Novel method

Complex, integrated approach

Elements of novel method

Bilateral approach

Target

Building and development of the human resource management activity to result in the interaction and the harmony of the external and the internal organizational factors in accordance with the expectations of the European Union.

Subject, scope

1.      personal development

· Self-esteem, self-recognition

· Communication

· Personal effectiveness

· Conflict management

· Life long learning

2. rehabilitation

· mental rehabilitation – stress management

· physical rehabilitation

· health-conscious behaviour

3.      co-operation

· team building (group oriented approach)

· co-operation (individual oriented approach)

4.      professional knowledge improvement

· European Union Basic Knowledge – environmental support

· Rights of employees (strategy of equal chances, plan)

· Work safety – employment security

5.      information knowledge improvement

· word processing

· spreadsheet handling

· internet, intranet

In terms 1., 2., 3. and 5. individual and team development of the employee’s personality and competences are going on. The target of term 4. is to provide both the employee and the employer with a conceptual framework of the European Union’s expectations of the employment policy, the discrimination-free working place, the gender mainstreaming, the legal prescriptions (strategy of equal chances, plan on equal chances) and the family friendly working place.

Field of application

Labour market – employer side

The model contains a comprehensive, integrated development the costs of which can be borne only by the employer side, and even more by the for-profit organizations. (The definitive element is the employee’s fall out of the work.)

Novelty essence

Nowadays the organizations are thinking about hierarchy and strata, which is a hotbed of the survival of stereotypes (discrimination). The sphere of the employees consists of strata according to different criteria. The employees’ staff stratifies according to political and religious conviction, socio-cultural criteria, demographic properties, position in the hierarchy at the working place and to personality. Over and above ranking according to strata, the individual employees have independent will and mind, their decisions are influenced (sometimes governed) by their feelings, they act consciously or on impulse based on their interests more or less recognized. Their behaviour, performance, flexibility and readiness to learn at the working place are highly influenced by their individual wishes, ambitions, feelings, attitude, belief, psyche. The knowledge of and the influence on the behaviour, conduct of an individual at the working place and of the background ambitions, interests and motivation are essential conditions of the successful human resource policy and management.

Novelty is the bilateral approach, the short and the long terms, the joint evaluation of the advantage and the disadvantage, taken by us as a fundamental methodological position. The labour market position of the strata in adverse circumstances can be enhanced successfully by the bilateral approach and the harmonization of the organizational and the individual claims only. Disequilibrium will be the response of the system to any unilateral approach, either from the side of the organization or the individual. Harmony of the requirements of the short and the long terms is an essential condition of the smooth, continuous development. The short-term measures and the long-term strategy target may not contradict durably, because the consequences will show themselves in the malfunction of the organization as a result. The joint evaluation of the advantage and the disadvantage is a support of the decision making principle to choose among the alternatives. It is a fundamental standpoint that there are not only advantageous or only disadvantageous decisions or options. Decision making requires thorough analysis and mapping of the advantage and the disadvantage, for the evaluation of which the principle of cost-to-profit is used.

Novel method

Diversity management – change management

Elements of novel method

Creation of synergy effect

Target

Realization and improvement of the organizational efficiency, the permanent employment, equal chances and more economical human resource.

Subject, scope

In the domestic practice we are the first to apply the principle of “diversity management”.

The organizations are interested in taking the advantage of the diversity of their employees (Diversity Management), because the organizations, who support the employees having different properties in the evolvement of their capabilities, will have strategy and competition advantage.

Diversity management is based on the assumption that better results can be obtained by taking the advantage of human diversity and competences than by a simple summing up of the individual performances.

Field of application

Rigid, hierarchic, bureaucratic work organizations

Novelty essence

Nowadays the movement from the individual isolation toward the demand for work in common is represented by the qualified circles, the teams organized for projects, the self-governing and autonomous work groups. In the autonomous work groups the extension of the rights of self-determination, self-management of the employees, as well as the expansion of the scope of their responsibility (empowerment) are ensured.

Novelty is the approach to removal of the conventional narrow limits of the spheres of activities by the enhancement and regulation of horizontal movements among the spheres (rotation). Considerable advantage is taken, both by the employer and the employee, of the employees’ fluctuation among the spheres of activities or of the filling of a given position by staff replacement according to a predetermined plan. The activities of the employee widen out and become more interesting, and in addition, the employee will be capable of replacing the absent colleague by the experience acquired in the several spheres.

