SPEAC Overview:

The SPEAC Program (Siemens Professionals Engaged in Active Communications) is a structured one-year program that enables and empowers the next generation of communicators to take ownership of their careers. This is done through business trainings, personal coaching workshops, mentoring and peer mentoring, fireside chats and project work. In addition to managing their everyday workload over the course of the year, every participant invests over 86 hours to their learning and development. Via SPEAC, talents are encouraged to become lifelong learners, to continuously stay ahead of the trends in their industries. 

The SPEAC program has a 23-year history at Siemens, and has continually evolved to keep up with the times

‍The focus of the program is to build the professional competencies of early career high potentials at Siemens. To apply, eligible candidates self-nominate, which puts all participants in the driver’s seat. As an early-career program, all participants work together on eye-level. Groups are organized into agile squads which develop their own projects to serve real needs in the communications community. 

The content of the SPEAC is centered around Siemens’ four strategic priorities.
‍These are:  Technology with Purpose, Growth Mindset, Customer Impact, and Empowered People, with sustainability and people at its core. Through fireside chats, participants also get the chance to engage with top communications leaders from the businesses, regions, headquarters, and also from Siemens’ affiliates such as Siemens Healthineers on these core topics. Furthermore, the program offers valuable touchpoints with global CEOs and Members of the Managing Board: SPEAC participants are often selected to moderate high level panels with the company’s leadership team, offering them unique exposure. 

Diversity is a clear hallmark of the SPEAC.
‍Alumni represent 26 different nationalities, and the Class of 2021 has active participants from 6 different countries. Gender equality is also a key to the program’s success: women account for 67% of the total participants in 2021. To further support the development of each individual given their unique strengths and areas for development, each SPEAC participant is assigned a mentor that complements the diverse intersections in the program, who they can meet with monthly or bi-monthly. They are also given the opportunity to meet informally with peer mentors, or recent alumni from the SPEAC. Many SPEACers take these opportunities a step further and leverage the SPEAC network to do job shadowings, reverse mentorings, and job rotations abroad during the program. 

The SPEAC Program, however, is more than the sum of its parts.
‍SPEAC is a network for people who share a growth mindset. Participating in the SPEAC requires a great deal of engagement and commitment from identifying problems and generating solutions, to managing all the challenges and opportunities that come with authentic collaboration. More than anything, SPEAC stands for a supportive community.

Quotes about SPEAC:

Lynette Jackson, Head of Communications at Siemens, SPEAC Program Sponsor:
‍“We aim to create the best possible environment for all of our communications professionals to fulfill their potential at each stage of their career. Our SPEAC program creates a community of talent to ensure we have the strongest possible pipeline.”

Lori Watanabe, Head of Operational Excellence, Siemens (IMD, MBA 1993):
‍“In cultivating our next generation of leaders, we are striving to ‘future-proof’ them by providing them with skills, competencies and sensitivities that are and will be required throughout their careers.”

‍Camila Chaudron, SPEAC Program Manager, Siemens:
‍“The next generation values empathy and authenticity: by emphasizing personal growth and self-reflection, the SPEAC is a driver of development for the future leaders in communications.”