Διεθνείς διακρίσεις του ΙΝΕ/ΟΤΟΕ

Μετά την αναγνώριση σαν πρότυπης πρακτικής του προγράμματος Leonardo Da Vinci /PREMEQ I, που συντόνισε το ΙΝΕ/ΟΤΟΕ, μια ακόμα σημαντική διεθής διάκριση περίμενε την πληθωρική εκπαιδευτική δραστηριότητα του ΙΝΕ/ΟΤΟΕ.

Η Ευρωπαϊκή επιτροπή, D.G. 22, ανέθεσε στο Ινστιτούτο Εφαρμοσμένων Κοινωνικών Επιστημών (Ολλανδία), να συντονίσει ένα ευρωπαϊκό δίκτυο ερευνητών και συμβούλων, με στόχο, μέσω μιας πειραματικής προσέγγισης, τη δημιουργία Παρατηρητηρίου Καινοτομιών στην εκπαίδευση και επαγγελματική κατάρτιση.

Στην αναφορά του προς την Ευρωπαϊκή Επιτροπή, DG 22, το Παρατηρητήριο Καινοτομιών, αξιολόγησε εκπαιδευτικές δραστηριότητες στις χώρες της ευρωπαϊκής ένωσης και επέλεξε 4 καινοτομίες (Ελλάδα, Δανία, Ισπανία, Γερμανία), κορυφαία θέση ανάμεσα στις οποίες έχει το πρόγραμμα πληροφόρησης για την επαγγελματική κατάρτιση τραπεζικών υπαλλήλων του ΙΝΕ/ΟΤΟΕ στις παραμεθόριες περιοχές της χώρας.

Report for DG22 of the European Commission

Experimental action for a European Observatory of innovative practices in the area of vocational education

Toos Feijen
Theo Reubsaet

INSTITUTE FOR APPLIED SOCIAL SCIENCES

Preface

The European Commission, DG 22, has decided to launch an experimental action intended at creating a European Observatory of innovations in vocational education, in order to improve the capitalisation and transfer of innovative practices at the level of the European Union.

To decide on the future of such an Observatory the European Commission started a first phase of the experimental action which intends to determine the feasibility of establishing, feeding and exploiting such an Observatory. In this phase of the experimental action the Commission distinguished four separate lots with different contents:

Innovations in qualifications and training needs analysis

Innovations in the accreditation of vocational qualifications

Innovations in educational technology

Innovations in work organisation and vocational qualifications

The task of determining the feasibility of the Observatory with regard to the subject: innovations in qualifications and training needs analysis, has been commissioned to the ITS in Nijmegen, the Netherlands, who is coordinating a network of research and consultancy institutes in the 15 Member States for this project.

The project coordinators at ITS developed the conceptual framework of the project and guided the contributions of the network partners. In this report the procedures applied, the experiences, the results and the main problems encountered have been described. The state of the art of qualifications and training needs analysis in the European Union has been conveyed in a separate chapter too, serving as a frame of reference for the capitalisation of the innovations in needs analysis that were traced in the project. A concluding chapter provides considerations and recommendations concerning the continuation of the experimental action.

The complete project team consisted of:

Toos Feijen and Theo Reubsaet, coordinators at *ITS, Nijmegen, the Netherlands

and further

For Spain: *CIREM (Fundacio Centre d’ Iniciatives I Recerques Europees a la Mediterrania, Barcelona), Roger Salvat and Oriol Homs.

For United Kingdom: *IES (Institute for Employment Studies, Brighton). Nii Djan Tackey.

For Greece: *VFA Ltd (Valter Fissamber and Associates, Athens), Valter Fissamber

For Denmark: *DTI (Danish Technological Institute, Taastrup). Bruno Clematide, Tine Hansen and Kaj Olesen.

For Ireland: *NEXUS Research Cooperative (Dublin), Bob Jodan

For Belgium: *HIVA (Hoger Instituut voor de Arbeid, Leuven). Linda Wouters

For Germany: *SFS (Sozialforshungsstelle Dortmund Landesinstitut). Jurgen). Jurgen Schultze.

