Coca-Cola support young people

• June 20, 2023
• Andrew

The Coca-Colina programme was launched in 2017 to respond to the needs of the labour market at the time. Indeed, at the time, Croatia had a high youth unemployment rate, one of the highest in the European Union. Coca-Cola HBC, Croatia, as a large company, operating in our country for a long time, wanted to contribute to addressing this societal challenge.

The programme consists of three modules: Employment, Introduction to project management, presentation and sales skills. Photo: Coca Cola

This is why a programme has been designed to equip young people with important life and work skills to help them enter the labour market and build a career.

Fifth time, fully digital

This year, the programme is implemented in its fifth edition and is fully digital, enabling users to listen to content when, where and how they wish to do so. It is also further adapted not only to those looking for or changing jobs, but also to all those who want further training.

“Coca-Colina programme supported young people in collaboration with experts from the Croatian Office for Creativity (HUKI) – because this organisation is close to Coca-Coline values and we believed we would help to reach the target groups more easily, as the Croatian Creativity Office brings together young new knowledge and opportunities,’ explains Aleksandra Todorović, Direktorica Business for the Development of Partner Relations with Users and Community, Coca-Cola HBCola

In its first three editions, until the pandemic, Coca-Colina supported young people in face-to-face, in Zagreb and in other cities of Croatia.

Three high-level experts

With the support of the Croatian Creativity Office, Coca-Cola defined the content of the digital programme to meet the needs of young people and established cooperation with experts in these fields. For example, Martina Raškaj, a graduate economist and recruitment adviser, runs a recruitment module where participants can find out how to write their CV and motivation letter, but also how to present themselves as the best candidates in an interview. There are also Tena Žganec, who conveys knowledge of presentation skills, and Andrej Hanzir who learns about the project management.

Martina Raškaj, a graduate economist and employment adviser, runs a recruitment module where participants can learn how to write their CV and motivation letter, but also how to present themselves as the best candidates in the interview. Photo: Coca Cola

Coca Cola also joined forces with AIESEC Students and provided participants with more information on their programme as part of their Career Day event in Split, Zagreb and Osijek, as well as in cooperation with the Faculty of Transport Sciences in Zagreb, as well as at the LEAP summit organised by HUKI.

Coca-Colina is also available on the Leap Academy website managed by the Croatian Office for Creativity of Innovation. “This year, in cooperation with HUKI, we also provided face-to-face training in a limited way, so that around 100 young people taught important life and business skills,” says Aleksandra Todorović.

Training topics

The programme consists of three modules: Employment, Introduction to project management, presentation and sales skills. These modules have been chosen as they have provoked the greatest interest in the last edition of the Programme, while at the same time enabling them to acquire the skills needed on the labour market. “For example, excellent presentation skills inspire team members in a working environment and ensure that we convey the right messages to team members,” says Aleksandra Todorović.

Aleksandra Todorović, Director of the Business Unit for the Development of Partnership Relations with Users and the Community, Coca-Cola HBC. Photo: LinkedIn

Over the years, the programme has changed and adapted to the labour market situation and the form of delivery has been aligned with trends and habits in the use of content, in order to be as much and better aligned with the needs of young people looking for themselves and their career opportunities. “Our partner, the Croatian Office for Creativity and Innovation, has also greatly helped us, but also the insights we have gained in other educational programmes, such as Raise the Bar, a version of Raise the Bar Youth for young people from the hospitality and tourism sectors. We also listen to the programme participants themselves, who regularly share their ideas and proposals,’ Todorović explains.

Project results

In its four previous editions, Coca-Colina brought together over 3.500 young people who successfully absorbed it. Many of them also attach, when looking for a job, a certificate of completion that can be obtained by each participant who listens to all three modules and successfully completes the related quizzes following each module. More than 500 people registered for this year’s fifth edition, who independently determine the pace of listening to the sessions selected. It is not necessary to listen to the programme at once, but it is possible to stop and return to it when it is most appropriate for the user.

Most unexpected achievement

“We are most happy to see when participants who have previously participated in the programme reappear in order to join the new edition of the programme. These include, for example, the Križevac College of Economics, which participated in live workshops in Koprivnica in 2019, and this year students participated in a digital programme with their professor Sandrom Kantar. We believe that the fact that the trainees get back to us is the best to talk about the quality of the programme,” says Aleksandra Todorović.

The Coca-Colina programme evaluates support for young people every year, a few months after its completion, in order to check to what extent it was relevant to the trainees and how many of them found the desired job. Currently, all participants can send their opinion or review of the programme at any time on the Leap Academy website. This information shall be used to design future content and forms of programme delivery.

“We believe that the greatest advantage of this programme is that it is fully free for all participants and that it has been running for years, which helps us to get better. This is why we will carry out another, additional and in-depth evaluation at the end of this calendar year and identify space for progress with our partners. In the long term, we would certainly like to educate as many young people as possible and equip them with valuable skills that will benefit them both in their daily lives and at work. We are also doing this across the Coca-Cola HBC Group to further educate one million young people globally by 2025″ concludes Aleksandra Todorović

The Coca-Colina programme evaluates support for young people every year, a few months after its completion, in order to check to what extent it was relevant to the trainees and how many of them found the desired job. Photo: Coca Cola