Galukhina Anna

Development of the course “Stronger Together”: how to create a bridge between two worlds, tells Anna Galukhina

Creating the training course “Stronger Together” has become one of the key projects of the company over the past year. Its development did not begin with presentations or manuals - it began with a deep immersion in the reality of those returning from the front and those who work alongside them. It was this context that later became the foundation of future training.

Anna Galukhina is one of the developers of the course, this topic touched Anya on a deeper level.

She considers the topic of veterans, their adaptation and return to civilian life to be very important in our present. The development of the course has become not a work task, but an opportunity to influence the process of returning people who survived the war to the team and society. The prerequisite for the course was a large-scale study of the needs of demobilized employees and the teams to which they return. The study showed that there is a noticeable gap in perception and communication between those who serve and those who remain in civilian life.

“We saw that there is a certain gap - misunderstanding, fear. And it became absolutely clear: this experience needs to be explained.” This was the starting point for creating an internal educational product. According to her, the root of the problem lies in the radically different experience. The life of a person who has gone through war changes 180 degrees, while for civilians it remains more or less stable. There is an effect of two different worlds - military and civilian, the inhabitants of which do not always understand each other.

Ani’s personal motivation was a deep interest in the topic. She considers it extremely important right now. “This topic worries me. We live in one society, and who we communicate with, how these people feel, affects us all. I am interested in at least a little influence on stabilizing what is happening to people,” Anya shares.

The approach to developing the course content was comprehensive. It was divided into four logical modules: introductory, about communication, about recruitment and adaptation, and about an inclusive environment for people with disabilities. Anya, who developed the first module together with a colleague, says that the work began with analytics and statistics: how many people are currently defending Ukraine with weapons in their hands, how many citizens have left the country, what is the situation on the labor market, and so on. Then we moved on to specific topics.

The main task was not just to present dry facts, but to touch the listeners emotionally. “I tried to make it not a dry lecture. So that people would get the idea that veterans are not just military men who did their job, but people with unique experience. And that their involvement is not only charity, but also an opportunity to strengthen the team and the company as a whole,” says Anya.

During the development process, the team faced two of the biggest challenges: a huge amount of information. They had to filter the materials, choosing only the useful, practical, and truly important. And the novelty of the experience, for Anna it was the first such educational product and the first experience of creating coaching materials, so each step required courage.

Before creating the course, the team underwent a two-day coaching training, where they worked with the methodology and cases. Later, the created materials were piloted: internal groups provided feedback, according to which the course was finalized.

A self-created course is a product created “for yourself and about yourself,” adapted to the real needs of colleagues.

The course “Stronger Together” is not just a training program.

It is a bridge between people returning from war and those who meet them in civilian life.

It is a tool for support, mutual understanding, and building teams that are not afraid of different experiences — but learn to be stronger together.

Online Masterclass "Stronger Together": Anna Galukhina, how to overcome resistance and find mutual understanding

After completing the course development, the team moved on to the next stage - conducting online masterclasses for employees. Anna Galukhina became one of the speakers of the course "Stronger Together". Almost four months of weekly meetings, during which time approximately 12 full-fledged groups were held. The online format allowed to involve employees from different regions, without being tied to the location, and significantly expanded the reach.

Each masterclass consisted of two parts: a theoretical block for which Anya was responsible and

a practical part by Oleg Slutsky, who is a veteran and shares his real experience of service and return. "It was the combination of theory and live practice that impressed the participants the most.

Especially the moment when Oleg spoke in the first person - it caused a strong response, trust and interest" - says Anna. Conducting the masterclass was a new and at the same time interesting experience for Anya. She admits that she felt nervous. The support of her colleague Oleg Slutsky, with whom she worked in a pair, played an important role in overcoming her fears. “If there were difficult questions for me, Oleg supported me, took the blow on himself. This was a great advantage,” she notes.

One of the challenges for the trainers was the discussions. Some groups were loyal and openly accepted the information, while there were those where the participants asked difficult questions and expressed doubts:

the trainers had to work with such objections here and now — to argue, explain, show a different perspective. For example, not all participants came with a willingness to accept new information. “It happened that we heard: “Why are you telling us this? We already know it!” But that is exactly why we conducted the training — to bridge the gap we were talking about,” explains Anya. These conversations were the most difficult, but also the most valuable: they showed where prejudices and fears exist, and gave an opportunity to process them correctly. Anna also noted that there were many sincere moments: someone heard a real story of a veteran for the first time, someone shared their own experience of loss, someone admitted that they were afraid to communicate with people after the war, because they did not know how to do it correctly. Each such discovery created an atmosphere of trust. After completing the master class, most participants noted the following changes: a better understanding of the psychology of veterans, confidence in how to ask questions and build a conversation correctly, awareness of the role of empathy in teamwork, a new vision of recruiting and adaptation, and a willingness to work with people with disabilities and understanding the principles of inclusion.

Online training became not just “another training”, but a space where employees rethinked their own stereotypes and learned to support each other. Outside of working hours, Anya finds energy in her hobbies. Creating original candles allows her to create and immerse herself in the creative flow, while sports help her release stress and put her thoughts in order through bodywork. And immersing herself in the world of literature gives her inspiration and new ideas for implementation in her professional activities.

Conducting the online master class "Stronger Together" became an important link in a big deal - preparing the team for the return of veterans. The training showed that when a space for dialogue is created, people are ready to hear, speak and change.

Each group, each discussion and each participant became a step towards a common goal - creating a working environment where different experiences do not divide, but make us stronger.