For Finland: *WRC (Work Research Centre, Tampere)

For Italy: ARTES (Applied Research into Training and Education Systems, Bologna). Lilia Infelise.

Contents

1. Introduction

2. Current practices in analysing vocational qualifications and training needs

2.1. Introduction

2.2. The quantitative match between labour market demand and educational supply

2.3. The qualitative match between labour market demand and educational supply

2.4. Qualifications and training needs analysis at company level

3. Methodology of feasibility testing

4. Gathering and selecting innovations

4.1. Definition of an innovation

4.2. Procedure applied

4.3. Results obtained

4.3.1. The innovation descriptions

4.3.2. An innovation in Greece

4.3.3. An innovation in Spain

4.3.4. An innovation in Germany

4.3.5. The capitalisation of the innovations

4.4. Problems encountered

5. First inventory on the feasibility of the European

5.1. Procedure applied

5.2 Results obtained

5.2.1. Feasibility note the Netherlands

5.2.2. Feasibility Note Ireland

5.2.3. European Overview

5.2.4. Main Conclusions

5.3. Problems encountered

6. Developing a pilot issue of an Observatory magazine

6.1.Procedure applied

6.2. Results obtained

6.3. Problems encountered

7. The feasibility test

7.1. Procedure applied

7.2. Results obtained

7.3. Non response analysis

7.4. Problems encountered

8. Conclusions and recommendations

Annexes

4.3.2. An innovation in Greece

Title of the innovation

Vocational Training Information programmes for bank employees working at remote/border areas.

Origin of the Innovation

Initiators: Labour Institute of the Greek Federation of Bank Employees (INE/OTOE)

When initiated (starting point): The pre-training activities were launched in 1994. The study on the analysis and forecasting of new qualifications and skills in the Greek Banking sector was initiated in 1995. It was from 1996 onwards that both activities correlated, since the study was completed and the results were incorporated into the pre-training activities. Until then, these activities had not been focused on specific-to-jobs changes but were of a more general character, i.e. to alert bank employees about the coming changes.

Funding organization: Association of Greek Banks (employers’ association) through a budget line created to finance training programmes for bank employees.

Amount of money concerned approx: 400.000 ECU for the training activities. The study on the analysis and forecast of new qualifications and skills in the Greek banking sector was financed by the European programme LEONARDO DA VINCI and INE-OTOE and its total budget rose to 165.000 ECU.

Target group to which the results of the innovation are geared

Bank employees working in the public or private banks, will priority to those working in remote areas and/or border areas and facing career problems due to technological changes related to their specific job profiles. The total amount of bank employees rises to 55.000.

The officials of the local bank employees unions. This group was considered a priority one because they could act effectively as multipliers.

Problem to be tackled

The banking sector in Greece is undergoing significant changes as far as structures, technology and work organization are concerned.

The conditions that triggered these changes are:

Introduction of new technologies at a large scale;

Introduction of a range of new banking services and products;

Shift of the banking sector from state -owned to private banks (this refers not only to a change of the ownership status but also to the mode of organization, i.e. state owned banks are adopting market oriented methods of organization).

The changes have direct consequences on both jobs and the people who practice them. The demand of the labour market for bank employees is expressed more and more in terms of specific occupational skills (competencies) required and it is becoming vitally important for the workforce to understand the changes in order to get prepared for and adapt to the changing employment environment.

The majority of banks that operate in the Greek periphery are still state owned. This means that large segment of bank employees feel secure about their jobs (state owned enterprises’ collective agreements have ensured the permanency of employees) and thus they do not consider the possibility of facing severe career problems in the future. Also, private banks are increasing their share in the banking sector throughout Greece and thus are speeding up the changes that are under way, within a context of increasing competition.