A special form of rotation is “job rotation”, which is a possible way of involving jobless people. The employer offers for the jobless to replace a permanent employee through a period when the permanent employee takes part in an extension training of a longer duration (maybe of several months). During the replacement period the jobless may join the world of organized labour and acquire fresh practice, which improves his/her chance to get a job.

The extension of the sphere of activities offers horizontal expansion of the tasks, the integration of several tasks and the enrichment of the scope of activity. Also the possibility of psychological development has to be created for the employee, which may change working attitude as well. It lowers the monotony and utilizes a wider range of the employee’s abilities and capabilities. The enrichment of the scope of activity provides vertical expansion of the tasks by giving higher responsibility and autonomy and loosening the working regulations, by allowing planning, self-management and self-checking and by assigning part of the leader’s tasks. The result of the enrichment of the scope of activity will be higher performance, inside motivation, lower rate of absence and fluctuation owing to the employee’s satisfaction.

Novel method

Career management

Means of novel method

Preparing career plan and career strategy

Target

Retention of the job and elimination of the discrimination by means of career management and by strengthening of organization loyalty.

Subject, scope

Starting point of our development system is elaboration of the individual career plan based on sizing up of the competences, the corresponding conditions of which are ensured by the organization.

Individual career planning is a bilateral process, which supposes the knowledge of the individual claims (self-recognition) and sizing up of the demand for the competences of the individual (knowledge of the market). The essentials of the career upgrading tasks vary in the several career states. Individual career upgrading supposes a very profound self-knowledge, a real professional plan and consequent action for which preparation-training is indispensable.

Outlining of the expectations concerning the conditions of filling of the job, the remuneration, training and the advancement, and drawing up of the schedule for the tasks specified in the plan. The movement and/or the development demand and the pertaining schedule necessary for the realization of the targeted career can be outlined on the basis of the information obtained from the individual development plan.

Field of application

For-profit organizations, non-profit organizations, individuals

Novelty essence

Different from the usual way at present we extend career management over to the whole circle of the employees, because we interpret the career at the working place as a life career at work. The target group of the project (disadvantaged people) so far has been left out of all company and organizational training courses, with the exception of the safety technical training. It is the task of the organization to secure satisfactory life career at work for the employees in adverse circumstances, by means of upgrading and training.

We use the means of career management for the retention of job and the elimination of discrimination.

Career inspiration of the individuals depends on their skill, age, gender, family status and personality. Different periods of the individual career separate in function of the age, each period having its particularities. A precondition of the successful carrier development is that in each career period the individual foresees carrier targets corresponding to the requirements of the period concerned. The career inspirations develop under the effect of the social and the organizational environment, which – using the information coming from the self-recognition as well, form the career targets of the individual. Well-founded and comprehensive information are necessary for the determination of the career targets and for the pertaining decisions. Self-recognition has an important role, the real objectives will result from the combination of the ambitions and the possibilities. Self-recognition is a part of the emotional intelligence, it develops with the help of feed-back and trainings. The competence-based tests reveal the individual strong and weak points of the members of the target group serving as basis for the development, and they help the employees in recognizing their own valuable qualities, interests, abilities and aims, strong and weak points to contribute to prepare their own individual development plans.

Novel means

INSIGHTS METHOD

Basis of novel means

personal report

Target

Fast and effective mapping of the personal properties required by the world of labour, a means of the principle to ensure “the most adequate people to all positions”. Active creation of the performance, capacity utilization of the working organization and the individual, promotion of permanent employment.

Subject, scope

Sizing up of the demand builds on the INSIGHT test and the evaluation through a questionnaire. INSIGHTS system is one of the most efficient means of personnel development. It is a personality examination method to deepen self-recognition – combined with trainings for the improvement of interpersonal effectiveness -, based on a profound and proved psychological system and on practical experience.

The INSIGHT Personal Report helps the co-workers in getting a deeper comprehension of themselves and of other people. A better understanding of the partners, colleagues and clients is a matter of primary importance in the improvement of communication and co-operation, as well as in building of an effective team with mature moral mind.

