Learning Journey with the electricity company of the city of Zurich, ewz

Intrinsic Learning Lab AG
Jul 8
2 min read

Goal 1: Intrapreneurship! Building a self-organized apprenticeship company

Goal 2: Organizational restructuring and new responsibilities

Period: 3 months, March 3 – June 30, 2022.

Participants: 7 apprentices, 5 ewz employees

Learners explain, how ewz.young works!

2 goals – a shared Learning Journey

The Zurich Electricity Works (ewz), together with Intrinsic, has taken a bold step in the further development of its vocational training program. A prototype for an "apprentice company within a company" was developed and tested over a three-month learning journey.

ewz wanted to create more self-responsibility, entrepreneurial thinking and real learning spaces for young talents.

Goal 1: Establishment of a self-organized apprenticeship company

Seven apprentices founded an internal unit with its own identity under the name ewz.young. They independently designed the name, roles, responsibilities, and all central processes – from order acceptance to deliverables and time management to decision-making processes. Vocational trainers supported them – acting as sparring partners rather than trainers.

Goal 2: Organizational restructuring and clear responsibilities

Parallel to the apprentices' work, a structural change was initiated at the organizational level: The apprenticeship support role, previously distributed among various individuals with a small workload, was consolidated into a single role. Today, a central contact person with a larger workload is responsible for coordination and quality assurance in vocational training – a key step toward greater commitment and sustainability.

New space, new way of thinking

To deliberately break old patterns and experience new forms of collaboration, "ewz.young" moved into Intrinsic two days a week during the test phase. The external setting was deliberately chosen: It created distance from existing routines, made room for new dynamics, and helped not only the trainees, but also the vocational trainers and project partners involved, to experience and consolidate a new approach.

Impact, visibility and sustainability

At the end of the learning journey, the apprentices presented their company, ewz.young, to the ewz management – with great success: The concept was approved and continues to this day. ewz.young is continuously being developed further and has established itself as an integral part of the training strategy.