60 young talents, university students and new graduates in Marketing, Engineering and Management, are taking part today in #WhirlpoolHacks, the first hackathon organized by Whirlpool EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa) at its Pero headquarters in collaboration with Monster, one of the world’s biggest search engine.
The participants in this innovation marathon focused on solving a number of real business cases are competing in teams and have the opportunity to engage in informal and stimulating discussions with Whirlpool EMEA’s top management.
#WhirlpoolHacks addresses students from numerous European universities and aims to foster collaboration between talents and enable them to express their capacity for teamwork, problem solving and creativity.
The event also enables the participants to get to know the Company and the home appliance market from a privileged viewpoint, for they are directly engaging in Whirlpool’s culture of change and helping to accelerate its innovation processes.
“The hackathon model is a product of the information technology industry and has been successfully applied to the definition and development of business strategies. We are extremely satisfied with the results in terms of the participation and content we saw in our first #WhirlpoolHacks,” commented Vittorio Carparelli, Senior Manager Talent Acquisition & Employer Branding, Whirlpool EMEA. “I think it’s an innovative and immediately fruitful way for young people to come into contact with the Company and its professionals and experience in real conditions the sort of dynamics that normally unfold in the workplace. It’s a model that offers businesses the opportunity to dialogue with young people and exploit informal and innovative approaches to generating ideas and value.”
Assisted by Whirlpool tutors ready to help them develop their ideas and define projects, the competitors will illustrate their work to a jury of Senior Leaders at Whirlpool and experts from Monster following the model of a start-up’s presentation for potential investors. The members of the winning team will receive a KitchenAid mixer, a classic example of innovation and design.
The students taking part in this first #WhirlpoolHacks are from top Italian universities, including Milan Politecnico, Turin Politecnico, Università L. Bocconi, MIP, Università Cattolica, LIUC, Bologna University and La Sapienza in Rome, and other major European universities.
Career paths in Whirlpool EMEA include programs designed ad hoc for young talents. The “Fast Track Graduate Program”, for example, is an international mobility scheme that trains future leaders for Whirlpool, a 30-month “accelerated leadership” programs in which young graduates can experience inter-functional and inter-regional job rotation across the European countries in which Whirlpool operates. In each job they have a training and personal development plan helping them to extend their skills. The program enables them to dialogue with the Group’s top managers and work on stimulating projects providing excellent preparation for taking up positions in the Company.
Whirlpool also offers 6-month apprenticeships in all its business areas and in the various countries in which it operates. Apprentices are followed by a tutor throughout their time with the Company in a process of constant supervision and assessment and support for their personal and professional development.