To this end, the Labour Institute of the Greek Federation of Bank Employees (INE OTOE) launched in 1994 a program of pre-training activities, the initial aim of which was to alert bank employees of remote/border areas about the need for continuing training in order to catch up with the coming changes. In 1995 INE-OTOE and the Association of Greek Banks launched a joint research, in order to identify the problems that bank employees will face in the future and to proceed to the planning and implementation of a range of job-specific training activities. The research was completed in 1996 and its results were transferred to the content of the existing pretraining programme which was consequently enriched and acquired an innovative and more specific character.

Core of this particular innovative approach

The pre-training programme, from 1996 onwards, aims to inform bank employees, and especially those that live and work in remote and/or border areas of Greece, on the technological changes that take place in the banking sector, the new products and services and their impact on job profiles, in order to motivate them and introduce them to the training schemes that will be launched in 1998 by INE-OTOE.

The pre-training activities have been based on an innovative, for the Greek labour market, research that was carried out aiming to develop a guide to banking skills required in banking jobs. That research produced the following:

A guide to anticipated changes per field of knowledge and know-how

A description of two job profiles

A model of multifactor analysis to assess expected needs for new skills and qualifications in the banking sector

A methodology for the development of new job profiles in the banking sector

Guide of the ways to adapt new skills and qualifications on the basis of training needs analysis for the banking sector.

Barriers to problem solving via traditional approaches or aspects which favour entirely the attention for different issues

The research and the pre-training activities were conceptualized within an innovative, for the Greek banking sector, context, i.e. pro-active vs. reactive.

The main barrier to problem solving via traditional approaches, such as offer of training within a non-integrated context, was the fact that the majority of bank employees are not aware of the significance of the changes that are under way and thus they are not easily motivated to take steps to anticipate any negative effect on their work conditions. The pre-training activities provide an overall view of the changes to come and recommend specific steps that should be taken.

Legitimization of the innovation opted for

INE-OTOE decided to carry out the previously mentioned study and the pre-training programmes considering that it is the most effective way to prepare bank employees for the changes that sooner or later they will be faced with. As mentioned above, bank employees, especially of the state owned banks, are not aware of the extent and the pace of changes in the sector.

INE-OTOE already implements a large variety of training programmes on new technologies, services and products but this does not constitute by itself a sufficient tool for the motivation of employees to register to the programmes and improve their skills. The innovative project was designed and implemented specifically to provide an overall view of the changes to come and the possibilities of the employees to upgrade their knowledge, motivating thus the employees to make use of the training offered by INE-OTOE.

Actors involved including a description of the role of each of them

The main actors involved were the Labour Institute of the Greek Federation of Bank Employees (INE-OTOE) and the Association of Greek Banks.

INE-OTOE was established in 1991 by OTOE (Greek Federation of Bank Employees) and its activities are research and training. It designed and coordinated the implementation of the pre-training activities which all took place in the Greek periphery. The trainers were selected according to specific criteria.

The institute also, in cooperation with the French organization CFPB (Centre de la Formation de la Profession Bancaire) and co-financed by LEONARDO programme, carried out a study on the analysis and forecast of new qualifications and skills in the Greek banking sector. This study formed the basis for the already developed training programmes that will be launched in 1998.

The Association of Greek Banks (employers’ association), which finances, through a specific budget line, training programmes for bank employees.

Description of the innovation process. What exactly has been taken/is taking place?

The project was launched in 1994 and it had an experimental character until it acquired its final form (late 1995). In the period 1996-1997, INE-OTOE implemented 28 pre-training activities at remote areas (Sparti, Komotini, Alexandroupolis, Samos, etc.). The courses were attended by 1.500 bank employees. The subjects addressed during the courses are grouped in the following thematic categories:

Restructuring of the financing services

Developments in work relations-demand for new qualifications and skills

General overview of changes that take place in the banking sector

Each course had duration of 100 hours and tool place on an intensive basis during 6 weekends. The training methods used involved multimedia applications, designed for this particular purpose, role playing, brainstorming, scenario building, etc. Depending on the characteristics of the local economy and the profile of trainees, there was the opportunity of adapting the course so as to give priority on certain issues.

