Competence Centers for Human Resources Development TOGETHER FOR GREATER COMPETITIVENESS Authors: Karin Sulič, Barbara Flakus, Nejc Ojsteršek, David Kastelec and Vladimir Milovanović Photographies: private archive and Competence centers’ archive Proofreading: Meta Kožuh, Paul Steed, Amidas., d. o. o. Publisher: Public Scholarship, Development, Disability and Maintenance Fund of the Republic of Slovenia Design: Birografika Bori, d. o. o. Ljubljana, November 2022 Cobiss ID Zapis CIP Kataložni zapis o publikaciji (CIP) pripravili v Narodni in univerzitetni knjižnici v Ljubljani COBISS.SI-ID 130876163 ISBN 978-961-96046-1-8 (PDF) Together for greater competitiveness FOREWORD I am proud and happy to have co-created the success story of the Competence Centres for Human Resources Development: (Kompetenčni centri za razvoj kadrov - KOC), and to have been involved in it from the beginning, back in 2010. After 12 years of implementation, we have exceeded all our original expectations and objectives, since the stakeholders have recognised the programme’s quality. Evidence of this is the many encouraging responses from employers and, above all, the excellent results of the programme. mag. Barbara Leder, Director During this time, we have supported 46 competence centres which have involved almost a thousand Slovenian companies, with more than 100,000 participants in various training programmes to date. The secret of this success lies in partnerships and alliances between companies in related industries, which also lead to joint training sessions and education tailored to their needs and enable the strengthening of specific competencies. The programme has helped improve the competitive positions of individual companies and the economy, and the positions of employees in the labour market. Every company can become a team of successful, creative and satisfied individuals who constantly push the boundaries of development and co-create stories of success, provided that we continuously train them and take care of their development. And since today all good stories have sequels, we have been working and preparing everything for the programme of competence centres to continue as soon as possible. I am confident that all the lessons learned will help us achieve our goals even faster, and that they will have even more significant impacts. My thanks also go to the entire team, the employees of the programme who worked hard to provide the best support for businesses. 1 What are Competence Centres? Competence Centres for Human Resources Development (KOC) are partnerships of companies from the same sector or priority area as defined in the Slovenian Smart Specialisation Strategy S4. These partnerships bring together businesses of all sizes – micro, small, medium-sized and large. The idea of establishing competence centres emerged more than ten years ago, with the first KOC being set up in 2011. KOC 3.0 is the continuation of KOC 2.0 implemented from 2016 to 2019. Under the KOC 3.0 programme, a public invitation to tender for the establishment and operation of Competence Centres for Human Resources Development 2019–2022 was launched. Ten KOC partnerships were selected, involving 326 companies, of which 186 were small and medium-sized enterprises. The partnerships covered all nine verticals and the horizontal of the Slovenian Smart Specialisation Strategy S4: • KOC Circular Economy (Networks for the transition to the circular economy) • KOC Food 2 (Sustainable Food Production) • KOC ICT • KOC Sustainable Tourism II • KOC INOVATIS (Smart Buildings and Homes Including Wood Chain) • KOC AS (Health and Medicine) • KOC MAT 2.0 (Development of Materials as End Products) • KOC LOGINS (Mobility) • KOC ENERGY (Smart Cities and Communities) • KOC TOP (Factories of the Future) An overall budget of EUR 5,262,255.12 was earmarked for the establishment and functioning of the competence centres. The utilisation rate was 98%, or EUR 5,156,229.80. The envisaged objective was 15,000 inclusions into training programmes. By the end of the programme, 29,426 inclusions were achieved, representing a 196.17% utilisation rate. In addition to their core activities, i.e. the training of employees in partner companies, the competence centres carried out a range of other activities, from promoting lifelong learning and the KOC programme, working with external stakeholders in promoting companies and industries to young people, to organising a wide range of training sessions. 2 Together for greater competitiveness more than EUR 326 companies 5.000.000 funds 10 29.426 e competenc inclusions centres Companies committed within KOC 3.0 to deliver at least 10 joint training events, i.e. training events organised by the KOC project office for partner companies of that KOC or for other interested companies. Moreover, some KOCs implemented additional programmes or established contacts with companies in Slovenia or abroad in the KOC’s field of activity, further connecting partner companies and offering them new content. Much of the success of the KOCs relies on project offices that manage these partnerships. The project office is made up of one to three companies which, as a first step before applying for the tender, bring together the selected companies (called partner companies) within one of the competence centres which they then manage administratively and creatively throughout the project. From the start, project offices were set up and run by large companies, given that they had already developed both human resources and financial capacities. Most small and many medium-sized enterprises have no or poorly developed HR departments and lack experience in HR development. As a result of this, large companies can offer, in cooperation with smaller ones, their solutions and experience to facilitate the introduction of certain well-established or new concepts in HR development. However, the same applies in reverse. Small companies are much more flexible and can try out new HR approaches more easily, giving large companies the opportunity to see how useful specific approaches are before introducing them themselves. The following pages present individual competence centres and some of their achievements during the tender implementation. 