Author: Merlyn Bijnsdorp, Chief People Officer, Dott
Dott is focused on building a responsible business that has a positive impact on every city we operate in, and this starts within our organisation. This month, we launched Ride Your Future, our latest initiative which has been created to help our local teams build long-term professional skills.
The seven-week programme is open to Dott employees who hold an entry-level warehouse or operations position and will provide our teams with the technical and soft skills needed to succeed in their careers. Fully subsidised by Dott and delivered by Academie de Creteil, (linked with France’s Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports), the first cohort consists of 20 of our Paris-based colleagues.
The programme has been designed to support our business needs. By investing in the upskilling of our workforce, we create greater engagement which we believe contributes to the safety, sustainability and efficiency of our service.
But beyond that, we believe it is our responsibility to care for our people and our cities. Ride Your Future aims to equip our teams with the tools necessary to turn a job into a career. We do this regardless of whether that career is with Dott or elsewhere. The programme will cover office software tools, written communication, management skills, autonomy and organisation, with the aim of improving colleague satisfaction and retaining our teams. The training is entirely voluntary and takes place during working hours to make it as easy as possible for participants to join the programme around their existing commitments outside of work.
Dott takes a unique approach to micromobility which has already resulted in a committed and engaged team. At our Paris warehouse, for example, we have had no colleague turnover since August 2020, which we attribute to the opportunities we provide for our teams to develop. All of our teams are employed directly by Dott and are shareholders in the business, which we believe creates more dedicated teams and as a result, a safer and more reliable service for our users.
The launch of Ride Your Future will take this approach a step further, formalising our training, bringing on board the support of an external provider, and allowing us to expand the programme across our European locations. It will give participants new opportunities and help them reach their full potential.
In doing this, our hope is that every employee who passes through Dott leaves with skills they did not have previously. It’s just the right thing to do.