The method is based on Jung’s system of preferences, i.e. it classifies the organizational behaviour and the motivations and vocations governing the working preferences according to four different scales:

· target-orientation

· innovation-orientation

· management-orientation

· connection-orientation.

The different orientation scales measure vocation for the maximum performance, if the person has the chance for

· facing bigger and bigger challenges at the working place and may receive feedback on his/her performance (target-orientation);

· experimenting with new tasks from time to time and working on several tasks at a time instead of repeating tasks (innovation-orientation);

· getting an important position and directing other people (management-orientation) or

· working with a supporting, helpful team (connection-orientation).

On the basis of the different orientations the personal report on the behaviour in different situations, formation of connections, adaptability, flexibility, management of changes and the expectable reaction to living through the changes, influence on other people, paying attention to the details, making impressions, self-confidence, conduct in a team, strength and weakness both on individual and on   group levels, verbal capabilities, abstraction capabilities, etc.)

Field of application

Fields of the human resource development, managers evaluation, analysis

Novelty essence

Nowadays the personal properties are sized up according to a classical partition: management, marketing, motivation, etc. It aims only at the existence of the competence necessary for the position concerned. Other capabilities of the individual remain hidden and rise to the surface only in the course of the working activity.

Novelty is the approach by which we obtain an overall integrated picture of the individual sizing up and evaluating at a time his/her competences and their correlation. The method is a novelty also for it is made known to employees in adverse circumstances in the labour market, which allows faster and easier sizing up of their strength and weakness. The organization and the individual can be put into the working position with the most effective working activity. This will inspire, on a long term, permanent employment and the realization of discrimination-free working places.

Novel means

Individual Development Plan

Basis of novel means

Personal psychological evaluation

Target

The target of the Individual Development Plan is to highlight the  fields to be developed, enabling the individual to improve  employability chances in the labour market by self training and upgrading as a personal contribution. The training will be more effective, if the individual is also motivated in it personally.

Subject, scope

Preparation of the development plan for the individual according to the Personal Report, to serve as basis for the career plan to be drawn up by the organization.

Field of application

The participants of the labour market, HR management

Novelty essence

Nowadays the labour market weighs not only the requirements specified by an employer, but also its capability to meet them.

Novelty is the approach to provide the means of meeting the requirements, which indicates the targets both for the individual and the organization, whereby the experience of life long learning becomes accessible and living.

The plan for personal development is bipolar, based partly on deficiency competences obtained from the personal report, and - on the other hand -  it may be a basis for the career development plan. This means promotes the

· realization of diversity management

· realization of changes management

· career management.

Novel method

OUTDOOR METHOD

Means of novel method

Experiential learning

Target

Promotion of life long learning (LLL).

It promotes the social integration especially of disadvantaged, providing equal chances for them and creating the possibility of presence in the labour market and of job security.

Subject, scope

It is a training-developing method based on experiential pedagogical elements, resulting in experiential knowledge. Instead of the acquisition of an academic knowledge, the experiential learning aims at the personal and maturity development through active experience.

Key target points are the improvement of the participants’ personal skills (co-operation, change, problem solving, etc.) and the improvement of the motivation of the participating groups.

Field of application

Adults training, rehabilitation (both social and health), development training of handicapped people.

Novelty essence

Nowadays the society seems not to realize the difference between classical pedagogy and experiential pedagogy, and it is not either claiming for changes in this field. Adults can be trained and developed by tools different from the conventional means of education, because their methodogical expectations differ from classical pedagogy, i.e. they expect

· person-tailored training, based on individual learning

· diverging knowledge models

· diversity educating, training and teaching skills.

Novelty is the highlighting of the difference, by which we support not only the realization of the basis of life long learning, but also contribute to the change in the approach, which makes the performance oriented working place to be a human centric organization at the same time.

Principles of Experiential Learning:

· The Experiential Learning is efficient, if the carefully selected experience is followed by reflection, critical analysis and synthesis.

· The experience is building up so that the participant is urged to take initiative and to make decision, holding the participant responsible for the consequences.

· In the course of the Experiential Learning the participant is drawn actively into starting of the questions, examination, experimenting, solving of problems; the participant becomes curious, and he/she takes responsibility, shows creativity and forms an opinion.

Novel means

Mentors network

Basis of novel means

Mentors network is a special form of the human relations among the employee, the employer and the interest representation.

