The session participants discussed the challenges that employers pose for the labor market in the context of digital transformation.

Anastasia Bondarenko, State Secretary and Deputy Minister of Energy of the Russian Federation, within the framework of the round table “Human Resources for Digital Energy”, noted the importance of using all possible formats for developing professional competencies, from state and corporate systems for the preparation and expansion of formats for using the WorldSkills movement standards to organizing and holding industry national championships.

Arkady Zamoskovny, President of the ERA of Russia Association, voiced the need for revising and updating professional standards in order to meet the “digital” realities of the industry. The head of the organization called on employers to participate more actively in the formation and description of industry qualifications and social and professional accreditation of educational programs in accordance with the needs of the electric grid compound. 

Nikolay Rogalev, Rector of SRU “MEI”, noted that direct communication with employers allows the vocational education system to adapt quickly to changes in demands for specialist qualifications. “This is confirmed by projects that were implemented in partnership with the companies of the Rosseti group, such as a practice-oriented undergraduate program in the specialty of Electric Power Systems and Networks and a master's program in Intelligent Protection, Automation and Energy Management Systems,” Nicolay Rogalev stressed.

Dmitry Chevkin, Head of the HR Department at Rosseti, announced the possibility of creating a single digital educational center for staff training and retraining. This center will be designed for distance learning in online form. Based on this center, employees could develop “digital” soft-skills. 

The discussion on the issue of digitalization of personnel management was continued by the participants of the round table "Digitalization in Personnel Management". At the session, the main discussion revolved around the question of whether it is worthwhile to adhere to an evolutionary trajectory when introducing digital technologies or whether a "quantum leap" is required. 

In particular, the position of the evolutionary movement was upheld by Natalia Ozhegina, Deputy Chairman of the Management Board of Rosseti FGC UES. Snezhana Kitaeva, Deputy General Director, Head of the Office of Rosseti Lenenergo, spoke about the need for quick solutions. In turn, the expert on HR-transformation of SAP CIS company Alexander Maslyuk noted that "it doesn’t matter in what way and at what pace digitalization takes shape in the company. The main thing is that in the end the process would ensure a qualitative change in the processes of personnel management and the effectiveness of staffing." Ilya Semin, Project Manager of the ONF “Professional Training 2.0”, member of the Russian Public Chamber, supported his colleague and noted that not only the digitalization of HR processes in the company is important, but also the use of digital platforms in the implementation of national projects. 

The deliverables of the discussion at the IENF-2019 will form the basis for the immediate program of actions of the personnel management units.