Below, we present the interview with Biljana Sanev, Director of the Human Resources Department at Sparkasse Bank, who shared with us a bit more about the Training Center and their "Young banker" Academy.

Something that is currently in progress is the "Young banker" Academy, organized within the framework of the #careerwithoutbarrier platform. Can you tell us something more about the purpose of this Academy?

The “Young banker” Academy is a combination of education and entertainment, upgrading and improvement, developing a variety of personal skills and building work habits.

The program consists of an educational and competitive part in which the participants have the opportunity to follow lectures and trainings in the field, but also to compete with each other as a team with their own projects developed for the duration of the Academy. It aims to offer young people educational teaching, work and training in a real working environment, that is, an opportunity for young potentials to experience banking operations up close by getting to know the bank as a financial institution.

What is the organization of the "Young banker" Academy, what does it cover and what skills can the students who attend it acquire?

At this Academy, students get to know the corporate culture of the bank and have the opportunity to feel the corporate values by which all the employees of our bank are guided, namely: trust, partnership, agility, passion and excellence, as well as to be part of an organization that leads a strategy for sustainability, where the focus is on the quality of life, clients and employees.

In the Academy itself, we do not refer only to banking operations, but this academy has additional value for the participants themselves. The participants have the opportunity to experience banking operations up close, and it also provides lectures by bankers, professionals in their field. So, some of the topics covered are: CV creation, sales techniques and skills, corporate communications, product development, personal branding, etc.

However, it is about something unusual on our market, especially seen as an opportunity for a kind of a practical training for students. How was the feedback by the young people?

The training center is an opportunity for students and high school students to acquire practical knowledge in the field of banking and direct learning (learning by doing) in a test environment, with which they will acquire practical knowledge and skills and immediately after graduation, they will be more competitive in the labor market.

Young people are particularly satisfied with the existing concept of the Training Center as well as its development. They have a better perception of the way a bank works and how they previously experienced it, and they have a positive impression of all thematic lectures because they consider them useful in further professional development, especially since topics that they did not encounter during practical teaching were represented and a particularly positive impression of the interactivity in them.

From the previous experience with the Training Center, how big is the impact of this feat in the progress of the employees, but also in the expansion of the professional team of the bank.

From the experience so far, we really have positive feedback for the whole concept that has been developed for the Training Center. The Training Center itself instills a feeling of pleasant atmosphere and a great place for training, work and socializing for our employees.

The Training Center is a multi-purpose space equipped with modern technology and conditions for conducting all types of training. Part of the center has been adapted into a simulated branch office, where new employees acquire both theoretical and practical knowledge in the field of Retail business line, work in a test environment, with the goal of effectively training them for independent work. It is also used as a space for a career fair in accordance with the cooperation the bank has with the faculties. The Center also hosts various panel discussions, workshops and conferences. In addition to a simulated branch office and training room, we also have a coaching room, a meeting room and a well-being room, where employees can take a break and relax using the props for social games.

Employees who start working positions where they serve the bank's customers in their daily work activities attend a wide range of Trainings in the Training Center - from personal skills development, technical skills, procedures for starting the day, soft skills training, sales skills and corporate culture of the Bank.

The bank offers a variety of trainings for all employees to improve their skills and the Center has a large share in it with the trainings that are held. The Training Center is a refreshment of everyday banking, as it is unique in itself and offers a pleasant atmosphere to all its visitors.