Empowered to drive our own development

Our people are at the heart of the Hiab business. When they thrive, our business thrives. This is why our people are at the centre, empowered to engage and drive the business. Empowerment is twofold, Hiab’s people are empowered to act and to take business decisions, but are also empowered when it comes to their own development. Our people should be motivated to develop and grow, moving in a direction that helps them to reach their full potential.

Redefining development
For many, the topic of development may create perceptions of an old school hierarchy and a tick in the box, largely HR centric process, with many brushing it aside with the “I'm too busy” tagline. Today, this mindset is shifting at Hiab, in line with our Employees First way of thinking, bringing a redefined approach. Our employees are at the centre and in their own driver's seat. The pandemic over the past two years has, to an extent, kick-started this approach where our demands for development have remained high, with requests for online training almost doubling. Today, we are seeing that our employees are becoming more engaged and starting to pave their own way when it comes to development. 

A cumulative approach
Setting time aside for online training is just the tip of the iceberg. The development journey requires engagement and a cumulative approach, combining activities such as social learning, sharing best practices as well as mentorship; a valuable example of how we can connect people from different parts of the organisation. Creating a wider network and learning from people with different experiences and competencies also supports growth. All of this, underpinned by a development plan with targets in place forms the basis of our learning and development journey. 

We encourage our employees to use self awareness techniques and feedback opportunities in order to identify their own strengths and weaknesses. Here they can build on their strengths and qualities with support from their surrounding network such as colleagues, mentors and managers. 

The role of leadership
Our leaders at Hiab are key to fostering our development culture. We encourage leaders to empower their teams so that they can develop to their full potential, aligning the employee’s aspirations with Hiab’s strategy and targets.  As well as, of course, encouraging leaders to build on their own leadership skills and to seek out opportunities themselves to develop. Being a part of the wider Cargotec group also enables our leaders to collaborate across business units where they can take part in mentoring and leadership programmes, providing a great opportunity to network, share experiences and acquire new knowledge.

Reflection is an important part of leadership development when fostering a growth mindset. Hiab regularly hosts leadership workshops where leaders come together to discuss relevant leadership topics and share best practices throughout the organisation. The workshops provide an opportunity for networking and are a key touch point in building our Employees First culture. 

Some of our leaders have commented on how useful they find these workshops: 

“The workshops have created a routine for us to come together as leaders and to share and listen to others' experiences and learn new things. The topics have been timely and have helped me to reflect on what I can do better.”

“I love that we are able to network with other leaders to learn something new and practise our leadership skills through great exercises. Even if its virtual it makes me feel closer to my peers and understanding that we share concerns and opportunities”

The development journey is something that takes place each and every day of our lives as we experience, take in and learn new things. At Hiab, we strive to create an environment where everyone feels motivated and inspired to learn and grow and to build on their strengths. Everyone should feel empowered to drive their own development journey and the wider Hiab success story.