Russia: The companies of TMH, one of the major rolling stock manufacturers in the world, employ more than 100,000 specialists in over 700 professions, which is why the holding has chosen to develop and implement its own recruitment and professional development programmes. In 2023, the TMH Corporate University was granted a licence to train employees according to in-house standards.
In early December, RBC Trends published an article that gives a detailed picture. Its author, Natalia Shishlakova, TMH Deputy CEO for Corporate Development and Project Management, Member of Management Board, discovered how the company’s training resources enable it to develop personnel with the necessary competences. Here is ROLLINGSTOCK’s translation of the article.
Natalia Shishlakova, TMH Deputy CEO for Corporate Development and Project Management, Member of the Management Board
How corporate universities develop
A corporate university is not a substitute for technical schools, state universities and the academic environment in general. The corporate university develops industry-specific, licensed training programmes for professionals and workers to uniform standards, giving them the opportunity to quickly acquire skills in a particular field.
For objective reasons, it is impossible for the five-year university curricula to keep up with today’s technologies. On the other hand, it provides a reliable basis for further development. But several years go by and a student is confronted with outdated knowledge. This is why the trend towards acquiring practical skills and knowledge in a one or two-year course is so important. Corporate universities offer a solution: they shape the skills needed in specific companies and adapt employees to specific technological processes. It is a degree of fine-tuning that takes place, and I believe it is corporate universities that are building the future of industry.
If young people are considering their career seriously, they attend a corporate university in their second or third year, a university run by the company where they want to work. In this way, they are immediately add real skills to their academic knowledge. We have always provided it: dual training. It’s a construct in which people combine their studies with industrial practice or full-time work. They learn a second trade while working on company projects. The dual approach enriches everyone: those who receive knowledge and those who give it.
Our laboratories and engineering centres have state-of-the-art equipment, while test labs and training facilities at technical universities are unfortunately not always up to date with the latest technological trends. Students think that the same obsolete machines are waiting for them in the factory. This is usually not the case, as Russian factories use advanced equipment.
Corporate training does not stand still. Today’s trend, for example, is towards increasing digitalisation. This includes both the expansion of distance training opportunities and the use of a flexible approach to employee training aimed at continuous learning (so-called lifelong learning). Another trend is the personalisation and customisation of training through new technologies and the use of VR and AR simulators. In 2024, we developed four driver simulators representing new vehicles: metro cars and Ivolga EMUs.
What corporate universities train
We now offer than 200 programmes, ranging from trade and project training to management development. Our six regional training centres are located at the main facilities: Demikhovo, Mytishchi, Novocherkassk, Bryansk, Tver and Kolomna. More than 10,000 people are trained there each year.
Source: TMH’s corporate university
TMH cooperates with universities that train mechanical engineering specialists and engineers. These are leaders in Russian education such as Moscow Polytechnic University, Bauman Moscow State Technical University and Peter the Great St Petersburg Polytechnic University. Six years ago, we began developing Iskra, an advanced engineering school based in St Petersburg. It opened its doors in early December 2024. The school provides training not only for TMH personnel but also for those involved in infrastructure operations or working for partner companies and projects. Today TMH needs specialists in more than 200 fields, and we plan to train them between 2025 and 2027. In addition to these activities, we also cooperate with regional universities. Their students do internships in TMH companies and we try to introduce them to our production requirements as early as possible.
TMH also acts as an expert and developer of training programmes, ensuring that they meet the modern requirements necessary for the development of the industry.
Today’s environment is fiercely competitive. Whatever industry you look at, companies are pursuing the best solutions. We try to look beyond the traditional models, to look to Asia for the knowledge we need, to look at the technologies and management systems used in mechanical engineering, to keep ourselves up to date.
Training programmes for management and engineers continue to be most in demand. TMH has developed a comprehensive programme to train key personnel and employees in various business functions. Nearly 300 people went through this programme in 2024.
Corporates set up their universities primarily to train their employees. Typically, 90% of students are internal and 10% are external. TMH has set up the corporate university for the entire heavy engineering industry, so the university’s long-term plans include preparing programmes for the external market.
How corporate universities help with career
These days, the industry attracts people from all sorts of backgrounds. We have even received applications that say: “I’m 42 years old, I’m a retail security guard, and I want to change my job”. This person came to us and spent six months training to become a fitter. All this time he was an apprentice in a brigade. He trained, passed an exam, got certified and became a specialist. There are many stories like that.
We also have the Employee Pool programme. You can start your career in one company, improve your skills through the programme and take up a target position in another. We promote information about these opportunities both among other employees and university and college students through the Turnstile-Free Days programme.
Source: TMH’s corporate university
We train specialists at different job levels, either in vertical or horizontal career paths. The modern education system allows us to do this. As you grow, you find yourself in a new position every five to ten years. You can add another degree from a university or a corporate university. You can acquire a second or third profession, prepare yourself for multitasking. At any age. Our Employee Pool programme is not just for young people. It is also for workers, specialists and top managers. There are more than 10,000 people in the management section alone, and even more in the blue-collar and specialists sections.
How corporate universities help to address understaffing
TMH has been preparing for the current labour market situation, where there is a shortage of employees, for a fairly lengthy period of time. Our planning horizon is very long, more than 20 years. We focus on growing our own staff and involving our employees in the development of the company.
Every year we invest around RUB 200 mln ($2 mln) in training, and the automation in our plants is not designed to replace people, but to enhance their skills. For example, our millers operate high-tech machines with complex software. Their job is to set the necessary parameters and control the robots.
Manual labour is here to stay. It will not disappear in the medium or long term, but it will certainly change as tools improve and the demands on workers’ skills increase. The trend towards multiple skills is evident not only in heavy engineering, but in the country’s industry as a whole.
Translation of “Multi-competence and human resource: why companies are developing corporate universities”, RBC Trends, 5 December 2024
