Behind the Scenes of Corporate Training at Nexters: How the Company Helps Employees Grow

Ksenia Pirogova, Head of the Learning and Development Department at Nexters, shared a case study on handling training requests within the company in her column for App2Top.

This article is part of a series on corporate training from the WN Academy education service. The series features materials dedicated to the importance of employee training.

Ksenia Pirogova

Since its inception, Nexters has focused on the training of its employees. It can be said that this process is embedded in the DNA of our corporate culture.

However, training was initially chaotic and lacked systematization. Now, things are different.

This change was made possible by the establishment of the Learning and Development Department, which precisely targets specific educational goals.

This occurs within the framework of two internal products.

"Nexters Academy" manages the Learning Management System (LMS) overall—its content, synchronous training programs, and team sessions.
"Nexters Idea Incubator" is responsible for development sessions with external experts, brainstormings, and product debriefings.

We'll not dwell deeply on the departments themselves but will instead focus on the overall training process within the company.

Request

Typically, everything starts with a request from a company employee.

For instance, several weeks ago, we were approached by the manager of one of our products—let's call him Valera—asking for help to improve his public speaking skills.

The issue was that Valera presents at corporate quarterly meetings with less than stellar delivery. His presentations are either misinterpreted or lead to lengthy discussions.

Over time, this not only decreased trust in the speaker but also led to a biased attitude toward his team as a whole.

Sources of Requests

A request from an employee is a classic example. This is how we receive most requests. However, there are other sources as well.

— A business request (from the owner, CEO, HR)

For example, an HR Director wants to reduce hiring mistakes, increasing speed and efficiency of subordinates' work. For this, it's necessary for hiring managers to better assess candidate motivation.

— A request from the training team

For instance, based on analytics, we might see a current need or gap in a department's work. This is possible through continuous analysis of business metrics from reports (employee KPI, goal achievement, time costs, mistakes) and HR metrics (turnover and its quality, feedback through various surveys and requests, performance review results).

Preliminary Assessment

Our first step, when a request is initiated by an employee, is to determine the end result of the training and its importance for the business.

There are several scenarios for determination:

either we do this ourselves, aligning with the team's strategic and quarterly goals;
or we discuss the request with HR BP (Human Resources Business Partner);
or we discuss the request with the team producer.

With Valera, it was straightforward. We were already immersed in the context and knew that the training would yield results benefiting the business—improving communication quality.

Things differ slightly when the request doesn’t come from an employee.

If the request comes from the business, like if the HRD sees the need to train hiring managers to better assess candidate motivation, we immediately discuss the required outcome with them.

If based on analytics, we identify current needs or gaps, the training team discusses the request with the HRD and teams to align expectations and capabilities.

Choosing the Format

The next step is to determine the format.

The format is determined by two factors. Firstly, by what specifically needs to be "enhanced":

skills are improved through practice (workshops, training sessions, private sessions, simulations);
new knowledge is gained through lectures and interactives (both live presentations and speaker recordings);
growth and transformation occur through personal interaction (mentoring, coaching, group sessions).

Secondly, by the existing conditions. For us, these were:

timeframe—one month until the next quarterly meeting;
audience—Valera, as other presenters are managing;
commitments—full, requiring evening training sessions;
location—focusing on Cyprus time zone.

Based on the area and conditions, we decided Valera needed individual practical online sessions with a coach.

Note that most of our employees learn online as our team is distributed. We also practice offline learning for internal management training.

If we're talking about long-term development, other formats are suitable. In our teams, mentoring is frequently used, but sometimes coaching is also employed.

Choosing the Instructor

Once the training format is selected, it’s time to choose an expert (or group of experts) responsible for training the employee. The expert can be internal or external.

For example, when we needed to prepare a finance course for managers, we engaged our in-house financial specialist as the instructor.

Methodologists and Knowledge Holders

When utilizing internal expertise, we establish a working connection between a "methodologist" and a "holder of sacred knowledge."

The methodologist is a staff member of the company's Learning and Development Department.

The holder of sacred knowledge is an employee who is experienced and willing to share their knowledge.

Why is a methodologist needed?

Not every expert knows how to share knowledge or teach others. Experienced professionals may struggle to understand exactly what to convey and in what order. Sometimes, they find many things obvious, potentially leaving out necessary information in training.

Methodologists help experts package information, making it accessible and understandable.

If internal expertise is unavailable or not feasible due to the specialist's workload, we explore the market for external options:

we evaluate available market options, analytics on providers, existing methodologies, and their effectiveness in practice;
we read and seek out reviews from colleagues in other companies;
we review recommendations from professional communities;
we converse with several corporate training providers, both large and private.

Based on the results, we choose the one that aligns best with us on the following criteria:

format;
timelines;
experience;
reputation;
course content;
presentation quality.

To assist Valera, within three days of the request, we settled on a private coach. He was ready on short notice to help the manager prepare for the presentation according to our schedule.

Assessment

At the start of internal course design/when establishing agreements with an external contractor, we prepare to conduct training evaluation.

Evaluation Stages

Evaluation consists of three stages.

1. Initial Assessment

We measure what level of knowledge or skill the employee brings in, what they expect from the training, and their background. In the case of a group, this can be measured with a questionnaire.

Valera struggled most with adhering to timing and structuring his narrative.

2. Intermediate Assessment

During the training, we track progress.

We requested Valera’s work on his future presentation, script, and rehearsal for evaluation. Both Valera and the trainer assessed these criteria.

3. Final Assessment

At the end, we see what the training has led to. We can rely on expert evaluation and specific metrics, such as whether the training reduced task completion time.

With Valera, we evaluated whether he had improved in conveying information to the audience and if he was keeping within the allocated presentation time.

Assessment allows us to track progress and clearly observe the impact of training on the specialist's work.

Additionally, it provides the opportunity to plan further training.

For example, we clearly saw that Valera improved structure but still had issues with time management. This means the training should continue in this direction.

Conclusion

I hope my article helped you see how the training process is organized in our company.

I'd like to emphasize two key points.

Firstly, training should be based on expected outcomes. This simultaneously helps maintain high motivation within the team and keeps focus on what is important for the business.

Secondly, forcing someone to learn is impossible; you can only encourage individuals' aspirations, create conditions for this, and engage them.

At Nexters, we have always found development opportunities, as we see value in it. With the challenges of 2025, we are even more focused on learning and strengthening our culture of development.

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The article is an excellent example of building training processes in a company. If your company isn’t there yet, but team training is needed, come to WN Academy, we will take care of all the concerns and organization