Personal Education

We offer a budget to every VSHNeer for personal education because we believe that well-educated VSHNeers can provide the best services for VSHN and VSHN’s customers. Learning is life-long work, as new technology, processes and methodologies appear all the time and must be learned.

There are two different types of personal education, each of which has its own set of rules.

Individual Education

If a VSHNeer wants to learn a new subject for personal growth and interest, the following applies:

  • Budget: 5 days and CHF 4000.00 per calendar year per VSHNeer.

  • The amount isn’t cumulative (doesn’t sum-up if not used).

    • If an education spans across more than one year, the budget can be used over multiple years for the same education.

  • There is no deduction in this budget for VSHNeers working part-time.

  • If a VSHNeer quits during the calendar year, a pro-rata payback is asked by VSHN depending on the already used budget.

  • There is a pro-rata deduction of the available budget, depending on the start date of the working contract with VSHN (applies to the first year).

  • The education must have a tangible and visible benefit for VSHN to be considered.

This budget also applies to attending conferences and meetups in a passive role (not speaking at or organizing them).

VSHN sees the personal education budget as an investment in the personal development of our VSHNeers. Therefore, you can use your education budget already during your probation period, while you are no longer entitled to it during the notice period, should you decide to leave VSHN one day. If a VSHNeer has already made a request for Education Budget, PeopleOps will evaluate whether it will still be paid. This decision will be based on how the education can still benefit VSHN.

VSHN Requested Education

When there is a business need to get VSHNeers trained for some new technology or skill, the following applies:

  • VSHN pays the course fee and grants the time needed for the course (excl. for example individual learning).

  • VSHN may require a contractual employment commitment for two years, (to be decided on a case-by-case basis, depending on the type of education) starting at the end of the education.

    • If the VSHNeer leaves earlier, a pro-rata pay-back (on the money, not in time) will be requested.

Possible reasons which can lead to the business to request certain education paths:

  • Education and certification for partnership levels.

  • Education out of VSHN’s need, requested by VSHN to do this education.

  • Missing important skills.

  • Attending conferences and meetups with an active role (for example: speaking, organizing in the name of VSHN, representing VSHN via sponsoring, for example on a sponsor-booth) which might be part of your role or job at VSHN.

  • Training required within the teams/job description (for example: CKA, AWS, and S3 courses)

How to get the budget

  1. Talk to your Team about the subject, time frame, and cost of the education. The team gives a preliminary approval, required for PeopleOps to take a final decision.

  2. Write an E-Mail to PeopleOps with the following information:

    • Description of the education

    • Required budget (money and time)

    • Purpose

    • Potential benefits for VSHN

    • Dates and time

  3. PeopleOps will confirm the approval and will consider the budget and applicability.

  4. PeopleOps takes a final decision (go / no go) and communicates it to the interested parties.

If the decision is positive, enjoy the training and learn a lot!

This is tracked and reviewed as VIP-141