3 Competence Centres introduce themselves KOC Circular Economy The main focus of the competence into their business environment. The inter-centre was the development of cir- nal structure of companies was strength-cular economy competences. The ened through informal training formats, thus concept of the circular economy model improving their performance on the market is based on natural systems where each and competitiveness of the Slovenian econ-component optimally complements the omy in the key area of the Smart Specialisa-whole. The essence of the circular econ-tion Strategies S4 – Networks for the Transi-omy model is that from the start all mate- tion to a Circular Economy. rials, products and processes are planned and designed so that there is no or as little The long-term objectives of the partner-Pregled krožnega gospodarstva waste as possible. In this context a suc-ship were: providing knowledge and skills cessful transition requires investments in through the competences of the future to the ke V našem tr y c enutn ompetenc em gospodarsk es em m o odelu f emplo Zasnova izyees delkov v kro who žnem increase the flexibility and performance of jemljemo materiale iz Zemlje, iz njih izdelujemo gospodarstvu namreč zagotavlja ar iz e delk directly e in jih na kon in cu za v vrž ol em v o k ed ot odp in adek čim daljše obdobje kroženja – proces je linearen po principu vzemi – nar the edi – izbusines delkov v rabi, pra s v tak pro o njihov - o employees; raising awareness among em- kaskadno rabo, pri tem pa cesses odvrzi. Konc rele ept kro vant žn for ega gospodar the stva p chang a izhaja ohranjajo dodano vrednost, iz naravnih sistemov, kjer vsaka komponenta k e olik fr or om dolgo je to a m line ogoče. Bist- vo ployees and employers in the partnership optimalno dopolnjuje celoto. Predstavljajo ga modela krožnega gospodarstva ar to a cir zaključeni sno cular ec vni tokovi na r onomy. azličnih ravneh, ki je, da so vsi materiali, proizvodi in procesi od začetka načrtovani in of the importance of lifelong learning in the predstavljajo kroženje materiala v življenjski dobi izdelka. oblikovani tako, da odpadkov ni oziroma je teh čim manj. field of the circular economy with a long- term environmental, economic and social Krožno gospodarstvo impact; bringing together the members of the partnership and promoting the transfer of good practices in human resources development; helping enhance the compet- itiveness and innovation of the Slovenian economy; and contributing to addressing the relevant gaps in competences in real work environments and the further development of such competences. The joint training sessions developed in The KOC Circular Economy partnership in-the project office with the staff from the volved 27 companies whose long-term goal Chamber of Commerce and Industry of was to introduce a circular business model Dolenjska and Bela Krajina and the Cham-4 Rezultati Together for greater competitiveness V partnerstvu izvedenih 27 2828 od tega v usposabljanja 993 vključenih 372 od vključitev oseb tega žensk vključenih na partnerskih podjetij 571 usposabljanjih 38 % ber of Commerce and Industry of Štajer-proved digital literacy among employees, % usposabljanj glede na Starost udeležencev ska targeted podr core skills and c očje usposabljanja ompetences and more interest in the skills that build Manj kot 25 let 30 do 54 let which the Ra y coor čunalnišk dinated o znanje with the partner on those in 25 do 29 let the fields 5 o 5 let in v f eč strategic orienta- companies. Stroko Due to vna znanja the diversity of the in- tion, change management and leadership. Upravljanje človeških virov dustries Uv and partner ajanje sprem s inv emb v poslo ol vn ved, o okolje the identi- Rapid repositioning of the priority compe- Krožni poslovni modeli 7 56 fication of a topic that would cater to the tences enabled further staff development 36 43 needs, interests and preferences of the by the partner companies and the use of 32 66 63 majority of partner 15,3 % 14s , occasionally 8 % posed a the newly ac 79 quired kno 98 wledge and skills challenge. The thematic clusters covered as a support tool to overcome the chal-21 % by the joint 25, tr 7 %aining sessions were: circular lenges raised by the pandemic. 