Presentation
Description
Telenor is a leading telecommunications company with over 3 million active users in Bulgaria. From August 1, 2018 Telenor Bulgaria, together with Telenor Hungary and Telenor Serbia and Montenegro, are part of the PPF Group. PPF Group invests in many market areas - banking and finance, telecommunications, mechanical engineering, biotechnology, insurance, real estate and agriculture.
Digital activity
Telenor strives to offer innovative and sustainable products, services and solutions to help customers meet the challenges of today's world such as digitalisation and lack of time. All company products are available on line, including mobile application , named "MyTelenor’’
Good practice targeted
Environmental
To go further
Good practice
In an effort to support education in Bulgaria and young people, Telenor implements joint projects with various universities and schools. This successful cooperation is expressed in donations of telecommunication equipment and in conducting lectures by experts of the company, dedicated to the development of technologies and current trends in the field of telecommunications. The company regularly provides dismantled operating telecommunications equipment to schools and universities in order to use them for educational purposes and to help young engineers put their knowledge into practice. In this way, they can better prepare for the challenges that await them in order to achieve successful professional realization and be more competitive in the labor market. These donations help to achieve one of the important goals they have set for themselves, namely to support Bulgarian education by providing access to modern technologies and a learning environment that develops the full potential of young people. HUB by Telenor is the continuation of this initiative. Тhis year from september 2021, 10 interns from different Bulgarian universities will undergo a one-year training program. To these 10 talented individuals, the company will provide support and a range of opportunities to start working on real projects in key areas for the telecom business - trade, marketing, finance, and technology.
Starting date of the good practice
2014
Time to implement the good practice
from 2 months to 8 months
Interview of Мaria Valkova
What are the benefits of the project ?
Тo answer this question, I would like first to quote our General HR Director Brad Biblow, who said once that the internship program is one of Telenor's most successful youth initiatives. We are proud that every year it expands its scope and gives students a chance to gain experience in a real business environment. In fact, nearly 30% of the participants subsequently start a permanent job in the company. We believe that we must not only support the realization of talented students, but also contribute to the development of the educational system in the country.
From 2015 we donated used telecommunication equipment to several universities like
•Technical University of Sofia
• Higher Naval School "Nikola Yonkov Vaptsarov"
• Vocational High School of Telecommunications - Sofia
•Technical university-Gabrovo
We believe that our equipment should also be used for educational purposes and thus help young engineers to deeper understand the practice and to be more competitive in the labor market. For us as employers, this is an investment in the future. Our staff, who give lectures to students on the one hand, motivate young people, and on the other hand, they are also happy when they can share their experience and see how valuable is in fact their knowledge.
What were the constraints faced by the company ?
Аrrangements with universities: In Bulgaria it is not easy just to have the desire to donate equipment, there are many procedures that we as a private company and various universities must follow in order to complete this initiative. We hold regular communication with each of our partner universities to reconcile our lecturers with their learning program, to decide when and how it is most appropriate to send our representative. All this is fully consistent with the progress of students, their level, etc.
Time: Adjusting the training schedule with that of Telenor colleagues is not always easy. On the other hand, the internship of students must be consistent with their program at the university.
Which advice would give to another company ?
Don't be afraid to invest time and effort in students. Be open to such programs that will help even your employees to be more responsible, meaningful and train their more inexperienced colleagues. The investment in training always pays off, because in this way you have the chance to build a great staff entirely according to your standards and criteria. Companies that change their equipment should consider whether it will be useful to others and turn the donation of equipment into a regular practice.
What are the next steps?
We are constantly thinking about how to improve our initiatives and enrich students' knowledge. Given that one of the main ideas is to guide them in their future career, we intend to expand the scope and focus not only on technical and IT specialties, but also on new areas and topics such as management, investment, etc.
Other questions or comments
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