Telecommunications giant VimpelCom is one of the success stories of Russian business — and no company can be succesful without high-quality employees. But how does a company like VimpelCom go about finding its new staff members? Marina Novikova, the director of the company’s human-resources department, should know a thing or two about the subject in question. Accordingly, The Leader’s Julia Scher exchanged some words with her about VimpelCom’s hiring policy, training priorities and much more. How does a top-notch company find top-notch staff? Turn to page three to find out.

The sound of ringing cellular phones has become an inseparable part of our lives. The ever-more-rapid tempo of our lives is making the mobile phone essential to many of us. Some of the major p-layers in the business world as telecommunications providers. One of these giants is VimpelCom, operating under the Beeline brand, which now provides services for approximately 2,600,000 clients. The company’s success is evident, and its track record of expanding and business achievements in the Russian market can serve a model for others.
A company is only as good as its people, and the success of the business is highly dependent on the proper human resources management. Marina Novikova, the director of the company’s HR department, outlined VimpelCom’s major HR management strategies for The Leader.

What are the major requirements of employees hired by your company?

Our Mission Statement says that "we strive to unite the departments of the company into a single team, where the competence, responsibility and self-sacrifice of the staff are highly praised." This is why professionalism, ever-developing cooperation and communication skills are of the utmost importance.

Can you please identify the stages of the employee-selection process?

Vacancies are placed according to the tasks planned at the end of the year, when next year’s budgeting is taking place. The search and selection of the candidates is carried out based on an external search (Internet search, talking to job agencies, participating in Career Days and placing ads in the mass media and on our corporate Website) and an internal search (among the Company’s employees).
All candidates have first to pass an interview in the HR office, then with the functional manager and finally with the department manager. All successful candidates are accepted for a three-month trial period. If the newly accepted co-worker passes the trial period successfully, he is accepted in accordance with a personal contract.

Please describe the types of training that take place in Beeline.

The training process in falls into two categories: These are professional technical-skills training and so-called soft-skills training.
The second category is represented by a great variety of training programs, from those developing managerial techniques, to those with the narrow specialization targeting a particular task. For example, "Negotiation Skills" training is different for departments dealing with purchases and for people who in for departments that communicate with the government, etc.

How many employees do you have in the staff at present?

At present, we employ over 2,500 specialists.

Does your company organize special events for the staff?

It is a custom in our company to celebrate two holidays — the New Year (the end of December) and the Summer Holiday (in the month of July). The primary goal of the holidays is to encourage a corporate spirit and create an informal atmosphere for communication between employees from various departments and the top managers and directors of the company. Once a year, the Board of Directors holds a strategic meeting for the company’s employees. The corporate meeting is intended to inform employees about the general strategic purposes and company priorities for the year, give the necessary clarifications and to provide the employees with the opportunity to ask questions to the members of the Board of Directors and air their wishes and requests.