Target

Informal maintenance of relations. Promotion of organizational and professional socializing process, relation maintenance and communication of information.

· Help in the career development by the harmonization of the organizational requirements, targets and the individual goals on an optimal level and by taking personal responsibility;

· It makes the period of individual change management intensive and shorter;

· Support of restarting strategy. 

Subject, scope

With the network built up, the system renders information on the current questions in connection with the employment (information about the external, local supporting systems, etc.). 

Participants of the mentors network are employees, interest representing experts, who help by means of interpersonal experience and by adaptation of well-proved methods

· the employment of the employees in adverse circumstances for any reason,

· the establishment of the organizational system of the employment conditions of the employees in adverse circumstances,

· the strengthening of the interest representation of disadvantaged people,

· the achievement of equal chances in the labour market, and thereby

· the realization of the employment political targets of the European Union.

Every mentor candidate takes part in the professional trainings, the target of which is to provide both the employee and the employer with a conceptual framework of the European Union’s expectations of the employment policy, the discrimination-free working place, the gender mainstreaming, the legal prescriptions (strategy of equal chances, plan on equal chances) and the family friendly working place.

Field of application

HR management within the organization, trade union’s representatives, representatives of interests, representatives of the organizations of the social sector, civil groups

Novelty essence

Nowadays the mentors activity operates efficiently in the social sector.

Novelty is the system of the mentors network, which can be the basis for the realization of adaptation of the mentoring, functioning well in the social sector, for the corporate (for-profit) sector.

Novelty, furthermore, is the participation of the mentor candidates in the professional training, the target of which is to provide both the employee and the employer with a conceptual framework of the European Union’s expectations of the employment policy, the discrimination-free working place, the gender mainstreaming, the legal prescriptions (strategy of equal chances, plan of equal chances) and the family friendly working place.

Novel means

Mediation

Basis of novel means

Mediation is an assertive technique of expressing interests, capable of turning the parties to face one another and creating a common new understanding of their relation, whereby the two parties change the attitude to one another.

Target

To overcome stereotypes, to realize the maintenance and establishment of an open-minded relation and to eliminate discrimination as a result.

Subject, scope

Mediation has three basic elements easy to distinguish:

· consensus

· private character and mutual confidence

· dominance of claims and interests

It is expedient to use mediation (as a conciliating/mediating /intervening activity) in cases, when there is a conflict of interests or a public conflict among two or more parties, which cannot be solved by them either in a constructive way or within a reasonable time, and when it is necessary to be able to maintain the relation and the further co-operation.

· If one of the parties concerned or both parties feels to be pushed into the background (discrimination),

· If they cannot treat the changes at the working place (management of changes)

· If a competition is caused owing to staff reduction (re-organization, cost rationalization because of market loss, weak representation by the trade union)

· If the parties sustain former injuries and think the other party is of ill faith or a negative intent.

Field of application

Working organization, trade union, representations of interest

Novelty essence

Nowadays court is the forum, where working-place and labour disputes are resolved in judicial proceedings on the rights and the obligations. The failure in success of the long-lasting attempts to come to an agreement sometimes is due to the parties insisting on the unfriendly positions, when they are unable to come out of deadlock. The hostile positions come just from “the world of rights” – the parties stick in the past of the rights and the obligations.

Mediation is a novel means, which focuses on “the needs and interests” instead of  “the rights and obligations”. It is novel also for the agreement reached by mediation legally is as obligatory as any other legal contract or judicial decision. The use of mediation currently is characteristic also for the settlement of family conflicts. The adaptation of mediation for the labour market and the solution of labour and working-place problems is a new approach.

Novel method

Reflection

Means of novel method

Prompt participants’ feedback

Target

The adults, including the employees’ stratum in adverse circumstances, require non-conventional training and developing methods. The participants’ opinion and evaluation fed back directly at the end of education modules and trainings make it possible for the trainers to adjust better to the needs of the target group by minor refinement.

Subject, scope

Reflection focuses on two main fields, including 12 themes:

1.      Content elements of the training and development themes

2.      For the evaluation of the trainees and teachers

The basis of reflection is the Evaluation sheet (attached), summed up and evaluated after the training by the trainer or teacher, and they make proposal for possible adjustment, if necessary.

