After more than a year of virtual sessions, TRIUMF’s Work Integrated Learning program (Emerging Leader Program) is bringing together the laboratory’s early-career employees for a suite of hands-on 360° experiential learning and engagement sessions scheduled across the term. This program is delivering on a commitment to employee engagement and skill development made as part of TRIUMF's 20-year Vision.
Led by Vishnu Vardhan, TRIUMF’s Lead for Work Integrated Learning, the in-person activities explore a variety of professional skills aimed at augmenting the technical training received by employees in their roles at the laboratory. The Emerging Leaders program focuses on key areas including leadership, design thinking, critical thinking, communication, conflict resolution, team building, and emotional intelligence.
"This program seeks to support and develop TRIUMF’s high-achieving early-career professionals by empowering them with the breadth and depth of skills they require to succeed across their careers,” said Vishnu Vardhan, lead for Work Integrated Learning and Employee Engagement. “It is critical that we are providing co-ops with access to a wide array of tools that can supplement the world-leading technical expertise and training they receive as part of their 9-to-5 workday here at the lab.”
Trends in employer data and career survey results point increasingly to the importance of developing well-rounded candidates who can navigate collaborative environments, challenging team environments, and increasingly global workspaces. To stay at the leading edge of the workforce, early-career employees are being pressed to adapt.
“We’re seeing an expansion of what ‘highly qualified' actually means,” said Vardhan. “Some of the skills and tools we’re training on have, in the past, been labeled ‘soft skills’ when in reality, modern spaces and teams demand collaboration, empathy and emotional intelligence, self-confidence, and clear communication. By fostering these skills, we are ensuring that our student community can succeed as they navigate their careers and go on to make a long-standing impact, in science and beyond.”