297 456 business models, digitalisation and digital 23,2 % literacy, introducing changes in the busi-Given the complexity of the topic, such as 753 ness environment, material and energy the transition to a circular economy mod-efficiency, the use of different materials, el, and the various challenges confronted waste Iz manag obr ement azba and the preparation of within the partnership, the competence secondary udele ržaw encmaterials. ev The selection of centres were more than welcome since 0 4 these clusters aimed to ensure the highest they offered the partners the activities and 4 possible participation of emplo 271 32 y5ees from content 22 tailored to the wishes and needs of Slovenian companies seeking a successful the employers, and represented an excel-596 7 15 transition to a circular economy. lent support link in the design and creation 371 ISCED 0 of new strategies, eco-design and other The project ISCED 1- period 2 ISCED 3-4 was also marked by the elements necessary for the transition from COVID-19 pandemic, ISCED 5-8 which was a signifi- a linear to a cir 94 cular 277 business model. The cant challenge for the partner companies, project office believes that its systematic as it was for many others in Slovenia and approach to human resources develop-worldwide, as they focused on the activ-ment and cooperation with the partners ities needed to implement occupation-improved the competencies, productivity, al safety and employment preservation creativity and innovation of the partner-measures. During this period, the project ship’s employees and enhanced the com-office observed an increasing need for im- petitiveness of the Slovenian economy. 5 KOC Food 2 2 HRANA Kompetencni center za razvoj kadrov The KOC Food 2 Competence Cen- The competences developed in the part-tre for Human Resources Develop- ner companies were associated with ment was set up to integrate the professional skills, marketing, knowl-knowledge and skills of three sectors: edge of legislation, sustainability and the agro-food, chemical and paper, and eco-design, soft skills and knowledge paper processing industries. transfer. When it comes to investing in employees, the project office also pro-The knowledge hub was in the field of moted equality by instructing partner food contact packaging. On one side are companies to invest in all employee pro-manufacturers of packaging (chemical files – from senior management staff to and paper industry), while on the other production workers. side is the agro-food industry as a user of the packaging produced. The complexity The ties between the companies were of the challenges in these industries led also apparent in joint training sessions, in them to come together to form a com-particular with a training package entitled mon Competence Centre for Human Re-the Food Contact Packaging Academy de- sources Development. The partnership livered to the companies by the project consisted of 35 companies, i.e. 17 large office. The six-day academy of more than enterprises, 11 medium-sized enterpris-20 experts from various institutions, com- es and eight small enterprises. KOC Food panies and universities shared the latest 2 was closely linked to the work of the knowledge in packaging-related fields. It Strategic Research and Innovation Part-proved very relevant and useful and was nership for Priority Area S4 Sustainable repeated in 2022. We hope to continue Food Production (SRIP FOOD). This ena-the activities under the academy after bled the partner companies to directly the end of the KOC 3.0 programme. This connect with the activities in the five training was selected as an example of focus areas of SRIP FOOD (raw materials good practice, and was presented at an and the sustainable use of resources; Edutainment event where the future of smart process planning and process con-competences and training was discussed. trol; advanced equipment and technolo- It was also presented as an example of gies for food production and processing; good practice in the KOC project at the hygiene, food safety and quality; and annual conference of the Public Scholar-food, nutrition and consumers). ship, Development, Disability and Maintenance Fund in Laško in 2022. 6 Together for greater competitiveness In cooperation with SRIP FOOD, a Human Resources Development (HRD) Commit- REPUBLIKA SLOVENIJA tee was established during the lifetime MINISTRSTVO ZA DELO, DRUŽINO, SOCIALNE ZADEVE IN ENAKE MOŽNOSTI of the project to strategically address human resources in the agro-food sector. The committee continues to meet regularly to deal with the human re- sources challenges faced by agro-food companies. 3S panog do novih kompetenc Despite the challenges and ambitious objectives, the constant encouragement, information and individual approach to the partner companies and the con-sideration of their needs resulted in a satisfactory result for the partnership. All stakeholders expressed their wish # znanje for further similar activities that Slove- # sodelovanje nia and the European Union could offer # razvoj through the European Social Fund. ”KOC Food 2 project has connected busi- nesses with research and educational Projekt KOC HRANA 2 sofinancirata Republika Slovenija in Evropska unija iz Evropskega socialnega sklada. institutions. Cooperation between them contributed to improved synergy, con- crete solutions and implementation of new products.” Matej Kirn, Head of the KOC Food 2 Com- petence Centre for Human Resources Development 7 KOC ICT The KOC ICT project brought to- how can we be (better) when looking gether 30 high-tech companies for new staff, how can we (better) moti-providing advanced solutions to vate teams, how can we (better) reward the domestic and world markets. teams and individuals, how can we build (more) accountability and owner- During the project implementation, 266 ship, how can we build a (better) men-training sessions related to the devel-toring system. opment of soft skills were held, and 203 training sessions focusing on the They designed a continuous training development of professional skills were programme of HR training meetings. The delivered. In total, 385 training