There was also an internal evaluation procedure. This involved an annual meeting of all actors involved (representatives of local employees’ associations, trainers, etc.) and round table discussion on the results and possible corrective interventions.

The research included:

Elaboration of a common competencies guide:

description of 20 identified fields of knowledge and know-how

definition of the skill levels for each field of activity (following a six-level skill differentiation approach)

On the basis of the above, description and definition, each job of the banking sector can be described.

Definition of qualifications and skills required for specific jobs. This part of the research provides a method to define the needs in any Greek area on the basis of a number of evolution factors which are likely to create changes in banking fields of knowledge and know-how and consequently in the skills necessary to carry them out. The evolution factors have been grouped in 4 categories:

Economic and institutional

- Mergers and acquisitions

Privatization

Introduction of Euro competition

European integration rules

Deregulation

Globalization

Technological

E.D.I.

Electronic banking

Advancements in information technology systems

Social and legal

Reduction of operating costs

Reduction of social security and state provisions

European Union directives for banks

Deregulation of collective agreements, development of individual agreements

Commercial

Competition

Liberalization of commerce/rules

Globalization of financial transactions

Development of new financial transactions

Extension of commercial work time

The next step was to ascertain the impact of these factors on the different skills/qualifications. The researchers assessed the level of impact of the evolution factors on the 20 fields of knowledge and know how. The results concerning the estimated impact were evaluated by two groups of experts (ten experts from the bank trade unions and ten experts from the Association of Greek Banks)

The above methodology allows the description of job profiles.

Development of a forecasting tool for the changes in banking job profile, which was realized in the context of the previously mentioned research project. The forecasting method is informed by the following components:

Description of the main trends in the banking sector at national level

Analysis of the content of the sectoral collective bargaining agreements as far as future actions/developments are concerned

Description and analysis of the training system in the banking sector

Data from the sectoral Employment Observatory

Analysis of job descriptions as far as the required skills are concerned

Training needs analysis

This forecasting tool has not been used yet.

Main innovation selection criterion

The main selection criterion of the innovation is: "New Information".

The project aimed at informing on the changes that are taking place as regards job profiles and new skills in the banking sector. The approach of INE-OTOE involved the identification of gaps in skills and qualification in performing a particular job, the identification was based on the tools and methods delivered from the research project (described in point 9) and it is this methodology of "producing" new information that constitutes the innovation in this case.

The produced new information is disseminated through the pre-training activities.

According to which other selection criteria could this approach also be subsumed as innovative? Any why?

The other selection criterion to which this innovation could also be subsumed is: Demand and supply. Bank employees have been informed, during the pre-training activities, on the necessary steps that they should take in order to meet future requirements set by the employers’ side.

The expected changes in job profiles and skills, which can derive from the use of the methodology suggested in the research project (see point 9) can be anticipated with the help of the pre-training activities developed by INE-OTOE (and the training activities that are to be initialized in 1998). Both the research project and the pretraining programme are innovative (see points 5 and 9).

Shifts, changes realized through the innovation

The evaluation of the project concluded, among others, that the employees that attended the pre-training activities have changed, as far as the way they used to consider the developments in their working environment is concerned. The answers to be questionnaire that each participant had to fill up after the completion of the pre-training course, show that the stance of the participants has changed considerably, from rather defensive to more offensive. The demand for training has risen in the areas where pre-training activities took place.

Difficulties encountered during the process

The main difficulty encountered was the lack of trainers who could meet the requirements of the pre-training activities. Apart from the fact that there was a large number of issues that had to be addressed, the fact that the activities took place in remote areas was a highly disabling factor for those trainers who were adequate for the project. INE-OTOE considers the possibility of introducing new teaching methods (teleconferencing, multimedia applications, distance learning) to overcome this problem as far as the training activities that will follow the pre-training ones are concerned.

Another difficulty was to initiate the courses at the local level. Locally based actors were reluctant to accept the need for these courses mainly for the reason mentioned at point 4 (specific to permanent staff attitude against changes).

