From Push to Pull: ECVET and transparency instruments go Business – Modern Human Resource Management with European transparency instruments Erasmus Project

Project Title

From Push to Pull: ECVET and transparency instruments go Business – Modern Human Resource Management with European transparency instruments

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for vocational education and training

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2015

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Enterprise, industry and SMEs (incl. entrepreneurship); Recognition, transparency, certification; Entrepreneurial learning – entrepreneurship education

Project Summary

“At the moment ECVET is too conceptual and far from easy to implement. Moreover there is a huge gap between companies and the education sector in relation to timescales.” (ECVET Magazine, 11/2013 as consequence of the annual ECVET forum 2013). This statement of the workshop held with representatives of all European countries on the involvement of companies into the ECVET and whole transparency instruments process shows one of the most crucial success or fail factors of the ECVET process – the world of business. Recent studies and analysis (e.g. made during the peer evaluation event of the Slovak National Agency about ECVET in September 2017) do again confirm this difficult relationship between ECVET (education) and business, which becomes crucially important in the area of workbased learning.

There are of course many reasons for the fact that ECVET and transparency instruments do not really find their way into the world of business and work leading to a broad use of instruments and a paradigm shift from a push recommendation and requirement of teh European Commission and the education systems to a pull need of businesses who require these instruments as they improve their performance and outputs in HR processes. This change of paradigm was the main aim of the ECVET goes Business project.

The project aimed at the following main objectives:
1) Development of an approach to make ECVET and other European transparency instruments relevant for the regular HR processes of companies
2) Providing materials and information in a format and language HR managers, job stewards, business owners, foreworkers etc. can use and understand
3) Increase the demand for ECVET instruments on company level
4) Develop a short term and comprehensive training programme for HR managers, job stewards, business owners, foreworkers etc. on how to use ECVET and other tranparency instruments in the human resource management and development process
5) Feed the opnion and needs of companies back into the discussions on the ECVET implementation of the member states
6) Broaden and mainstream the use of ECVET by focusing on the business world

To reach the chosen objectives the ECVET goes Business project developed and realised following core intellectual outputs:
1) research study: during an in depth research based on the focus group methodology project partners elaborated with HR staff from companies the core HR processes where ECVET and transparency instrumenst could be used and embedded.
2) HR handbook: The handbook described as a reference tool the crucial HR processes in companies and how ECVET and European transparency instruments can support these core processes. This was done together with reference cases, supporting tools and instruments.
3) ECVET goes Business training course: A 2 days training programme for the target group of HR staff in the broadest sense where participants learn in practice how to work with ECVET and transparency tools in the HR practical work, test single instruments, exchange experiences and build a community of practice around the topic was developed including learning material.

The participating organisations in the project were mainly VET institutions with comprehensive experience in ECVET application, but also trade union, chamber of commerce and NGOs which commonly worked on the realisation of the intellectual outputs and the project impact overall. The partnership consisted of 8 organisations from 7 European countries. The combination of a set of thoroughly developed and tested intellectual outputs together with a comprehensive and well elaborated dissemination and exploitation strategy contributed to the achievement of a considerable impact on organisational, geographical and sectoral level. A broad number of companies, VET institutions, public organisations but also HR managers, company managers, job stewards, foreworkers and line managers participated actively in the project activities, learned about the wide possibilities of ECVET (instruments) and other transparency instruments in modern HR processes and finally managed to apply directly single instruments and tools in their HR processes. The project and its results received broad and
highly positive feedback from the world of business and also the world of education. A dedicated exploitation strategy for each partner country and beyond, together with the free availability of the project results as open educational ressources will ensure a long lasting sustainability of project results and the further improvement of the pull factor in ECVET implementation throughout Europe.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 270639,92 Eur

Project Coordinator

Auxilium pro Regionibus Europae in Rebus Culturalibus & Country: AT

Project Partners

• TREBAG SZELLEMI TULAJDON- ES PROJEKTMENEDZSER KFT
• OSTERREICHISCHER GEWERKSCHAFTSBUND
• FACHHOCHSCHULE DES MITTELSTANDES (FHM) GMBH – UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCE –
• GOSPODARSKA ZBORNICA SLOVENIJE
• A.RE.S. scarl
• MEATH COMMUNITY RURAL AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT PARTNERSHIP LIMITED
• FONDO FORMACION EUSKADI SLL