sessions meetings focus on HR, and are aimed at were held and 2,273 inclusions were sharing best practices between partner achieved. companies and external experts. Project partners learn about modern HR prac- The competences strengthened most tices, which also help them upgrade within the project were: ICT skills, cy-their own HR systems. These meetings bersecurity, leadership competences, are also designed to bring together HR soft skills, sales skills and others. After professionals from partner companies. the declaration of the COVID-19 epi- demic, they scaled up soft skills train-A video was produced to inform the ing. In an unpredictable situation, they public with a collection of highlights reacted quickly and took advantage of from the training sessions, outlining the online training sessions that would oth-project objectives and results. Avail- erwise have taken place abroad, and able at: https://www.koc-ikt.si/pred-would therefore have been harder to stavitev-projekta. attend. “Technological areas are an extremely It was the first of all the KOC to organ- fast-developing sector. That’s why it’s ise a HACKATHON in 2020 – Without vital for companies operating in this People, only Computers are Left – for sector to invest in the development of the KOC ICT Consortium partner compa-our employees and thus contribute to nies. They were seeking answers to the better performance. Participation in the human resources challenges of today. KOC project is important for our com-They focused on the following issues: pany for two main reasons. The effect 8 Together for greater competitiveness was twofold; our cooperation enabled from the diverse good practices of oth-us to co-finance and thus participate in er companies.” a number of useful training courses cru- cial for our development. On the other Katja Dolinar, Head of People and Cul-hand, regular networking with partners ture at Cosylab d.d. allowed us to get familiar with and learn 9 KOC Tourism II Despite all the difficulties, the part- sults. Soft skills training sessions were nership held training sessions in held in parallel, which had a positive specialist and soft skills, thus impact on understanding and working in successfully pursuing the project’s ob-companies, resulting in lasting wellbe-jectives together with its partners. ing and good relationships among em- ployees. Given the project’s objectives, the part- nership wanted to continue promoting With the aim of bringing together part-the results of the Competence Centre for ners in the field of human resources Sustainable Tourism I within which it had development, the second online profes-established a basic competence mod- sional KOC conference was organised: el for the sector and a national training The future of competence development centre for staff to ensure the project’s to guarantee guest satisfaction – the im-consistent quality and sustainable re- pact of pandemics and digitalisation on 10 Together for greater competitiveness competence development in tourism. cess organisation, tourism expertise, The focus was on strengthening digital strengthening sales skills in tourism and competences in the hospitality and tour-soft skills. The training also addressed ism sectors. A number of speakers from the strengthening of managerial com-different fields of work presented them- petences, employee and customer rela- selves and shared their impressions on tions and digital marketing. the topic. KOC Learning Minutes – publication of Competence improvement mainly fo-short training videos on specific topics cused on change management and pro-in hospitality and tourism. 11 KOC INOVATIS The Competence Centre for Human innovation of employees, companies and Resources Development for Innova-the Slovenian economy. tive Buildings – KOC INOVATIS was designed and set up within the third gen- The KOC INOVATIS partnership (2019– eration of competence centres to acceler- 2022) built on the partnership of the Com- ate the reduction of the shortage of key petence Centre for a Sustainable Future competences in the workforce of the com- (2013–2015) and the Competence Cen- panies in the “Smart buildings and homes tre for Human Resources Development in including wood chain”, to strengthen the Modern Sustainable Construction (2016– ties between companies, to promote the 2019) and brought together 28 partners exchange of good practices in human (23 micro, small and medium-sized enter-resources development and promote a prises and five large enterprises). lifelong approach to training. This helped improve the qualifications of the staff in The project’s objective was achieved, companies, and the competitiveness and i.e. the setting up and functioning of the 12 Together for greater competitiveness KOC INOVATIS Competence Centre within All indicators representing the criteria for which the skills in specific posts in compa-project performance evaluation were met nies involved in the partnership improved. and, in many cases, even exceeded. The partners gave a very positive assessment They identified 20 key competences and of the project and its achievements. Many developed and conducted a joint training partners indicated very tangible improve-programme. They enabled partners to gain ments supported by the project. insight into key areas and thus be more motivated to take up in-depth training in Upon the completion of the project, an ex-these fields. pert meeting entitled Smart Buildings and Ideal Living Environments was held, which Targeted training sessions were the key was attended by