When we talk about management development, we often think of individual progress achieved through training, education, or personal growth. However, the real question is not only how much an individual has improved in the skills and knowledge required for operational tasks, but how their development has contributed to the growth of the people they work with every day.
Our Management Trainee Program is founded precisely on this principle – the planned employee development designed to support both professional and leadership growth through a combination of diverse learning methodologies, experiential learning, and practical application. The program comprises nine carefully defined development activities, including an individual development
plan, coaching sessions, psychometric assessments, development workshops, external training, strategic HR discussions, and progress-tracking tools. Each of these activities has its own role, but their greatest value lies in the fact that they are interconnected and directed toward the same goal: the sustainable development of managers.
From coordinator to manager – an individual approach to development
Guided by the employee’s results and potential, we launched a six-month management trainee program in April for a colleague from our merchandise operations department. Internal development initiatives play a central role in this program. It began with an internal HR workshop on emotional intelligence because we believe certain development topics create greater impact when facilitated by people who understand the company, its culture, its processes, and the everyday challenges our employees face. Such approach ensures that learning goes beyond theory and becomes immediately applicable in a real business environment. The internal workshop involving the participant’s team was designed around the belief that individual development should never be viewed in isolation. A leader can develop their own competencies, but their true value becomes evident only through the way those competencies influence collaboration, trust, and team results.
The workshop continued through the “LEGO Building Challenges” concept, during which our employees worked through a variety of operational scenarios requiring communication, collective decision-making, adaptability to change, and effective teamwork. By using LEGO elements as a tool for experiential learning, participants explored team dynamics, roles, and
collaboration patterns in an engaging and creative way, while connecting their insights to everyday business situations.
This activity brings together two equally important dimensions of development. On one hand, it contributes to horizontal development by strengthening mutual understanding and team collaboration. On the other hand, it encourages the vertical development of the leader, reflected in a leader’s ability to influence the team, guide collective efforts, and create an environment where people achieve results together.
We believe development programs reach their full potential only when they simultaneously
develop both the individual and the environment in which they work. Knowledge gains true
value only when it becomes part of everyday practice, and leadership skills matter only when they are recognized and experienced by the team.
That is why, at Veletabak, we do not view development as a series of isolated training sessions. We see it as a process that connects people, experiences, and the business context. Because sustainable change happens when both the leaders and the teams grow together.