Shaping employee development

Courtesy photo.

Pitching a company-wide employee development program to a room full of executives in Germany taught Northeastern University senior Angela Loporto how to achieve success in a professional environment.

“At first I thought it was really nerve-wracking, but then I learned to have confidence in myself,” Loporto said. “To be treated equally and build relationships with CEOs is a really valuable skill to learn.”

Loporto created the employee development program on co-op last spring with Bisnode Business Information Group, a Darmstadt-based company that helps clients in more than a dozen European countries maximize sales, minimize risks and make better business decisions.

Loporto developed the program by interviewing managing directors and creating workshops for employees. The goal, she said, is for employees to improve their management skills, build bonds between colleagues and pursue their educational goals through workshops and conferences.

“I wanted to create a program that could help young professionals gain the necessary skills and leadership qualities to take over management positions,” Loporto said.

The experiential-learning opportunity, she noted, helped her land another co-op job as a talent acquisition assistant for the Boston-based global asset manager MFS Investment Management. Her ultimate goal, she said, is to become a human resources professional for the United Nations or Oxfam International.

As Loporto put it, “I want to work with people, motivate people and do something that benefits employees.”

Living and working in a foreign country is a top priority for the international affairs major, who might be apt to call herself a global citizen: She resided in Singapore for seven years and completed Dialogue of Civilizations programs in both China and Geneva.

“I have a curiosity and sense of adventure,” Loporto said. “We are all human, but there is so much we can learn from different people and different cultures.”