teachers of secondary activity to develop selected key compe-technical schools and other teaching staff tences. The project had a target of at least of secondary and vocational education in 1,500 entrants to training, specialisation, this field, experts from the Centre of the additional qualifications and retraining Republic of Slovenia for Vocational Educa-programmes, which was exceeded, re- tion and Training, and other experts from sulting in more than 2,500 participants in relevant educational programmes (electri-more than 550 training courses. cal engineering, mechanical engineering, computer science and informatics, mecha-13 tronics, civil engineering, environmental mentation. The co-financing of training protection and nature conservation, etc.). allowed us to cooperate and network with Based on specific training sessions in the companies with which we shared costs field and with the help of external experts, and could therefore afford to engage top they drafted an elective module at the lev-experts for training.” el of secondary professional education for different programmes. Dean Besednjak, Kronoterm, d.o.o. KOC INOVATIS met the expectations of the “We are delighted to have the opportunity companies. They were supported in acquir-to participate in the KOC project. By being knowledge and skills and could attend ing involved in it, we acquired the neces-numerous and varied training sessions, but sary skills in leadership, cooperation and the main contribution was the knowledge networking through various training ses-gained with the possibility of further up-sions, workshops, meetings and guidance. grading it. KOC stimulated them to invest in These benefited us in terms of changes their employees through training more than in the workforce within the company and they otherwise would have been able to. inter-departmental networking. Our em- ployees are happy to take language cours- “In our opinion, the Competence Cen- es, which means we have put in place a tre project is one of the best projects to good communication structure and can promote competence development in penetrate foreign markets.” companies. There are at least two aspects in support of continuous project imple-Tjaša Tušar, M Sora, d.d. 14 Together for greater competitiveness KOC AS The Health and Medicine Competence the promotion of project activities; Centre (KOC AS) was the first KOC to focus on companies active within el- • Training programmes were tailored to derly care (active ageing). The partnership the needs of staff represented in all brought together 34 companies – 21 res-partners in key posts (paramedics, nurs- idential care homes, 11 elderly care pro- es, carers, physiotherapists, cooks, palli-viders and a provider of digital solutions – ative care specialists, home care provid- to form a partnership that delivers a large ers, etc.) acting jointly in the interest of part of elderly care services. They covered improving the lives of the elderly; the whole of Slovenia. • At the partnership level, there was an Active and healthy ageing was centred increase in the transfer of knowledge on the challenges of dementia, care, and experience, and the upgrading of and treatment, and was the main focus existing working practices in different and challenge of the partnership. Active workplaces; ageing also relies on the skills of management and operational personnel who • The project certainly had an impact make it possible through various forms of on both the staff (through their skills, care and support. Residential care homes attitudes and competences) and the and home care service providers were end-users of the services – the resi-important resources for achieving the dents and their relatives. target, as well as an opportunity to create new jobs and develop new services. They also developed social skills – com- passionate communication, conflict man- One of the project’s objectives was to agement, working conditions and stress address the shortage of staff in the social management – as well as strictly profes-care sector and tackle turnover, which sional competences, such as infection creates a challenge for the partners to control, rehabilitation and nursing and provide fast and quality induction train-the palliative care of residents. ing for new staff. The need to integrate social skills be-The main cooperation activities were: came apparent in employees since they • Integration into training programmes, were exhausted and on the verge of burn-transfer of practices within the sector, out. Training and a short break from work 15 was a way of rewarding them. The social sions, the project managed to achieve skills thus gained also helped them cope more than 4,800 inclusions of 2,033 better with stress, burnout, etc. employees in the partnership, despite the epidemic. Most of inclusions relat-During the lifetime of the project, more ed to social competences. In addition than 500 training sessions were held, of to the achieved measurable objectives, which 19 were joint sessions focusing on they developed very good relationships, dementia, nursing, compassionate com-helped each other, successfully spread munication and digitalisation, and infec-awareness of the importance of lifelong tion control. learning and thus laid solid foundations for further cooperation. This was followed by the training in the field of management, especially on how The added value of the project was the to manage staff during an epidemic. More building of competences that health than 130 providers took part. KOC AS professionals