Hubbau recruits recently graduated engineers and creates talent programmes for several of Sweden’s leading technology companies. Since Hubbau was founded in 2022, Beyond Talking has been part of these programmes, providing training in self leadership, collaboration, communication, presentation skills and mentoring.
The challenge
The first year at work is intense for the talent program participants. They enter a new organisation, a new role, a high level of technical complexity and high expectations from both employers and themselves.
The challenge Hubbau saw was not a lack of technical competence. The participants were often strong in coding, analysis and problem solving. What they needed to develop was a broader understanding of the organisation, the assignment and how their own work connects to the bigger picture.
A central part of this was also about the conversations that often determine whether the first year at work goes well:
- What is expected of me?
- What do I need in order to perform?
- How do I collaborate with people I do not yet know, in an organisation I do not yet understand?
The same need existed among the mentors. They were engaged and knowledgeable, but rarely trained in how to have these kinds of conversations.
Hubbau therefore wanted to create a programme that did more than raise awareness. The goal was to create real behavioural change. Understanding something in a training room is one thing. Acting differently on Monday morning is another.
What we did
Since the start, Beyond Talking has regularly trained Hubbaus talent participants in self leadership, collaboration, communication and presentation skills. We have also trained mentors and managers in the mentor role and in conversation methodology.
The setup is designed to make learning last over time. Before each training session, participants receive reading material and reflection assignments. During the sessions, we work with their own real situations, cases and dilemmas, rather than constructed exercises. Afterwards, they receive assignments that require them to involve colleagues, mentors and managers in their everyday work.
In this way, the training does not become a separate activity. It becomes part of the work the participants are already doing.
What happened
The talent participants began to put words to things that often remain beneath the surface during the first year at work. Uncertainty. Unclear expectations. The need for support. Questions about responsibility, performance and collaboration.
They discovered that they were not alone in their uncertainty. They also realised that their mentor could not read their mind. The mentors, in turn, received better tools for creating clarity, asking questions and noticing what might otherwise remain unsaid.
The assignments helped ensure that the insights did not stay in the training room. They were tested in conversations with colleagues and managers, and became part of the participants’ everyday work. It does not solve everything, but it helps untie the first knots and makes development more concrete.
The result
The collaboration between Hubbau and Beyond Talking has continued to deepen since the start. Beyond Talking has contributed to the development of new programme formats and has also worked with coaching and competence development for Hubbaus own employees.
Through the programmes, the talent participants get to practise the human and organisational capabilities they need to succeed in their first professional role: understanding context, taking ownership, communicating needs, building relationships and collaborating in complex environments.
“Our collaboration with Beyond Talking is an important part of how we help our talent participants develop, both personally and professionally. This, in turn, creates greater value for our customers. What I truly appreciate is that they understand Generation Z, and that they help us create training programmes that really resonate with the participants. I also appreciate their responsiveness and willingness to develop new formats and services together with us.”
Oscar Hällström, CEO, Hubbau
What we learned
The most difficult conversations in a talent programme are rarely about training structure or process. They are about expectations, responsibility, support and relationships.
For the first year at work to go well, both talent participants and mentors need the language, methods and courage to talk about what affects performance in everyday work.
Knowledge that is not translated into behaviour does not change anything. That is why learning cannot end when the training day is over. It needs to continue in the work, in the conversations and in the situations where development actually happens.
Want to develop your talent programme or mentor programme?
Do you want to develop a talent programme or mentor programme that strengthens both competence and collaboration?
Contact us and we will tell you more about how we work.