GERMANY

AgenturQ is a jointly-established agency of social partners co-signatories of collective agreements in metal and electronics industries. It is situated in Stuttgart Germany. I was set up in 2002. It promotes vocational training an individual qualification, offering free-of-charge services to its members.

AgenturQ implements contents of collective agreements on vocational training. Including interviews to identify needs, evaluate, certificate and  plan personalised training paths. So doing, AgenturQ provides a service to enterprises and workers, planning their VET activities, educating managers and employee representatives, reducing/managing conflicts and improving efficiency and transparency of the process.

AiKomPass – self-assessment tool

The Federal State of Baden-Wuerttemberg supports an innovative research and development project to make informal and non-formal competences within the electrical and metal industries visible. Firstly, a task inventory was developed and then transformed to an online-tool (AiKomPass - https://www.aikompass.de/ ) which was tested and supported by  potential users. This tool enables employees and people in search of employment to perform a self- assessment of working tasks and document and visualize skills and knowledge. Currently a task inventory on logistics within production processes is being developed to complement the tool.

The online tool focuses especially on people not being formally qualified for the labour market. Prior research proved that users link competences to tasks of the work process or to leisure time. Based on these results the online tool was developed to give low qualifications users the opportunity to assess their ability to fulfil tasks.

The online-tool is available for free and accessible to all. The navigation of the tool enables the selection of specific elements of the task profile. Elements are a CV, a description of professional tasks in the metal and electrical industries, a description of professional tasks on logistics within  production processes, a description of the non-professional tasks outside the  metal and electrical industries, languageand computer skills, leisure time and volunteer work. At the end of the procedure the online-tool generates and visualizes a  personal profile, which can be downloaded as a PDF file.

Labour INT-Pilot action

This project aims at developing a web tool based on the existing AIKOM PASS to support third-country nationals, to support inclusion in one of the biggest labour market, the electrical and metal industry. A lot of third-country nationals could not bring formal documentation of their vocational career along, such as certificates or employment  references. Therefore, the official recognition procedure is not applicable to third country nationals.

It becomes necessary to match skill shortages and emerging employment concepts and strategies with informal and non-formal competences of third-country nationals. Target groups are both third-country nationals and companies.

The project aims at supporting both groups so thatindividual informal and non-formal competences can be assessed and required competence profiles defined. Another main objective is to enlarge usability of the tool and we envisage to open it to:

Ø  further industrial branches
Ø  other countries.

During the pilot action, the online-tool will be translated into the most relevant languages of the third-country nationals. In January 2016, more than 40 % of all asylum seekers in Baden-Wuerttemberg came from Syria. The national language in Syria is Arabian. Therefore it seems indispensable to transfer the contents of the web-based tool into Arabian language to open it to migrants and asylum seekers.

The translation of the task inventories into Arabian is probably a complex task. It involves not only language skills to figure out technical terms but requires cultural sensitivity. Eventually an additional language - preferably English - is needed while presenting the task inventory. Especially in cases of complex work tasks there is a need for further information such as pictures and videos. These kind of additional media might help to enrich the whole task inventory.

However, the further development of AiKomPass is not merely a matter of language translation.

Scientific research is needed in order to clarify if and how the tool can be adapted to the needs of potential users. For this reason, user involvement might be necessary as well to clarify on the contents and understanding of the list of tasks. The tool development itself means also adjustment of technical structures and contents within the tool.

The tool will be tested by companies and employment offices and also by employees, migrants and refugees.

Outputs (meetings, workshops, etc.)

An opening event will inform interested stakeholder groups about the project. During the project workshops and meetings will be held regularly to discuss progress with stakeholders and participating companies. The workshops will be a platform to further discuss strategies concerning the development and the popularization of the web-based tool. Results of the project will be presented to a wider public during a closing event.

Deliverables (software, brochures, leaflets, videos, etc.)

The project aims to deliver a revised and culturally as well as linguistic transla-ted web-based tool to assess individual informal und non-formal competences. The finalized tool is at the disposal for employees, companies and job seekers, also with multicultural background. To enlarge the target group and take especially the third-country nationals into account the tool offers a language selection.

Furthermore information brochures, leaflets and guides will be published in German and languages spoken by target groups. These publications target information seekers and describe the tool at different levels. Leaflets target stakeholder and inform them about the tool; other leaflets target potential user and provide them instructions on how to use the tool.

The finalized tool is at the disposal of employees, companies and job seekers, also with multicultural background. To enlarge the target group and take especially the third-country nationals into account the tool will offer a language selection. Furthermore, information brochures, leaflets and guides will be published in German and in other languages. These publications target information seekers and describe the tool at different levels.

Contact person:

Hans-Joachim Hoos
Mitglied der Geschäftsführung
AgenturQ - Agentur zur Förderung der beruflichen Weiterbildung in der Metall- und Elektroindustrie Baden-Württemberg e.V.
Hans-Joachim Hoos
hoos@agenturq.de
Tel: 0711-3659188-12