do not usually acquire, al-exceeded its inclusion target by about though in practice these competences 100%. Out of a target of 2,451 inclu-prove to be essential. Special mention 16 Together for greater competitiveness should be made of competences and positive impact on both staff and resi-skills in dealing with people, coping with dents, and ultimately on their families. changes in work environments, emotion- The involvement in the project was cer-al intelligence and empathy. A wide vari- tainly an opportunity, a possibility and ety of content made it possible for part-a motivation to improve the quality of ners to reduce the gap in the level of care work, the efficiency of processes and in-development and draft programmes for terpersonal relations. new competences. The selection of com- petences supported the partners’ key ob- “Without the co-financing and sup- jectives: ensuring quality of care, reduc-port from the KOC AS project, we would ing infections and injuries, and increasing not have been able to ‘afford’ all these the level of independence. high-quality in-house training sessions and excellent lecturers alongside the not-All partners were very satisfied with their for-profit work we do. The learners recog-participation in the project. As a result of nised this, expressed a high level of sat-their involvement in the KOC AS project isfaction and evaluated the content and and the co-financing, the partners had delivery of the training positively. Thank the opportunity to train a large number you for all your support, counselling and of staff involved in high-quality in-house coaching. We look forward to our cooper-training with outstanding lecturers. Traination in the future.” ing programmes were tailored to the needs of staff in key posts, which had a Romana Kavčič, DU Idrija 17 KOC MAT 2.0 The KOC MAT 2.0 project brings to- tion and robotisation; the development gether 11 micro, small and medi-of a new, permanent training programme; um-sized enterprises, and 22 large cost optimisation through the organisa-enterprises, all of which are active in tion of joint training sessions to acquire three areas within SRIP MATPRO: the met-the necessary competences of employ- alworking industry, multi-components ees in key posts; and the participation of and coatings, and ICT. The partner com-partners’ representatives in the prepara- panies employ more than 6,000 people. tion of occupational standards. At the start of the project, they presented, together with the partners in SRIP MAT-The deliverables and outputs of the pro- PRO, a list of 20 competences whose de- ject were: increasing the skills of employ-velopment was the focus of the project. ees, reducing skills shortage in the fields of process digitisation, automation and The primary purpose of KOC MAT 2.0 was robotics, and ensuring the programme to bring together companies in the field of sustainability by linking it with secondary employee competence development, to schools and faculties, among others. The carry out joint training sessions in priority primary project objective was achieved areas (efficient material development, digi-through the development and imple- talisation of processes, automation and ro-mentation of a new training programme botisation, and the improvement of process in the field of digitisation and automa-and product quality), thereby raising the tion (expert in project introduction and core competences of employees and en-management in the field of digitisation suring growth in value added per employ-and automation of production process- ee, revenue volume and jobs in the metal- es), which strengthened both specialist working and multicomponent industries. and soft skills. The programme consisted of 50 hours of training and 10 modules. By increasing competences, they acquired Two modules involved cooperation with the knowledge and skills to introduce the Siemens and its presentation of the de-systems of production management and ployment of technology solutions in com-technological development. The main panies. Employees from all partner com-activities and areas of cooperation were: panies took part in individual modules. the organisation of training sessions to present and transfer the existing practic-During the project implementation, they es in the fields of digitalisation, automa-managed to exceed all the indicators. 18 Together for greater competitiveness KOMPETENČNI CENTRI KOC MAT 2.0 ŠTEVILO UR USPOSABLJANJ 6.982 REALIZACIJA VKLJUČITEV V USPOSABLJANJA ŠTEVILO REALIZIRANIH ŠTEVILO VKLJUČENIH ŠTEVILO VKLJUČITEV USPOSABLJANJ UDELEŽENCEV 446 1.480 2.888 PODROČJA KOMPETENCE USPOSABLJANJ MEHKE RAČUNALNIŠKA VEŠČINE KAKOVOST VITKA ZNANJA PROIZVODNJA VODSTVENE STROKOVNA VEŠČINE DIGITALIZACIJA 9% ZNANJA S PODROČJA 14% 5% DIGITALNA 6% PISMENOST, 7% DIGITALIZACIJA 21% 16% PRODAJA 9% 38% IN TRŽENJE 12% 11% 22% 19% 11% TUJI JEZIK TUJI JEZIKI TEHNOLOŠKI, PROIZVODNI PROCESI IN POSTOPKI VODENJE TER IZBOLJŠAVE PRODAJNE IN POSLOVNIH PROCESOV NABAVNE VEŠČINE Naložbo sofinancirata Republika Slovenija in Evropska unija iz Evropskega socialnega sklada. Together with the project partners, they ment skills, assertive communication, and delivered almost 200 more training ses-competences in digitalisation, sustainable sions than planned. The partners opted for development and the circular economy. cheaper training sessions than planned, which led to a higher number of training At the end of the project they found that sessions delivered and more inclusions competences related to technology, pro-than planned. Despite