Telenet not only lets young people 'jumpjob', but also its own employees

• Alternative recruitment channels offer young people, but also companies, the chance to prove themselves
• Telenet also allows its own employees to "jumpjob" through training courses, retraining or reskilling
• The brand new internal program 'The Switch' even guides employees towards completely new positions

Mechelen, 7 February 2022 - MNM is today kicking off a new campaign for job-seeking young people - MNM JumpJobs - at the Telenet headquarters in Mechelen. The aim is to offer students or young people who are looking for work a first learning and working experience in a cool company. Together with VOKA and other leading companies, Telenet is happy to support this initiative and has already placed fourteen vacancies on the JumpJobs platform. Telenet believes that this initiative fits in perfectly with its broader HR policy, in which one of the pillars is a focus on developing talent on an ongoing basis through training, retraining or additional training.

Fifty vacancies at any one time

Agoria has calculated that, by 2030, one in ten job vacancies in Belgium may not be able to be filled because there are not enough employees with the right (digital) skills. Telenet also has around fifty vacancies at any one time, mainly for positions in data & digital, IT & Engineering, sales and customer care. But because we are all living more and more in a digital word - online banking, working, shopping, etc. - the digital knowledge, technical skills and expertise of employees are indispensable at all layers of the company.

The key question is therefore: how do we make and keep people employable on the labor market over the long term? But also: if everyone is fishing in the same pond, how do we remain attractive as an employer in the context of the ‘war for talent’?

Telenet is boring, right?

Ymke De Donder (24) joined us in March 2020 as an Advisor in one of our contact centers. She had been looking for the right job for a long time. Education and the hospitality industry turned out not to be her cup of tea and, despite her best efforts, she didn’t feel at home there. Working in a contact center was also far from her dream. "I thought it was boring," she let slip. Nevertheless, we were able to convince her to start working for us. Thanks to online training, an on-the-job learning program and the excellent support from her team coach, she no longer wants to leave. "I have a varied job, have made friends for life with several of my colleagues and feel that I am in control of what I do and which way I go." She has become a mentor herself in the meantime, and supports novice colleagues during their client meetings.

Ymke's story touches on a number of crucial points. Is working at Telenet boring? It's not the first time we've noticed that young people are not immediately enthusiastic about a job with us. Unfortunately, this is also confirmed by surveys: according to the annual Randstad Employer Brand Research, the telecom sector is at the bottom of the list of the most attractive sectors to work for. Added to that, the growth opportunities that an employer like Telenet can offer are not sufficiently known. That's what we have to work on. And that’s where the win-win of JumpJobs' comes into the picture.

Get to know us, and that's when the magic happens

In order to attract fresh new talent, we use various recruitment channels that reinforce and complement each other. In addition to traditional recruitment, we also look at alternative routes such as JumpJobs, or our cooperation with the programming school BeCode, where you can take a free course to become a web developer and do a six-month internship in a company. Thanks to these kinds of programs, young people or young adults who we might otherwise have difficulty reaching move higher up on our radar. The young people find their first work experience in an accessible way. And we get the chance to show them our Telenet culture and the career opportunities that we can offer them. And that's when the magic happens. ​

Irina Skuratova (29) has been working for Telenet for two years as a software engineer. She started several courses, but didn’t immediately find her feet. During an evening course in UX Design, she happened to be in the same building as BeCode. This immediately gained her attention, and she started a course, "seven mega-intensive months", as she herself says. To round it off, she did an internship at Telenet. "It was an instant match, because this is not a boring corporate, but a warm company with colleagues you can count on. They really listen to you, even as a young person. I was therefore happy that I could stay here after my traineeship," she says. " I knew the general principles of coding from my earlier education, but Telenet gave me the chance to further educate myself and specialize, so that I was able to start work as a Java Developer.

The key: transformation, retraining and reskilling

This brings us seamlessly to the other important part of Irina's and Ymke's stories: the potential of training. We believe that a part of the key in the ‘war for talent’ lies here. We don't look for a match solely on the basis of the required knowledge and experience of an open position. The starting point is the talent, the personal attitude and the fit with the company culture. We apply this vision to both incoming and current talent. Irrespective of their profile or level of education, Telenet employees can continue to strengthen their (digital) knowledge and (technical) skills throughout their career by means of training, retraining or re-training. To use a little jargon, this means we are focusing on 'learnability' and 'long-term employability'.

We don't want to lose employees who enjoy working for Telenet and who feel at home here. We know from surveys that 90% of our employees say that they can be themselves, and that they feel appreciated and respected. 93% have the feeling that colleagues go the extra mile for each other. If these people become bored with their current job, we want to offer them every opportunity to discover new opportunities within the company. Through specific talent development and growth programs, we encourage them to reflect on their careers and to map out a personal dynamic path for growth.

From theory to practice: The Switch

We put this into practice through various internal projects or with external partners, such as our Academy for Digital & Data Talent. Our brand new internal internship program 'The Switch' goes even further. Employees are given the opportunity to try out a completely different function within Telenet for a period of 4 months - with the necessary coaching and on-the-job training. If this 'switch' is a positive experience, the employee can take up the new position permanently. The Switch program is currently being trialed with positions in cyber security, data and digital, and no less than 10% of the employees showed an interest in this project.

Part of a greater whole

This talent policy is a crucial pillar within a broader vision. But other elements are also key in a job and in the match between employee and employer. We do everything we can to stimulate an inspiring, open corporate culture in which things are questioned, and in which we dare to change and move outside our comfort zone. We want to welcome our employees into a stimulating environment. This translates into our offices having a coffee bar, brainstorming rooms or places adapted for undisturbed work, as well as various fun moments with colleagues. And, finally, we have a person-centered approach in which we look at the complementarity and uniqueness of each individual. We are strongly committed to diversity, inclusion and well-being, so that everyone feels at home.

JumpJobs at Telenet

Specifically, Telenet is starting by offering fourteen vacancies in customer-oriented positions. These are full-time, fixed-term contracts (between four weeks and six months) that offer a mix of training, education and concrete experience in the workplace, and could be a stepping stone to a further job at Telenet. We are looking for motivated young people who are customer-oriented, have a passion for technology or data and who want to get to know the vibrant Telenet culture.

All the vacancies and more detailed descriptions can be found on https://squire.be/studenten.