Field of application

Adults education, training, human resource potential development

Novelty essence

Nowadays adult education is based on the classical pedagogical methods. There is not a possibility of reflection to the evaluation of the lecturer or trainer or the opinion on the material delivered. The comparison and harmonization of the material delivered and the participants’ expectation fail to take place.

Reflection novelty is that there is the possibility of prompt feedback (communication of experiences), whereby the comparison of the training material and the participants’ expectations may take place at once. Furthermore, the participants feel being important, because their opinion is taken into account, and they are set thinking, so they can make evaluation adjusted to their own expectations. Reflection is an efficient means of the improvement of attitude to life long learning. It helps the acceptance of the necessity of LLL, bringing about a change of mind of the individual and the organization to be more flexible in the field of the adjustment to the external circumstances. Reflection based adjustment to the participants’ expectations (harmonization) and to the external circumstances makes it possible to create further and better tools.

Novel means

INSIGHTS METHOD

Basis of novel means

personal report

Target

Fast and effective mapping of the personal properties required by the world of labour, a means of the principle to ensure “the most adequate people to all positions”. Active creation of the performance, capacity utilization of the working organization and the individual, promotion of permanent employment.

Subject, scope

Sizing up of the demand builds on the INSIGHT test and the evaluation through a questionnaire. INSIGHTS system is one of the most efficient means of personnel development. It is a personality examination method to deepen self-recognition – combined with trainings for the improvement of interpersonal effectiveness -, basing on a profound and proved psychological system and on practical experience.

The INSIGHT Personal Report helps the co-workers in getting a deeper comprehension of themselves and of other people. A better understanding of the partners, colleagues and clients is a matter of primary importance in the improvement of communication and co-operation, as well as in building of an effective team with mature moral mind.

The method is based on Jung’s system of preferences, i.e. it classifies the organizational behaviour and the motivations and vocations governing the working preferences according to four different scales:

· target-orientation

· innovation-orientation

· management-orientation

· connection-orientation.

The different orientation scales measure vocation for the maximum performance, if the person has the chance for

· facing bigger and bigger challenges at the working place and may receive feedback on his/her performance (target-orientation);

· experimenting with new tasks from time to time and working on several tasks at a time instead of repeating tasks (innovation-orientation);

· getting an important position and directing other people (management-orientation) or

· working with a supporting, helpful team (connection-orientation).

On the basis of the different orientations the personal report on the behaviour in different situations, formation of connections, adaptability, flexibility, management of changes and the expectable reaction to living through the changes, influence on other people, paying attention to the details, making impressions, self-confidence, conduct in a team, strength and weakness both on individual and on   group levels, verbal capabilities, abstraction capabilities, etc.)

Field of application

Fields of the human resource development, managers evaluation, analysis

Novelty essence

Nowadays the personal properties are sized up according to a classical partition: management, marketing, motivation, etc. It aims only at the existence of the competence necessary for the position concerned. Other capabilities of the individual remain hidden and rise to the surface only in the course of the working activity.

Novelty is the approach by which we obtain an overall integrated picture of the individual sizing up and evaluating at a time his/her competences and their correlation. The method is a novelty also for it is made known to employees in adverse circumstances in the labour market, which allows faster and easier sizing up of their strength and weakness. The organization and the individual can be put into the working position with the most effective working activity. This will inspire, on a long term, permanent employment and the realization of discrimination-free working places.

Results obtained

Personal reports based on the Insights method have been prepared so far with 400 employees in adverse circumstances (the total number is 700 persons). The training classification proposal made by us for the competence based sizing up has not required any modification with none of the employers. The proposal has been accepted by the employees and by the employers equally. Every employee considered the result of the personal reports as real and well targeted. They found the personal report revealed many things even for themselves.

The employees and also the employers thought the information about  the efficient working, the relations at the working place and about team co-operation was valuable. Strengthened loyalty to one another is experienced, the starting steps toward the elimination of stereotypes are made. There is a considerable improvement in situation pending communication among the colleagues.

The most valuable factor of the personal report on the employees’ side is that they understood why and in which fields they need development and training. Their self-confidence and self-evaluation became stronger. The information contained in the personal report helped considerably the active participation in the trainings. A final evaluation will be prepared after the personal reports by all the seven hundred employees are drawn up. According to the results obtained currently we consider INSIGHTS as a successfully introduced and tested method.