Personnel Training and Development Programs
As requirements applicable to the qualifications of electricity distribution grid companies’ personnel become stricter, it is extremely important to ensure the development of continuous professional education, training, retraining, and advanced training for personnel. MRSK Holding’s approaches to personnel training and retraining as related to outstripping training for mastering new equipment and techniques, target-oriented training for the personnel reserve and young employees, and the integration of scientific work into the training system make it possible to strengthen employees’ knowledge and form the personnel potential able to support the innovative development of electricity distribution grid companies.
TRAINING
In 2012, training was provided for 167,409 employees of electricity distribution grid companies, accounting for 87.8% of the staff on the payroll of MRSK Holding’s companies (87.6% in 2011).
In line with the demand for personnel training, MRSK Holding selects the most effective, advanced, and high-quality methods and areas of training, such as:
- on-the-job training provided by visiting teachers from educational institutions
- reduction of training time owing to self-training distance learning
- use of distance learning (videoconferences, webinars, and online classes)
All of this increases the number of trained personnel and, at the same time, optimizes training costs.
Special attention is given to training for personnel responsible for securing the operating reliability of electric grid and substation equipment. Training is carried out in accordance with the Personnel Development Rules for Electricity Industry Entities of the Russian Federation and the requirements set by the Federal Service for Environmental, Technological and Nuclear Supervision of the Russian Federation. In the reporting year, workers make up 58% of the total number of trained staff.
The corporate network of regional training centers made up of 20 licensed non-profit educational organizations established by IDGCs has a major role in organizing the provision of training for technical employees of electricity distribution grid companies. In assessing the total scope of training services carried out in 2012, it should be noted that in-house training centers provided training for 29,500 employees of SDCs (18% of the total number of trained personnel).
Jointly with the founding companies and MRSK Holding, regional training centers are take measures to update the lists and contents of their training programs, expand the scope of their educational licenses due to putting into operation new equipment, renew their teaching aids, and adopt new distance learning techniques using up-to-date multimedia systems. Practical specialists, teachers from leading regional educational institutions related to energy, and industry veterans are engaged in teaching at training centers.
DIAGRAM 11. TRAINED EMPLOYEES BY CATEGORY, %
Скачать в XLSTo reduce injury risks, MRSK Holding’s companies in collaboration with Rostechnadzor UMK (an affiliate of the Federal Service for Environmental, Technological and Nuclear Supervision of the Russian Federation) implement a joint project of technical training for adapted programs in industrial safety. Training is provided for employees of MRSK Holding SDCs at the offices of Rostechnadzor UMK and in the form of off-site seminars in the regions of SDCs’ operations.
In line with the changing demand for additional training for addressing current and strategic objectives, specialized training projects are developed. For instance, in order to create a common communication space in innovation management, evaluation of progress in implementing the innovative development strategy, analysis of best practices in innovation management, and advanced training for participants in processes and tools of innovation management, electric grid companies in cooperation with SKOLKOVO Moscow Business School organized the Integration of Innovative Development Programs of FGC UES and MRSK Holding integrated training program.
In order to raise the educational level of electricity distribution grid companies’ employees, it is planned in 2013 to continue cooperation with educational institutions in developing and implementing specialized programs for training, retraining, and advanced training, with due regard to the special features of electricity distribution.
COOPERATION WITH EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS
In order to build up cooperation with Russia’s leading higher and secondary professional education institutions, the educational institutions that provide training in the disciplines vital for the distribution grid sector were selected jointly with the Company for each region of operations. MRSK Holding Entities implement partnership programs with key specialized higher education institutions and higher education institutions in the regions of IDGCs’ operations, with 90 of them selected as base institutions. In 2012, there were 93 cooperation agreements between MRSK Holding’s companies and 74 higher education institutions, 26 of them were entered into in the reporting period.
The Company currently has cooperation agreements with the country’s leading higher education institutions providing training for employees sought after in the distribution grid sector. These include the Moscow Power Engineering Institute (National Research University), the Ivanovo State Power Engineering University, the Kazan State Power Engineering University, and MGIMO’s International Institute of Energy Policy and Diplomacy.
Cooperation with educational institutions lies in the following principal areas:
- devise and implement joint training programs for young employees (master’s degree programs) with due consideration to the particularities of the distribution grid sector and provide target-oriented training for employees of MRSK Holding’s companies
- send students of sponsored secondary and secondary occupational education institutions and children of employees of MRSK Holding’s companies to energy-related higher education institutions for training under contracts financed from the federal budget funds
- develop new and expand existing educational programs and training, retraining, and advanced training courses for employees, MBA programs taking account of the particularities of the distribution grid sector
- prepare proposals to fine-tune professional standards for workers’ and engineers’ occupational categories
- engage electricity distribution grid companies’ employees with appropriate qualifications to participate in the training process
- involve postgraduates and talented students of educational institutions in research on issues vital for the electricity distribution grid sector
- organize practical studies, externships, and internships for students and traineeships for educational institutions’ teachers at electricity distribution grid companies
- provide occupational guidance aiming to raise the prestige of working in the power industry and attract young people to jobs in the industry.
Fifty-one higher professional education institutions have departments that provide training in disciplines related to electricity distribution: electric systems and networks, automated electricity systems, innovative technologies in electric grids, electricity supply, etc.
A new phase in developing partner relations between MRSK Holding’s companies and higher education institutions is the establishment of base departments at base higher education institutions.
