How British American Tobacco works

British American Tobacco was founded in 1902. Since then, everything has been in the history of the tobacco corporation – both ups and downs. Just like any big business should. Now the total number of employees in British American Tobacco is more than 57 thousand people. The Russian representative office of the company, opened in 1991, employs only about 3 thousand people. But how!

We decided to look behind the scenes of the production of the famous tobacco products and see how the Russian office of the corporation works.

There is one wonderful place in Moscow, which is called the “business park”. These are the Krylatsky Hills, an office project where many successful companies operate. British American Tobacco Russia is also based there. Employees of the company do not drive around in Mercedes of the latest brands (as it might seem, the company is still serious), but get to the office on ordinary minibuses from the Krylatskoye metro station.The office neighbors of British American Tobacco Russia are more than pleasant – the Russian representative offices of Microsoft, Johnson And Johnson and Sun InBev are also located in the Krylatskiye hills.

This is what the office looks like from a bird’s eye view:

How British American Tobacco works
Smoking is not required
The management of British American Tobacco Russia especially appreciates its employees. After all, their recruitment takes place according to a more than serious scheme, so only the best can pass the test. The test is more personal-psychological than qualification. If you can make quick decisions, be a leader in a team, have the gift of persuasion and an extraordinary mind, then you have every chance of becoming part of the British Tobacco Corporation team. It is these qualities that come to the fore when applying for a job. Work experience is also important, but in the presence of personal qualities of a suitable level, insufficient experience may not be considered.

Each candidate for the position passes a specially designed test. With its help, recruiters determine whether a candidate is ready to work in British American Tobacco Russia in terms of their values ​​and priorities.

You don’t smoke but would like to work for British American Tobacco Russia? You have every chance for it. The question of smoking is not asked at the interview, and, as company executives say, addiction to cigarettes absolutely does not play any role in employment in British American Tobacco Russia.

Non-children’s tasks for a while

After a successful interview with an HR specialist, a meeting is scheduled with the manager of the department in which the recruitment is underway. This is where the hardest part starts. First, a conversation is held with the candidate, in which he must share situations from his past professional life in which he was able to successfully demonstrate certain key qualities (stress resistance, problem solving in extreme conditions, efficiency, etc.).

And then the applicant is invited to complete tasks similar to those that he will solve already being in the status of a permanent employee (if, of course, an interview passes). These tasks usually have several possible solutions, and their completion is limited in time. Here the goal is to see how quickly the applicant can navigate the problem and choose the best way to eliminate it.

First of all, all newcomers to the company are introduced to the history of the corporation, the responsibilities of each department, and they are given a tour of the office. Also in British American Tobacco Russia there is one very friendly tradition: to introduce each new employee to colleagues in a non-working environment. The team in the new composition can go together to a cafe or to some cultural event and get to know each other better.

Learn on the job!
This is the approach taken by department heads at British American Tobacco Russia. They believe that 70% of the knowledge of each employee is the knowledge that he has already acquired directly during the performance of his work duties, 20% of the knowledge is taken over from mentors and colleagues, and only 10% is the knowledge gained during trainings, seminars, courses.

How British American Tobacco works
How British American Tobacco works
Nevertheless, trainings are held in British American Tobacco Russia quite actively. The company has its own small staff of trainers and employee development specialists, but external trainers are also invited to conduct individual seminars. Especially in British American Tobacco Russia they love trainings on the topic of personal growth.

From trainee to manager

The internship process at British American Tobacco Russia deserves special attention. When the recruitment for an internship begins, the excitement among those who want to work in the giant of tobacco production is not weak.