Committed to progress
Career start with prospects: talents@stoba supports trainees with particularly good performance
Every year, new, motivated trainees start their careers at stoba. They are an essential part of stoba’s future-oriented approach, which follows the motto “Committed to progress”. The main aim is to develop our own highly competent specialists who have long-term prospects at stoba. In Backnang, particularly good performance in training is therefore also particularly encouraged:As part of the talents@stoba program introduced in 2015, the idea of the support program is to introduce young people in a structured and strategic way to specific tasks that they can later take on at stoba. “To this end, we usually nominate one or two people from each year group who stand out due to their very good grades and their personal appearance,” explains Roland Gaus, Head of Human Resources at the stoba site in Backnang. The respective trainees then receive various offers, for example for stays abroad, further training and permanent employment contracts.
What distinguishes the talent program from those of other companies is the point in time at which the trainees are guaranteed the funding: “We accept some trainees into the program after their first year of training,” says Roland Gaus. “So if they want to get involved, they already know after the first third of their training what position they can expect at stoba in the long term.” Depending on their performance and the assessment of the training team, the young talents are assigned to one of three levels, which are associated with different support measures. Level 1, for example, includes training in specialist areas such as turning or special processes as well as targeted training for the relevant machines. In the second level, additional training courses (paid for by stoba) are offered in the areas of programming and set-up, as well as funding for the master craftsman evening school. This is followed by a stay abroad at one of stoba’s locations worldwide, also financed by stoba. In the third and highest level, the young skilled workers benefit from even more extensive internal further training and the financing of the evening school for technicians or a course of study. This is also followed by an assignment of several months at a stoba location abroad.
Enthusiasm among the participants
Lukas Gebhardt, one of the young people who received support through the program, is delighted: “Thanks to stoba’s support, I was able to complete my technician at night school straight after my apprenticeship. This is a unique opportunity and a great appreciation for the work and achievements that you put in during your training.” His colleague Maik Schäfer, who went through the same program, adds: “The whole thing was a very intensive time, because the training lasts a total of four years, during which you learn and work in parallel. But it was definitely worth it!” Roland Gaus also knows that it’s not “just like that” to take on a double burden of work and school for four years: “Of course, the program means that our trainees have to commit to this special path relatively early on – which is not easy, especially when they are still very young. However, it is also associated with very promising prospects, both professionally and personally. ” Overall, everyone involved is more than satisfied with what talents@stoba has achieved so far: “All of the trainees nominated so far have completed the program. Many of them are still working at stoba – in very good positions. This is a great sign of the mutual trust that exists between the trainees and stoba as an employer. We are naturally very pleased about this,” summarizes Roland Gaus.