Two World-class Megaprojects – A Make-or-Break! Important Takeaways on Education & Training

Are we there yet? A question I asked myself towards the end of a landmark megaproject for the world’s largest three Combined-cycle Power Plants on the land of Egypt; Having had enough luck to join a great team in managing the education & training scope for the largest infrastructure project in Egypt at that time (2015-1019).. training 600 Egyptians between Egypt and Germany, establishing Egypt’s first School of Excellence, rehabilitating a Technical Institute, and eventually building a true landmark for Occupational Training in Egypt – The Egyptian German Technical Academy in Ain Sukhna (in partnership with the German Government BMZ-GIZ).. it felt indeed like a roller-coaster over a span of almost 5 years! Then came the question: Are we there yet? Mm.. Not really..

Take a deep-breath; delve into one of the world’s largest High-speed Railway Projects of all times; making Egypt place for the 6th largest High-speed Railway network in the world following Germany and Japan… a massive undertaking.. great experience.. very exciting.. isn’t it?!

True! The 2,000 KM Full-electric High-speed, Commuter, and Freight Railway network will connect Egypt East-to-West and North-to-South – Literally. It will reduce CO2 emissions by 70% by replacing excessive car traffic with clean means of transport, it will cut commuting time by 50% - Not only that; most importantly it will create up to 40,000 Jobs only during the construction phase, plus more than 10,000 Jobs for operation & maintenance… Great numbers which need proper attention!

In a country that has 100+ Million inhabitants, nearly half of them are youths, the need for proper skilling, re-skilling, and up-skilling is obvious. Attention to Education and Training grew like never before! It could be seen as copy-and-paste from other countries and contexts, but for a fact: What worked well for many countries as best practices for Education and Training may not necessarily deem right for a country like Egypt.

Just a thought; there is no one-size-fits-all in Education & Training; it is true humans are humans and science is science everywhere, but fact of the matter is, every country comes with unique demographics, culture, and preferred ways of learning; and those need to be taken well into consideration!

So far over the past years we have been keen on developing functional training and education interventions to cater for the unprecedented growth in Egypt; here are some lessons-learned on Education & Training from the two Megaprojects on hand - as crisp and concise as possible:

1. Megaprojects = Mega expectations from the Customer; It might be seen that training as such is not mission-critical for the success of a project, from experience though training lies always in the very core of the overall project success. Customers increasingly ask for proper training and know-how transfer for their personnel, thus a "Take-over" by customer is never achieved before completing with satisfaction all training and education activities in scope. In fact it always goes hand-in-hand: building brains next to building plants… transferring know-how next to transferring technology… leveraging people potential next to physical assets and resources of a country.?
2. Megaprojects normally have a very steep ramp-up curve; and indeed very challenging competence requirements that need to be fulfilled in relatively short time. Long-term planning relying on long tracks of formal education usually DOES NOT fit. It is helpful to design unique Vocational Education & Training programs of short-to-medium term intervals that tackle specifically the skill-set you require; as tailored and uniquely designed as possible! It should ideally complement and not replace formal Education, so could be a construct of continued education post technical schooling or university studies, in form of a condensed training program.
3. Megaprojects are complex, Education and Training streams have the same complexity; they normally mirror the overall project scope and structure; each product, system or sub-system need training or knowledge transfer; for a training project you will run through budgeting, scheduling, vendors sourcing and registration, equipment provision, contractual requirements & documentation…etc. So, in short, every Megaproject has a “Mega” Training Project within; let’s not under-estimate such magnitude!
4. Read the Project Contract very well! Goes without saying, but what is meant here is rather the interpretation of Contractual Conditions and Obligations not only related to training. Sometimes training and education scope is defined with short statements e.g. ensure proper qualification for the operation and maintenance personnel of X project... what does this specifically entail? or translate to? how small or large this scope is? If you are lucky enough (or maybe unlucky) you will get a detailed list of requirements for training, but normally this is not so specified in much detail, only with some generic statements. So what you need to do is to read very well the full contract, for sure more than once (sorry!); throughout the full scope of supply, each product, system or subsystem you will define the volume and magnitude of your training scope.
5. Start from the demand and go backwards! you may need to listen to the experts of the respective industry; no matter how experienced you are as a training manager or education professional, you will need to pay proper attention to every technical conversation, and relevant technical details, even if you are new to the field and fail to grasp 90% of the terminology, in few weeks’ time you will be there.. speaking same language.. arguing using same terms.. designing demand-driven training programs that correspond to actual needs!?
6. Build proper connections with local Education and Training providers; A Megaproject is wrongly perceived as a hit-and-run approach, on the contrary, Megaprojects are established with multi-year EPC, Operation and Maintenance contracts, with relatively large institutional set-up. Demand on labor is oscillating and goes over years from EPC to Operation and Maintenance phases; they need to be guarded by constant and consistent supply of qualified calibers through reliable partners. Building strategic partnerships with local education and training providers is key to the project continuity and delivery at the end.
7. Expand your vision and stretch your arms; Education and Training scope is not tight to designing and executing training courses or programs. Your scope is vast and diverse; you may initiate talent pipelining programs, internships and hospitations; you can level it way up to building training centers, capacitating schools and academies, partnering with universities and technical institutes and so on and so forth… the set of competences you need to acquire is much wider than only being a "training manager", you will need to be an entrepreneur, a spokesperson, a marketer... a "strategist" in a bigger sense for your area of responsibility.

1. Acquire the "social license" to operate through proper value-add to local communities; Training, Education, and Jobs are always great contributions on socio-economic levels. In order to operate sustainably in one country we have to add a lasting value to its people; from our experience Education is always a good way to do so. The key here is to link the social (CSR) intervention to a real business need – or as we call it Business-to-Society; this will help make your intervention a good-sell to higher management on business level, will grant it sustainability and support on the longer run, again to avoid the hit-and-run approach which can be harmful to a company’s reputation at the end.?
2. Political backing is key! Megaprojects are at the center of political attention and interest on a Government-to-Government relation level; Linked to the previous point, the political scene needs to be well-managed. Education, Training, Employability and Employment are always high on the agenda of development partnerships. Governmental support is largely addressed through Public-Private-Partnerships (PPPs); Therefore, it is highly advisable to look for the right political support, tap into the outstanding potential for both technical and financial support of active organizations and try to establish a link to the Education & Training activities within your project. You will always find one or more possible opportunities to complement and possibly also expand your overall Education & Training scope and portfolio through strategic partnerships.?
3. One last aspect! DO NOT BURN OUT THERE! Megaprojects with the multitude of challenges are in some cases nerve-racking; but they come also with so much fun and adrenaline! You may need to be mentally ready and prepared for climbing such a mountain, but also do not forget to enjoy the journey and take your off-moments to reflect and re-charge. Know that every project has some slow-down phases for every scope and workstream, so cease them very well when it is your turn, try to take another deep-breath before you delve again in!

For more interactions, thoughts and ideas on Education & Training, will be happy to connect:

Ahmed El Saadany

Head of Education & Training - Megaprojects

Siemens Mobility Egypt LLC

mailto:[email protected]

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