Siemens: Cultivating a Growth Mindset Culture with UCD Professional Academy

Background

Siemens is one of the world’s leading technology companies, employing approximately 320,000 people worldwide and with a reported global revenue of around €78 billion in 2023. Siemens has been operating in Ireland since 1925, helping to transform the everyday for customers and society.

According to Kate Salmon, Employee Wellbeing Specialist at Siemens: “Cultivating a growth mindset is part of the culture of Siemens. Our managers are bought into having a growth mindset as a strategic priority. We know that you need to cultivate a culture of learning and continuous improvement if we want to continually be the best organisation with the best people.”

Challenges

With a goal of 50 learning hours per year for UK and Ireland employees, Siemens operates an internal platform called My Learning World.

“Most of our training is done through Siemens internally and pushed from a global standpoint. UCD Professional Academy was something the leaders in the business saw locally and wanted to take advantage of. We think it's important for Siemens employees in Ireland to still have that local outreach and partnering with UCD Professional Academy is very beneficial.”

- Kate Salmon, Employee Wellbeing Specialist

Approach

Siemens conducted a pilot with UCD Professional Academy with a few of their senior management who saw the real benefit in taking the courses. From the positive feedback, the courses were rolled out to the wider business and the partnership began.

“The feedback has been great on the UCD Professional Academy courses we have attended so far. Congratulations to the team for a concept and delivery that is really resonating.”

– Aiden Cawley, Siemens Country Manager for Smart Infrastructure Electrification & Automation.

Ownership and Opportunity with UCD Professional Academy 

“We've had engineers, customer service representatives, sales, project managers, all the way up to our senior leaders take part in the UCD Professional Academy courses. It's fantastic because there really is something for everyone. No matter where you work in the business, no matter what role you want to get to, there really is a course that you can take which will benefit them individually and our organisation.”

– Kate Salmon, Employee Wellbeing Specialist at Siemens Ireland.

Siemens staff have access to over 40 Professional Academy Diplomas and Certificates across several modalities from live online, on demand, on campus, as well as bootcamps. Almost half of Siemens Ireland staff have enrolled on a variety of courses ranging from Project Management, Data Analytics, AI for Business, Cybersecurity to Finance for Non-Financial Managers. 

According to Salmon, the partnership with UCD Professional Academy aligns with Siemens’ ownership ethos: “We believe in an ownership culture at Siemens - employees are empowered to make their own schedule and do what suits them best. It's the same with learning. We send out the UCD Professional Academy schedule with all the different options and the employees pick what suits them and their schedule the best.”

Siemens has moved from the typical annual performance development processes to what they call Growth Talks and the UCD Professional Academy partnership really helps with this because it’s about managers and employees meeting on a regular basis to talk about their growth and trajectory.

Results 

“Our managers are very happy with the service that UCD Professional Academy is providing. We value the variation of the courses because everyone is different and develops in different ways.”

– Kate Salmon, Siemens Employee Wellbeing Specialist

Internal Mobility

The partnership with UCD Professional Academy has enhanced the opportunity for internal mobility. Several employees have completed the courses and gone on to global roles, while others have been promoted locally or taken on other roles in different business areas. 

“It was pointed out during my interview that they were looking for project management skills and the course certainly caught their eye. So, the UCD Professional Academy courses certainly helped with my promotion and getting the global position.”

– Kerry Anthony, Siemens AG People Development Consultant

Investing in Retention

The UCD Professional Academy courses are included in the employee induction during onboarding and new recruits can sign up to the courses from day one. Salmon says “You almost see their eyes light up when they realise how much Siemens actually wants to invest in them, that they're seen as talent and that we want to keep developing them to learn and grow”. 

The UCD Professional Academy courses are not restricted to new recruits but are also available to long standing employees. Salmon continues “Just because you've been in the same role for a long time doesn't mean that your learning stops. Growth mindset is so important, no matter where you are in your career.”

Conclusion  

Siemens is invested in continuing the partnership with UCD Professional Academy to develop their employees and feels that it really has a positive impact in cultivating a growth mindset culture. 

Salmon concludes:

“Siemens believes that it is essential to cultivate a culture that promotes a growth mindset, and our goal is to create an environment of continuous learning. The UCD Professional Academy is paramount to enabling a learning environment and we’d recommend it to any other organisation looking to enable a growth mindset in a practical way.”