Sustainable training for the SAP specialists of tomorrow

Augsburg, September 15, 2023 – SWAN GmbH is starting the 2023/24 training and study year with four new apprentices and two dual students. Training and further education programs for new and existing employees are of great importance at the company, which has been awarded by Great Place to Work®. The in-house SWAN Academy manages individual professional as well as interdisciplinary and personal development plans and creates attractive career paths within the company. This form of sustainable and individual training and further education measures supports SWAN GmbH’s ambitious growth plans at all locations.

“We attach great importance to sustainable training,” says Günter Eckert, Head of the SWAN Academy. “Skilled workers in the SAP logistics field are scarce, so we specifically attract our young professionals of tomorrow. We are very pleased that this year we were able to transition all our completed apprentices as well as dual students and bachelor candidates into permanent employment. This shows us that we are the attractive employer for newcomers that we want to be. Our goal is to drive SWAN’s growth at our various locations through the training of tomorrow’s professionals.”

Currently, SWAN trains in the professions of IT specialist for application development as well as wholesale and foreign trade merchants. In addition, partnerships exist with the Dual University of Baden-Württemberg DHBW Mosbach (Bachelor of Science, Business Informatics) and, since January 2023, with the Dual University of Baden-Württemberg DHBW Mannheim (Bachelor of Science, International Management for Business and Information Technology (IMBIT)). SWAN has already been able to attract two dual students for the IMBIT program at the Walldorf location starting from the first winter semester. Additionally, four apprentices started at the Giebelstadt and Nuremberg locations on September first.

Investment in Training and Further Education: Expansion of the SWAN Academy

With the SWAN Academy, SWAN created a central point for the training and further education program of SWAN in October 2021. At that time, the Academy accompanied three apprentices and two dual students on their way into professional life. Today, the training department includes 12 Young Talents. The SWAN Academy invests particularly in expanding the teaching content in the areas of IT specialist application development and business informatics. With the appointment of Sahin Aydin as a trainer and instructor, the content of the training plans is further expanded. Aydin brings broad practical experience as an SAP developer and will also oversee internal and external training in the SAP area, in addition to mentoring apprentices and dual students.

Vocational Training with Technical as well as Soft Skills and Value Training

SWAN places great emphasis on practical and job-related training. Apprentices as well as dual students therefore receive a joint, interdisciplinary introductory week to get to know the locations and employees of SWAN. In addition to networking, the focus here is on promoting soft skills and building a sense of teamwork. Initial training takes place in the areas of time management, communication, and conflict management. After six to twelve months, flexibility workshops follow, which are intended to ensure the learning effects and sustainability of the workshops. Value-based work is also not neglected: in the first week of their training, the young talents deal with SWAN’s values in order to actively shape them.

Subsequently, SWAN’s newcomers undergo basic training in SAP and specific topics in the Academy. The knowledge acquired is then practically implemented in the specialist departments. This in-depth technical training forms the basis for later professional life and the development of one’s own professional personality profile. The apprentices and dual students are accompanied by higher semesters, who act as “training mentors” and support them with technical questions.

Training Coaching for Personality Development during Career Entry

In addition to thorough technical training, SWAN places great emphasis on the development of personality to shape an individual professional profile. Therefore, SWAN has integrated measures to promote independence and personal responsibility into the training plans. An important component is the appointment of a training coach and learning process companion. In addition to his role as Head of the SWAN Academy, Günter Eckert has been supporting apprentices and dual students as a certified training coach (IHK) since the summer of 2023. The IHK certification is based on an intensive one-week seminar and enables coaches to accompany learning processes during apprenticeship and studies.

“Jobmatch Talent” Analysis for Tailored Employment Offers

The promotion of talent does not end at SWAN after completing apprenticeship or studies. So-called “Jobmatch Talent” analyses are intended to enable tailored takeovers after training that focus on individual skills and preferences. “Especially in times of skilled labor shortages and an employee market, it is important to offer tailored employment offers rather than standard ones. This gives newcomers a decisive unique selling point, as they are allowed to bring their very individual personality. This in turn creates a strong bond with us, SWAN,” says Manuela König, Director of Human Resources at SWAN. “When taking over, we agree on individual qualification plans that focus on professional and personal further education.”

Individual Employee Development beyond Training

In addition, SWAN develops career paths for the individual company areas that support SWAN’s sustainable growth – and at the same time offer long-term employees attractive options within SWAN. The SWAN Academy supports these plans with technical and interdisciplinary development measures. In 2023, the focus is particularly on growth at the Augsburg, Giebelstadt, Nuremberg, and Walldorf locations, with new positions also planned for Dortmund and Graz in 2024.

The training offerings of the SWAN Academy are complemented by individual further training for specialists and managers. In addition to further training options individually agreed upon with the respective supervisor, SWAN offers English language courses for every level with an external partner to all employees, for example. Furthermore, the collaboration with the University of Würzburg for empowerment coaching has been expanded for employees without leadership experience. With this coaching, SWAN aims to specifically strengthen the strengths, self-confidence, and self-responsibility of employees. Only in this way can agile work methods, self-managed teams, and work in the New Work environment be successfully implemented.