Attracting, developing, and retaining talent is the main priority of the Vitebsk Regional Union of Employers
This was discussed at the reporting and election conference of VOSN. The Employers' Union remains perhaps the most influential business association in the region. It has earned such a reputation not only because its members include about 400 economic entities. As noted by the First Deputy Chairman of the Regional Executive Committee, Oleg Matskevich, the organization's leadership initiates promising business ideas, implements projects and events, and is constantly searching for new forms and methods of work to support the development of its members, who, incidentally, provide a significant portion of the regional economic pie. According to him, the civic stance of the organization's leaders, who fight like no one else for representatives of the director corps who find themselves in difficult situations, also deserves respect. Therefore, the attention to the union's activities is appropriate – its opinion is heeded, its potential is used by the regional leadership, republican management bodies, and business associations.
Training of Specialists
Reporting on the work over the three-year period, the Chairman of VOSN, Vladimir Turavinov, dedicated a significant part of his speech to the issues of training specialists for the real sector of the economy.
— The shortage of personnel, especially for blue-collar professions, is the most acute problem that the organization's members constantly raise. Therefore, the VOSN leadership intends to increase activity in educational projects, deepen cooperation between the state, business, and the education system in the formation and effective use of human capital, — emphasized Vladimir Turavinov.
The assistant to the President – Inspector for the Vitebsk region, Anatoly Linevich, also emphasized this area of work to the conference participants. The employer's task, he said, is to provide employees with opportunities for maximum self-realization in the workplace; only in this way can young people be engaged and attracted, and they should never be overlooked. They need to be offered interesting work, high-tech jobs, and conditions for career growth so that young specialists can unlock and realize their potential in their homeland, Anatoly Linevich noted.
Today, in the Vitebsk region, on the initiative of the Vitebsk Regional Union of Trade Unions (VOSN) and with the support of the regional executive committee, a working group on the development and improvement of the specialist training system for the region's enterprises is operating. A roadmap has been formed, providing for a set of measures to improve the quality of staffing and enhance the interaction between education and business in this aspect. It involves, in particular, the creation of demonstration platforms for modern equipment and technologies at advanced enterprises for students to practice skills and abilities in real production conditions. Recently, a resource center for mechanical engineering was opened at the Orsha State College of Mechanics and Economics. Its goal is practical personnel training. And business is already benefiting from the presence of such a facility in the region.
According to Oleg Shimchenko, Director of OJSC "Vitebsk Tractor Parts Plant," the enterprise faced a shortage of machining center operators. The situation forced them to hire employees even if their competencies only approximately met the required standards, and to invest resources in retraining. The price of such a compromise was additional expenses for expensive tooling that broke during training. After the VOSN field meeting at the Orsha Resource Center, the enterprise reached agreements on cooperation with the institution in improving the qualifications of its specialists.
Foreign Vector of Economic Growth
Another crucial area of activity for the VOSM is promoting the products of domestic manufacturers to new markets and expanding their presence in traditional ones. The Union is productively engaged in forming partnerships with the foreign business community within the framework of multilateral economic institutions. It has contacts with partners from the Baltic states, Poland, Germany, Italy, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and China. Cooperation agreements have been signed and are being implemented with 28 regional associations of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, the Union of Machine Builders, and other business associations of the eastern neighbor. This contractual base serves as a foundation for strengthening contacts, finding business partners, implementing joint initiatives, and increasing investments to support the economic growth of the region.
The activities of the VOSM as a whole have received unconditional support from its members, and Vladimir Turavinov, following the vote, received a mandate for a new term of leadership of the organization. The updated VOSM council has expanded by a third, now comprising 15 members.