For instance, MGIMO’s International Institute of Energy Policy and Diplomacy (MIEP) established an energy-related department, Economics and Management in the Electricity Sector, in 2010 to prepare international-level experts able to introduce advanced foreign experience in Russian electric grid companies. From October 2010, the department provides training under the Management and Regulation of Economic Activities in the International Electricity Industry MBA program and, from September 2011, under the International Economic Cooperation in the Electricity Industry master’s degree program.
Students under the programs are young professionals and recent graduates of higher education institutions who are sent by IDGCs to study under the conditions set forth in tripartite agreements among the students, IDGCs, and MIEP. The agreements provide that IDGCs pay training and accommodation expenses and that the students should work for the sending company for 3–5 years. The Company finances of the department’s activities and the development and updating of training programs.
On the joint initiative of Siberian energy companies and with the participation of IDGC of Siberia (Khakassenergo branch), the Khakassia Technical Institute (Abakan), which is a branch of the Siberian Federal University (Krasnoyarsk), established the Electricity Industry Department in 2012.
A key partner and supplier of personnel for IDGC of North-West is the Murmansk State Technical University (MSTU). For the period of the activities of MSTU’s Energy and Transport Department, its staff prepared more than 750 students majoring in Power Supply for Enterprises, Electricity Supply, and Automobiles. As part of cooperation between IDGC of North-West and MSTU, a branch of the Energy and Transport Department at the training center of Kolenergo, a branch of IDGC of North-West, was established in 2009.
In order to implement the program of maintaining and developing the human resources of LENENERGO, the Energy Conservation and Energy Efficiency Enhancement Department was set up at the St. Petersburg State Agrarian University in 2012.
It is planned that the departments will provide targeted personnel training under programs adapted to the needs of the electric grid sector. In addition to methodological support for the departments, extensive work continues on creating standard special courses to be included in the training programs of the higher education institutions.
As early as now, the Company, together with its subsidiaries, is working on the introduction of a course on asset management into targeted personnel training programs for the electric grid sector. IDGC of Siberia implements a project for the inclusion of energy conservation and energy efficiency in training courses of the higher education institutions. The project is provided with methodological support, with teachers receiving both theoretical training and traineeships at IDGC of Siberia’s facilities.
Special attention is given to occupational guidance projects. In addition to the traditional “career days” and “open house events,” internships and traineeships are organized for senior students. In 2012, more than 3,000 students had internships and traineeships at MRSK Holding’s companies, and 449 graduates were hired by SDCs.
YOUTH PERSONNEL RESERVE
Given that personnel training is a process designed for long-term purposes, in order to retain and develop young specialists of MRSK Holding and involve them in dealing with issues vital for the electric grid sector, the Company’s SDCs in 2012 continued carrying out the large-scale project launched in 2011 with respect to youth personnel reserves. The creation of youth personnel reserves allowed:
- singling out from among young employees those who are motivated and have the high potential for development
- creating possibilities for young employees’ acquiring professional and managerial competencies required by distribution grid sector companies
- creating possibilities for young employees’ faster career development.
To satisfy the above conditions and involve young employees of MRSK Holding, more than 2,500 of the most promising young employees of the electricity distribution grid sector were selected for youth personnel reserves. MRSK Holding’s youth personnel reserves were formed at three levels: branches, IDGCs and the Parent Company. More than half the members of the branches’ reserves and more than a third of the members of IDGCs’ reserves are employees of production units (PUs) and electric grid districts (EGDs).
Target job positions are assigned to youth personnel reserve members, mentors are appointed from among the most qualified and competent employees, and each personnel reserve member has an individual development plan containing a set of developing measures aimed at preparing him or her for the target job position.
In addition to mentors, the process of preparing personnel reserve members for their target positions involves their immediate superiors and human resources personnel. This manner of dealing with the personnel reserve ensures that young employees will acquire the experience of MRSK Holding’s best professionals and helps young employees master up-to-date techniques used by Russian and foreign electric utilities.
In accordance with individual development plans, training events were organized for youth personnel reserve members in 2012 to enable them to gain more professional knowledge, master modern approaches to managerial functions, and acquire skills in planning their own activities and improving their personal efficiency. It was found to be important to ensure that the theoretical skills acquired by personnel reserve members at workshops and training events are reinforced by their practical use. In order for young employees to gain the necessary practical experience for performing their functions in target job positions, they were involved in dealing with problem situations typical of their target job positions, included in project teams and task forces addressing topical issues of electricity distribution, and appointed to carry out duties in their target capacity while the relevant regular employees were temporarily absent.
A comprehensive approach to the development of professional and managerial competencies allowed many personnel reserve members to gain necessary knowledge, skills, and expertise within a short time. In 2012, over 350 youth personnel reserve members moved to a more senior role in MRSK Holding’s entities (including 200 people promoted to their target job positions).
The youth personnel reserves of distribution grid companies are oriented toward coordinating efforts to pursue the youth policy, contributing to:
- satisfying the demand of MRSK Holding’s companies for professional personnel in the medium and long term
- retaining and promoting the most talented and trained young employees
- strengthening and building up the personnel potential of MRSK Holding’s companies as one of the main factors in their sustained development and competitiveness
The positive experience of creating youth personnel reserves was used by most of MRSK Holding’s companies to form and organize other personnel reserve types: the managerial personnel reserve and the personnel reserve for key positions.