Over the past year, Mantena has had a close and good collaboration with NAV on language practice for Ukrainian refugees. The goal has been to provide participants with a safe place to learn Norwegian while gaining insight into Norwegian working life and the opportunity to use their own work skills.�a0
What started as language practice has for the participants led to permanent positions at Mantena.
A great resource for Mantena
Working with trains requires solid professional competence and relevant background. Maintenance of rolling stock sets high demands for safety, precision, and technical understanding. Several of the participants have relevant backgrounds from Ukraine and have quickly adapted to both the tasks and the environment. At the same time, the workshop has given them a safe framework to practice Norwegian in a natural way, whether it be during lunch, at shift meetings, or in daily work.
Marienborg in Trondheim
At Mantena's workshop at Marienborg in Trondheim, Artur Mykhailov and Oleksandr Chepurnyi work. Their managers have only good things to say.
For several years, Artur has been both a mechanic and a driver on the subway in Ukraine, and thus has solid experience from both maintenance and the driver's cab. Today, he mainly works with heavy maintenance of passenger carriages at Marienborg. The experience Artur has from maintenance and operational train management is expertise we truly need at Mantena. That we have been able to keep him on as a permanent employee, we are both proud of and very happy about. He has become an important part of the environment at Marienborg,
Markus Furunesvegg, Delivery Manager Felles
Oleksandr has quickly become a natural part of the team. He fits very well into the work environment and shows great commitment in his daily work. In a short time, his Norwegian skills have become very good, making communication easy and effective. He has a strong work ethic, takes responsibility, and always shows up with a positive attitude. In addition, he is a pleasant and friendly colleague who contributes to a good and inclusive work environment.
Øystein Andersen, Delivery Manager Skift
Grorud in Oslo
At Grorud , Tatiana Dremukha, Oleksandr Tsybin and Oleksii Borovoi work. Oleksandr and Oleksii work in the Bogie Department with maintenance and overhaul of bogies. The department is a critical part of Mantena's delivery, because the quality of the work here has a direct impact on both operational safety, comfort, and safety for passengers.
Oleksandr and Oleksii have gone straight into one of our most technically demanding departments. Working with bogies requires accuracy, technical understanding, and a high awareness of safety – and they master it very well. They bring valuable experience, work in a structured way, and show great pride in their profession. For us, they are an important strengthening of the competence in the bogie department.
Jon Anders Sletta, Delivery Manager Bogie
Tatiana Dremukha started her language practice in the wheel department at Grorud and her manager, Tom Egil Myhr, cannot praise her enough.
Tatiana is a very professionally skilled and hard-working woman with lots of good humor. She has previously run a wheel department in Ukraine and possesses a lot of expertise in this area. She is very structured and goes to great lengths to keep the workflow in the wheel department running smoothly. Her language skills are also sufficient in relation to understanding work descriptions and communicating with her colleagues. This is a sunshine story for us in the wheel department and we are incredibly pleased that Tatiana is part of the team.
Tom Egil Myhr, Delivery Manager Wheel
Language practice led to a permanent job
HR Manager for Recruitment, Elisabeth Grebstad Rødseth, has no doubt that this is a great initiative more companies should use. Both the industry and Mantena have an increasing need for skilled workers, and studies show that language is learned faster and more effectively when combined with work and active participation in everyday life. When you get to use the language in real work situations, both learning, motivation, and mastery are strengthened.
This is a measure that provides value on several levels. We gain access to important professional competence, while the participants get to use their experience and learn Norwegian in a safe and inclusive work environment. It is simply a win-win situation, says Rødseth.