Russian Helicopters, a subsidiary of Oboronprom, part of Rostec State Corporation, yesterday hosted a plenary session of the Russian government’s defence industry committee to discuss staff training to support the future of Russia’s military industries, and a meeting on cooperation between military enterprises in Russia and Belarus.

The session took place at Kazan Helicopters, and was chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, who oversees Russia’s defence industry and state defence procurement. Also present were Belarusian Deputy Prime Minister Vladimir Semashko, Tatarstan’s Prime Minister Ildar Khalikov, and Russian Helicopters CEO Alexander Mikheev.

The committee discussed the current shortage of technical staff in the defence sector and potential solutions. As part of national HR policy, Russian Helicopters has developed a strategy and is working hard to promote the engineering profession, to attract and train talented young people in the helicopter industry, and to provide attractive social packages for staff. The company places particular emphasis on professional development and career growth for all employees. The results of this work are particularly important for Russia’s regions.

The delegation headed by Deputy Prime Minister Rogozin praised the depth of potential talent in the helicopter industry being developed thanks to currently active programmes. “It was very useful to hold a session on such an important issue in public at Kazan Helicopters,” Dmitry Rogozin said. “We were able to significantly broaden the range of participants in the discussion, and also to see for ourselves and assess the HR experience of one of Russia’s defence enterprises.”

Alexander Mikheev, CEO of Russian Helicopters, said: “Our companies work closely with educational institutions training future generations to work in high-tech production industries. Our specialist educational programmes are growing in popularity among young people every year. They offer a genuinely high quality education and also offer the possibility of employment in one of Russia’s most dynamic and fastest-growing machine-building industries.”

One example of Russian Helicopters’ successful HR policies is the training system being run at Kazan Helicopters for staff of all levels, fr om engineers to management. In 2013 alone, 43.4% of the company’s staff have taken courses both on-site and at training institutions elsewhere.

Kazan Helicopters has a productive relationship with educational institutions in Kazan including the Dementiev Kazan Aviation Technology Institute and the Tupolev Kazan National Research Technical University. To date 35 students have graduated from individually tailored programmes, and the most successful have taken up management positions at Kazan Helicopters. The company also runs a professional training programme for high-school students at Kazan Grammar School No. 8, wh ere three classes totalling 85 students receive specialist professional education.

Similar programmes aimed at bringing through future generations and providing additional professional training for current employees are also enjoying success at Progress Arsenyev Aviation Company in Russia’s Far East, at Rostvertol in Rostov-on-Don, at Ulan-Ude Aviation Plant in Buryatia, at Reductor-PM in Perm and at other Russian Helicopters companies.