading circles to help each other progress. This personal commitment gives the topic a different status within the company. In addition, the self-organized transfer of knowledge promotes high quality in development and creation and strengthens team spirit.
"In order to keep pace with the constant changes in the digital industry, we need to acquire new knowledge. Our employees show interest and commitment in tackling this aspect independently - many training opportunities are organized by them. This means that the content is tailored to the needs of the respective teams and there is room for learning. This also promotes a positive and fearless error culture," says team neusta Managing Director Dr. Heinz Kierchhoff. The Community of Practice is an example of self-organized further training within the company. There are CoPs on various topics, such as the Java programming language or sustainability. Interested parties meet regularly and discuss specialist topics. The aim is to exchange experiences, work out solutions and create best practice examples. This promotes exchange beyond project work and participants can benefit from the experience of their colleagues.
Friday breakfasts
Friday breakfasts are another way of sharing knowledge. Here, employees give presentations to their colleagues on a topic of their choice - the focus is on agile software development. Participation is voluntary. "Due to the coronavirus crisis, training courses such as the Friday breakfasts are currently taking place digitally. This has the advantage that colleagues who are not based in Bremen can also take part. This also strengthens networking between employees at the various locations," says Kierchhoff.
Reading circle
The "Read IT" reading circle shows that employees are motivated to continue their education on their own initiative. One employee initiated "Read IT" to discuss IT specialist literature with colleagues. The group decides together in advance which book to read. The participants meet every two weeks to discuss the chapters they have read at home. In this way, they acquire knowledge that goes beyond their actual work. At the end of a book, a review is written. This is made available online for all employees - so others can also benefit from the knowledge. "Personal initiative and responsibility are part of our corporate culture and are practiced on a daily basis, as the reading circle shows. We are happy to support such ideas and, for example, take care of ordering the required specialist books," explains Kierchhoff.
The laboratory
Both new colleagues and employees who have worked for the customer for a longer period of time have the opportunity to acquire know-how outside their technology stack and expand their skills in the lab. Anyone starting in the lab must first complete a code challenge. This tests where there is a need to acquire new knowledge or deepen existing knowledge. The participants then apply their skills to various projects in the lab. This involves, for example, developing a program for the administrator team's hardware management. There are also regular lectures and workshops on topics such as clean code or Scrum, which the entire team can also attend. "With the lab, we have created a unique onboarding program for software experts. The aim is to live agile software development and apply newly learned skills directly," says Kierchhoff.
