Successful development programme by TRIMM contributes to talent retention in the region

Talent development is high on the agenda at the Enschede-based company TRIMM. Not only for current employees, but also for young people still studying in the city and for whom working life still seems far away. Sixteen years ago, the talent development programme PIT (professionals in training) was created for this target group. In it, ambitious students are given the opportunity to work, graduate or intern at the company even before they graduate, thus getting an early introduction to the business world. For many of them, this works out so well that they end up living and working in the region.

The business community has a strong responsibility for training young talent, TRIMM believes. To offer students the best possible apprenticeship, the company, which specialises in digital solutions such as websites, portals and digital marketing concepts, founded subsidiary 'PiT' in 2006. In recent years, the company grew and trained many young people to become professionals. There is ongoing scope within the company to introduce students to the business world at different stages of their studies. The participants in the talent programme are full members of one of the teams and work on projects for large (international) customers. In this, they are supervised by at least three TRIMM employees.

One of these young people was Nienke Eiting, currently in charge of the talent programme PIT. "I started as a pit'er myself in 2018, then went to work elsewhere and came back to TRIMM 2.5 years ago. Now I mainly deal with recruitment and selection, coaching students, giving guest lectures, supervising study assignments, taking care of excursions and keeping in touch with education and student associations," she explains. "Within the PIT programme, we have room for working students, interns and graduates. They work at TRIMM and are intensively supervised by a colleague. This way, young people are introduced to the business world at an early stage. This is good preparation for the labour market. We are convinced that it is precisely at this stage of their lives that it is important to keep them in Twente, where they will live and organise their lives further."

Participants in the PIT programme are not only trained professionally. There is also a lot of room for personal development. That is at least as important, Nienke knows. After all, as an expert by experience, she knows what students can struggle with. "Finding a balance between work and school is a challenge. But also finding your place in a company as a newcomer, where colleagues have more work experience, can be difficult. We pay a lot of attention to that. For instance, we now have a student for whom working life is totally new and very exciting. I see him blossoming completely now that he sees that the business world is so much fun."  

She continues: "Anyone who wants to learn something in the field of the internet is in the right place here. In this way, we help young people develop themselves into very good professionals." Many students now know how to find this route. "Every year, we receive around 250 applications for our talent programme, of which, unfortunately, we can only take on around 20 to 25. Most of the juniors we take on at TRIMM are move on from PIT. This way, we keep good and ambitious young people in our company as well as in Twente."

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