New WISTA Academy at Berlin Adlershof to facilitate access to talent

The new WISTA Academy at IASP member Berlin Adlershof strives to facilitate access to talent and employee retention for companies. To WISTA, commercial location development is more than plotting land, managing buildings and attracting businesses. It’s also about creating spaces for people to live and work—and to inspire them. After all, success can only be sustained with satisfied employees. To make it easier for businesses to access and retain talent, WISTA Management GmbH is expanding the training offerings to its resident companies and research institutes with the new WISTA Academy.

Head of Human Resources, Organisation, Quality Management Bessie Fischer-Bohn connects with teachers, drives network building forward between the Academy and the WISTA sites in Adlershof and elsewhere in Berlin, and explores the qualification needs of the diverse stakeholders on-site in the spirit of feedback with practical application. For that, she doesn’t even have to travel much. She represents WISTA in numerous steering committees and working groups, in which she learns about what moves the industry and research first-hand. The shortage of skilled workers is almost an evergreen issue now. “The issue of talent development and of how we can support our resident companies in attracting and retaining talent has been firmly anchored in our strategy for years,” she says. As a technology park operator, WISTA sees it as a key task to provide the best-possible support to the businesses on-site. In addition to accessing talent, the skills development of their employees is an increasingly pivotal issue for companies of all sizes.

The first courses of WISTA Academy took place in autumn 2023. The target groups include start-ups but also medium-sized companies, which are increasingly having problems meeting demands due to a lack of staff, or companies who have been managing new ways of working together in hybrid teams since the pandemic. Digitalisation as well as an increasing use of artificial intelligence are creating a demand for further training in many businesses. The academy will also offer qualifications directly on the site, which will soon be officially certified for the participants—and adjustable to the specific demands of individual companies.