the epidemiologi-duction processes and procedures were cal situation and the ban on live training, most frequently the focus of training ses-the number of inclusions exceeded the sions. target by 44%, or 888 inclusions. At the same time, 1,480 employees received The project contributed to the introduc-training, representing a quarter of all em-tion of new concepts and approaches to ployees in the consortium companies. materials development and increased in-All partner companies were involved in novation, resulting in improved employ-the training programme. Various training ee motivation and a higher value added courses developed key competences in per employee. The development activity lean manufacturing, and technical exper-and competitive advantages of compa- tise, managerial skills, sales and procurenies have increased. 19 An important contribution of this project in the fact that we had group training op-was that the training of large companies portunities with other companies where was also co-financed, and the KOC MAT we exchanged experience. Investing in 2.0 consortium partners also want large education and motivating employees to companies to be able to participate in be trained is crucial if we want to perform such projects in the future. well as a company.” “I see the project added value primarily Denis Špelič, Alcad d.o.o. 20 Together for greater competitiveness KOC LOGINS The KOC Logins project office islation and regulations. In addition to brought together 31 small, medi-these competences, employees devel- um-sized and large enterprises op- oped soft and financial-accounting skills, erating successfully in logistics for many sales, marketing and managerial skills. years. Special mention can also be made of The project delivered 537 training ses-the extensive and well-attended training sions to 1,938 employees, with the ma-courses for developing employees’ digi-jority aged 30 to 54. tal skills or the training needed to facilitate the digitisation of business process- The participants of training sessions es. Logistics is highly regulated, in certain gained knowledge and skills in the area areas at a global level, and thus keeping of key competences identified in the up to date with changes in legislation and partnership – most of the training pro-continuous training are mandatory. grammes provided by the companies to their employees were associated with Employees attended short one-day train-logistics and transport and related leg-ing sessions as well as longer and more 21 complex ones. Foreign language courses are certainly worth mentioning among the longer training courses, as, especially in logistics, the mastery of foreign languages is a highly sought-after competence. Training sessions were attended by both senior and junior staff. Mag. Branko Lotrič 2020 was a landmark year in many re-spects. In particular, because companies “Employers need to be aware of the had to face a completely new situation fact that their employees represent the they had never experienced before. Part-greatest added value when they possess ner companies have embraced the new a broad range of skills, are knowledge-online training system and see many able, have technical and soft skills and advantages, such as time and cost sav-can communicate. The consortium’s main ings, and easier scheduling of workers for objective was to reduce mismatches be-training. tween the competences developed by employees and the required level of the A joint online training session with KOC development of each competence. It is Energy was conducted to be better important that the companies included equipped to cope with the new situation. in the project are not in competition with It aimed to support the managers of the each other, but strive for a common ap-partner companies in their efforts to stabi-proach to HR development within the in- lise the situation and prepare for the best dustry and the circulation of knowledge, possible way out of the crisis. How man-and at the same time ensure the transfer agers influence their colleagues, external of good practices in the introduction of partners, customers and the broader envi-HR development improvements between ronment through their behaviour and con- organisations in the industry.” duct is crucial in such times. During the interactive, workshop-oriented training, Branko Lotrič, Director of B&B, izo-Bojana Florjančič taught the participants braževanje in usposabljanje d.o.o., pro-practical methods and tools for successful ject applicant management of people in crisis, and Miha Bešter touched upon the question of how a systematic approach can reduce the ad- verse consequences of a crisis. 22 Together for greater competitiveness For us, HR managers, participation in the KOC project and the funds obtained mean, in particular, a more powerful bargaining position vis-à-vis the management, as the additional funds allow us to organise more in-house training and education activities in various fields. At Kuehne + Nagel d.o.o., Barbara Pogačar Zupan we organised managerial workshops, language courses, stress management work- “Our involvement in the KOC project has shops, participation in purchasing and brought a lot to our company. The joint sales conferences, and numerous other training sessions organised by the KOC training events to develop the soft skills of Logins project office provided us with our employees. The knowledge and skills useful content and the opportunity to we have gained are useful for the compa-network and share experiences and good ny’s