Learn, Connect, Grow: enabling career development

Web Story

3min

2025-05-07

Both companies and employees have long recognized the importance of upskilling and career development. Almost half of employees say that having opportunities to learn new skills is a key consideration when it comes to their decision to stay with their employer or leave for another job, according to PwC’s Global Workforce Hopes and Fears Survey 2024. For companies, mature career development initiatives correlate with positive outlook for profitability and confidence to attract and retain talent, according to LinkedIn’s Workplace Learning Report 2025.

At ABB, enabling our colleagues from across our businesses and countries to grow their careers is integral to our culture of performance, integrity and innovation. We are committed to providing diverse opportunities as our people navigate dynamic markets, embrace technological advancements, and contribute to shaping a more sustainable, innovative future.

Our Learn, Connect, Grow approach was implemented in 2023 and fosters an environment where employees take ownership of their career development.

Learn

We encourage every employee to make learning and upskilling a regular habit. Considering the professional skills and behaviors needed to make our people successful now and in the future, we offer in-person and online training, programs, tools and information. During the last two years, we doubled the number of learning hours per employee, meaning that our colleagues are consuming more of our learning resources. We also value everyday experiences, recognizing that learning happens continuously.

Connect

Working in teams gives our colleagues the chance to learn from each other every day. By openly giving and asking for feedback, we show care, build trust, and accelerate progress together. Expanding networks, both within ABB and beyond, exposes our colleagues to diverse perspectives that fuel creativity and innovation.

Grow

We understand that growth isn’t one-size-fits-all. We encourage all our employees to set their own growth and career plans, while understanding how their work and professional development is aligned with ABB’s purpose. Our employees can take up new projects, explore career paths, access career resources and apply to new positions. In addition, our open job market gives colleagues access to all internal job openings and ensures a transparent application process to foster growth.

Learn, Connect, Grow Day

To further enhance this culture, we host Learn, Connect, Grow Day in our sites across the world each year. It features career activities, keynote speakers and inspiring stories. For this year’s theme – Connect, our colleagues shared why they think connections are important.

At our most recent Learn, Connect, Grow Day, over 45,000 colleagues participated in live and virtual events across more than 300 offices and production sites in over 50 countries.

Colleagues participating in one of the Learn, Connect, Grow sessions to support their career development.

Our professional development programs and resources

We understand the importance of our professional development programs for our colleagues. Below are just a few examples of the programs and resources we offer.

Early talent programs

Early-in-career talent can start their career at ABB with the ABB Discovery Program and Global Early Talent Program. They are structured with rotations, mentorships or additional professional skills training, depending on the program. At the local level, some business specific programs may also be available.

Leadership development signature programs

These programs are designed to fuel a high-performance leadership culture across our operations, from first-line managers to senior executives. They range from in-house initiatives to collaborations with world-class partners like Harvard Business Publishing, IMD Business School and more.

Business academies

Every business offers a wide variety of programs to cover the needs of our technical population, including our engineers, programmers and other personnel.

Self-paced learning

We offer a diverse range of online learning tools and resources, so our colleagues can continuously adapt and enhance their skills at their own pace and from any location. They include Harvard Spark, Harvard ManageMentor, MyLearning and others.

How can AI support career development?

We held an inspiring LinkedIn Live session with Guillaume Delacour, our Head of People Development, on the role of AI in education and upskilling. Watch the recording and discover insights on adapting to a rapidly changing digital world and the skills needed to thrive.