Finale of the Avalon Talent Program

Yesterday marked the grand finale for our amazing talents in the Avalon Talent Program 2024/2025! Our customized talent program, tailored for our industry, offers a great mix of practical knowledge and theory. All our talents are newly graduated engineers specializing in product development, technical design, or mechanical engineering.

Throughout the program, they have participated in over 20 sessions led by 20 different colleagues at Avalon, each sharing their expertise and experience. This has given our talents a unique opportunity to develop their technical skills through real-world projects, gain deeper insight into Avalon’s working methods and methodology, and enhance their understanding of the consulting role.

“The final event on Wednesday was a fantastic summary of the past six months! It was wonderful to meet everyone in Helsingborg, enjoy great food, and reflect on the highlights from the lectures and projects we have been part of. It has truly been a successful collaboration among us talents, and we have had the opportunity to connect with many colleagues who have generously shared valuable knowledge. This experience will be incredibly useful in our future careers!” – Emma Liljenberg, one of this year’s talents.

In addition to the educational aspect, the talents have worked on several important internal projects as well as billable assignments for clients. They have also had valuable support through mentorship, creating a true win-win experience for both mentors and talents.

“It’s been amazing to share my experiences and see them so well received. It feels great to contribute. What I particularly enjoyed was when the talent reached out proactively, seeking advice on specific questions—it truly feels like making a difference. I have even gained new insights into my own work through discussions with my mentee, as it has encouraged me to reflect on my own choices and decisions. Why did I choose to do things a certain way? It’s inspiring to see how engaged all the talents are. The future looks bright for Avalon!” – One of our mentors after completing the program.

Now that the program has come to an end, we hope that all participants feel confident in applying their newly acquired knowledge to take on challenging client assignments.

Sustainable leadership and lessons learned from when things don’t go as planned were the key themes of the final gathering in a sunny Helsingborg, led by our CEO, Helene Högberg.

“I am so happy that this day turned out so well—what an incredible group! I chose to focus on sustainable leadership, discussing how we all carry a ‘backpack’ of experiences, both positive and negative, and how the people we meet along the way shape the leadership style we develop. A bad leadership experience can teach us how we don’t want to act, while an inspiring colleague can unknowingly influence the leadership philosophy we adopt for the future. We had truly authentic conversations about leadership, setbacks, empathy, and the importance of both leading and being led. It was all about being there for each other as a team and understanding what sustainable leadership really means.” – Helene Högberg.

For their final assignment, the talents gave presentations on real-life experiences, interviewing their mentors about projects that didn’t go as planned—analyzing why and, most importantly, what could have been done differently. The key takeaway? Projects that struggle often suffer from weak or unclear leadership, as well as clients changing project scope along the way without fully understanding the consequences.