The dynamic growth of the IT sector in the Republic of Moldova encouraged companies from all over the world to increasingly focus their attention on the large tech talent pool provided by the country. But beyond the technical skills that are constantly in the pipeline, more and more organizations are looking for developers and engineers able to respond to technical challenges through a Business Acumen perspective.
Challenged by this extensive need, ISD developed “Executor to Partner” (E2P) – an innovative program dedicated to the company’s inhouse Senior Developers. E2P was launched in June 2022 to increase the participants’ business awareness, thus helping them to better understand their role in the company’s growth and ecosystem. The first edition of the program gathered 12 participants, who have successfully graduated on February 17th, 2023.
What is Business Acumen?
Business Acumen is a set of skills and knowledge that refine the ability of understanding business situations and issues from a global perspective, evaluating them strategically and logically, and making confidently decisions that fit the organization’s goals. It also relies on leadership skills, including inspiring others, motivating teams to perform roles at their best, and leading them to follow the business objectives of the company.
Professionals that have Business Acumen are generally seen as people who master skills and knowledge related to: financial literacy, organizational knowledge, the ability to deal with ambiguity, the capacity of linking cause and effect, self-awareness, stakeholder awareness, and contextual awareness (including the capacity to see the organization in a global context).
How is E2P contributing to mastering and implementing Business Acumen?
Inspired by an entrepreneurship school from Silicon Valley, E2P was designed to empower ISD Senior Developers to go beyond their technical expertise and grow their ability to understand and integrate technical solutions in complex business situations. It was also focused on investing efforts and time in refining their leadership skills and including Business Acumen best practices in all the team- and customer-oriented processes.
The program was at its first edition and brought a fresh perspective to the professional growth opportunities available for Senior Developers in Moldova. Divided into 9 intense training sessions, held by experts from Moldova and from outside the country, E2P covered topics like:
- Growth Mindset,
- Outstaffing vs. Outsourcing;
- Budgets & Finance;
- Project Management & Agile Models;
- Risk Management;
- Efficient Customer Communication;
- Product Vision;
- Team Roles and Responsibilities;
- Team Development;
Every training was followed by assignments that encouraged the participants to apply the new-acquired information in practice. Also, rotating, and self-organized working groups of 3 people were put in place, in order to encourage teamwork and people interactions, as well as giving feedback, sharing insights and ideas, and providing help with the assignments.
How was the graduation event?
After 8 months of hard work, dedication, and invested time and efforts, 12 participants completed the first edition of the E2P program. The graduation ceremony took place on February 17th, 2023, at ISD’s events area and was open for everyone (inside and outside the company) interested in learning more about the program. It included a final speech of every participant related to their experience within the program and to the way E2P impacted their role and way of working. The evening ended with an after-party to network and celebrate the closure of an engaging and thorough experience.
Are there any other growth opportunities within ISD?
E2P is just one of the many people-empowering programs held by ISD to encourage the growth and development of its team, and not only. The company supports IT professionals from the early stages of their career to seniority through:
- Internships. Designed for Juniors, people willing to start a career in IT or to switch from their professional area to IT, internship programs are held yearly on .NET, PLC, Java and Front-End programming languages.
- PLC Course. Dedicated to all the enthusiasts passioned about Automation & Electrical Engineering and willing to start a career as PLC Engineers, the course was at its 5th edition in 2022.
- Junior to Medior (JtoM). An intense 6-months curriculum of training sessions designed to help Junior Java Developers to advance in their technical and soft skills.
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