After eight exciting months packed with new experiences 31 participants successfully completed our Early Career Program in October 2023. This program is unique, providing employees from our North American group companies with active guidance during the first stages of their voestalpine career.
Our Early Career Program has been run in North America since the business year 2017/18, with a short interruption during the pandemic. It is targeted at employees working in a range of commercial and technical fields who are just starting their careers. They have been identified as having the potential to become the managers of tomorrow or to take on roles requiring greater seniority. 2023 was the fourth round of the program, and gave a varied range of participants within the voestalpine Group the chance to discover more about our organizational structure, products, brands, and customers. Between March and October, the 31 participants from Canada, the USA, and Mexico completed three 3-day modules, one run at each of three voestalpine sites in North America.
Following a joint virtual kick-off meeting in which the participants were informed of the content and framework of the Early Career Program, they started the in-person modules in March 2023. During the first module held in Atlanta, USA, the participants got to know one another and internal trainers taught them about voestalpine in depth, about the corporate strategy and its North America focus, corporate values and compliance, as well as our products and brands. This also included a few “aha” moments as the diversity of the global product portfolio was explained. The second module followed in June 2023 in Mississauga, south of Toronto, Canada, where external trainers taught the participants more about communication and presentation, conflict management and diversity. The participants also presented examples of good practice from their personal experience.
For the final module in October held in Chicago, USA, the participants chose one of two topics in advance: project management or negotiation skills. Over the course of two packed days, they learned more about their chosen topic. Finally, the program was evaluated and feedback collected during a thorough peer coaching session. The certificates were awarded by HR Managers from the North American companies during an official ceremony, which marked the end of the program and was a particular highlight.
The participants received support from a Lead Trainer over the entire program, together with a team of internal experts and external (inter)national trainers. Each module in the program concluded with a tour of one of our sites for the participants. This was followed by dinner where they then had the chance to focus on one of the key pillars of the program: sharing experiences and networking. “Participant feedback about the program was extremely good. In addition to the specialist information they gained, the participants particularly appreciated the chance to get to meet their colleagues, to form a network, and to experience the diversity of voestalpine firsthand,” says Verena Amerstorfer from the HR department at voestalpine AG who is responsible for the Early Career Program.
For the participants, their careers at voestalpine will now progress. Perhaps some of them will later take part in our value:program, our international corporate leadership program.
This is what the participants had to say about the 2023 Early Career Program:
Die voestalpine ist ein weltweit führender Stahl- und Technologiekonzern mit kombinierter Werkstoff- und Verarbeitungskompetenz. Die global tätige Unternehmensgruppe verfügt über rund 500 Konzerngesellschaften und -standorte in mehr als 50 Ländern auf allen fünf Kontinenten. Sie notiert seit 1995 an der Wiener Börse. Mit ihren Premium-Produkt- und Systemlösungen zählt sie zu den führenden Partnern der Automobil- und Hausgeräteindustrie sowie der Luftfahrt- und Öl- & Gasindustrie und ist darüber hinaus Weltmarktführer bei Bahninfrastruktursystemen, bei Werkzeugstahl und Spezialprofilen. Die voestalpine bekennt sich zu den globalen Klimazielen und verfolgt mit greentec steel einen klaren Plan zur Dekarbonisierung der Stahlproduktion.