A potential difficulty concerning the matching of the pre-training activity and the training needs at the local level was anticipated. INE-OTOE prior to any pre-training activity held a workshop with the participation of local bank officials. During this workshop, both sides exchanged views and information that allowed INE-OTOE to adapt the activity to the local training needs.

The most important problem area as regards the identification, and especially the forecasting, of training needs is that the requirements of the methodology developed during the research project (see point 9) cannot be met. This mainly refers to structures, such as the sectoral Employement observatory that has not fully developed its services yet and thus cannot provide the range of data required for the forecasting of changes.

Effects of the innovation

The most important effect of the innovation was that it created a fertile ground for the training activities that will follow, from 1998 on. The demand has risen and from the employers’ side there is specific planning of training activities throughout Greece. It is most probable that the methods to be used will be that of INE-OTOE, especially as far as training needs analysis is concerned, since there is no other similar experience in the Greek banking sector.

The positive results of the innovation partially contributed to the decision of INE-OTOE to use new training technologies and give more emphasis to the decentralization of training activities. The Institute is considering the establishment of a Distance Learning Laboratory.

Transfer potential

INE-OTOE has been invited by a number of Balkan stated to implement these pre-training activities and to transfer the know-how developed within the context of the study. INE-OTOE has already conducted a number of pre-training courses in Cyprus (in cooperation with the Association of Bank Employees of Cyprus), and in Athens with participants from Bulgarian banks. Similar activities have been scheduled for 1998 for bank employees from Albania, FYROM, Serbia an Romania.

As it has already been mentioned in point 8, the research on the methodology for forecasting and identifying future and current training needs has been based on the know how of CFPB (France).

The transfer potential of the results of the research could be increased if they would be adopted as a common tool for the Greek banking sector.

Contact persons who can provide additional information

Mr. A. Lakkas, INE-OTOE

Short summary

The Labour Institute of the Greek Federation of Bank Employees (INE/OTOE) launched, in 1994, pre-training activities for bank employees with priority to those living and working in remote areas of Greece. The aim of those activities was to inform and alert bank employees on the changes (structural, technological and institutional) that are taking place in the banking sector and the potential impact that these changes will have on banking jobs.

The majority of banks that operate in the Greek periphery are state owned. This means that a large segment of bank employees feel secure about their jobs (state owned enterprises’ collective agreements ensure the permanency of employees) and thus they do not consider the possibility of facing severe career problems in the future. On the other hand, private banks are increasing their share in the banking sector throughout Greece and thus are speeding up the changes that are under way, within a context of increasing competition which is expanding from cities to the periphery.

Within this context, INE-OTOE and the Association of Greek Banks identified the problem that, although training programmes were on offer, a large number of employees were not interested to upgrade their skills. To this end, apart from the pre-training programme, INE-OTOE carried out a research, which produced tools for the assessment of current and future trends in the banking sector as far as the demand for new skills and qualifications is concerned. These tools and the other results of the research were the basis for the reform of the content of the pre-training activities from 1996 onwards. In the period 1996-1997, INE-OTOE implemented 28 pre-training courses at remote areas which were attended by 1.500 bank employees. Depending on the characteristics of the local economy and the profile of trainees, there was the opportunity of adapting the course so as to give priority on certain issues.

The innovative character of this problem solving approach lies in the following:

The project aimed at informing on the changes that are taking place as regards job profiles and new skills in the banking sector on the basis of the tools and methods delivered from the research project (described in point 9) and it is this methodology of "producing" new information that constitutes the innovation in this case.

The produced new information is disseminated through the pre-training activities. Bank employees have been informed, during the pre-training activities, on the necessary steps that they should take in order to meet future requirements set by the employers’ side.

The most important effect of the innovation was that apart from its successful outcome, it created a fertile ground for the training activities that will follow, from 1998 onwards. Also, INE-OTOE has been invited by a number of Balkan stated to provide pre-training and transfer its know how. Also, there is increased demand by employers to finance similar programmes in Greece.