development and increasing employ-practices with other companies in our ee satisfaction and commitment.” sector. Barbara Pogačar Zupan, Kuehne + Nagel d.o.o. 23 KOC ENERGY KOC Energy brings together 30 part- tences of employees in the sector and to ner companies in the fields of elec-increase investments in the development tricity generation, marketing, dis-of key competences of employees. KOC En- tribution and management, renewable ergy aims at the networking and long-term energy sources (RES), self-sufficiency in cooperation of companies in the energy electricity supply, high-efficiency co-gen-sector with the goal of creating a common eration of heat and power (CHP), energy approach to developing the human re-storage, design and management of in- sources needed for the challenges of the novative smart electricity supply systems future, achieving greater competitiveness and energy efficiency optimisation sys-of employees and companies, allowing a tems. single voice in the market and establishing a dialogue with the public. Energy supply is one of the key challenges of the future. The challenges of the energy The project office held two expert consulta-sector are associated with optimal electric-tions with the participation of experts from ity supply in the long term while pursuing partner companies and representatives the objectives of decarbonisation and en-from the Jožef Stefan Institute (CEU), the ergy self-sufficiency in the face of grow-Distribution Academy of Elektro Maribor, ing electricity demand. Energy efficiency CER, the Slovenian Photovoltaic Associa-measures, increased use of renewable and tion and the Energy Directorate. Relevant low-carbon sources, and the development media were also informed of the events. of advanced energy systems and services play an important role. The main task relat-They also partnered with the Circular Busi-ed to the future development of the energy ness Academy, which brings together in-sector in Slovenia is to ensure a balance ternational experts to develop a training among the three basic pillars of energy policy which are inextricably intertwined: climate sustainability, security of supply and competitiveness of energy supply. Only companies with employees who are constantly learning will be able to meet the challenges of the future and the associated changes. The main purpose of the project was therefore to identify the future compe-24 Together for greater competitiveness programme on the transition to circular to equip our employees with the compe-business models for companies in the en- tences they will need to be the future facili-ergy sector. tators of the green transition.” A Letter of Intent was signed with the B&B Peter Kaube, Project Director, Elektro Mar-College of Sustainable Development, com- ibor d.d. mitting to work together towards a long-term business and professional cooperation. They will continue the cooperation to pursue shared objectives and interests in the fields of energy management and en- ergy industry development. One of the main cooperation activities of Gregor Kustec the partnership was joint training planned according to the wishes of the partner companies. “Participation in the KOC Energy project was extremely important for our company “KOC Energy took us on the path of training since it offered additional opportunities which we needed to equip our employees to deliver first-rate professional training with all the skills and competences neces-sessions that we previously had found dif- sary to achieve business results on the one ficult to finance. As a company active in hand, and personal growth and employee the provision of consultancy and training satisfaction on the other. A valuable lesson services to clients and the development of learned is that the skills and competences information systems, we need up-to-date of co-workers are a complex area. These knowledge for our work, which we were consist mainly of up-to-date technical skills able to acquire through the KOC project. to implement the new technologies needed We have noticed that the implementation for distribution companies to implement of additional, more extensive training ses-the green transition commitments, and soft sions facilitates knowledge transfer and knowledge and skills such as leadership and improves our product development and communication to transform distribution day-to-day project work. Because of pos-companies into modern energy companies itive experiences and results, we believe with a focus on sustainable development, in that participation in similar projects is which care for employees and business re-essential and extremely beneficial to any lationships with customers are paramount. company, regardless of its size.” It is therefore important that KOC Energy helped us carry out various training courses Gregor Kustec, Director, ENEKOM, d.o.o. 25 KOC TOP The KOC Top Competence Centre brin- • Digital transformation in practice gs together 50 partner companies. • Social responsibility in the factories of the The main aim of the project was to future ensure the intrinsic motivation of employe- • Ensuring greater resilience of a company es for lifelong learning and their digital and in the face of disruption such as the CO-cultural literacy to effectively acquire the VID-19 pandemic competences of the future so that, aligned • Artificial intelligence for digital transfor-with the company’s vision and values, they mation will enable their company to survive and • Psychological resilience thrive in the global market. • Industrial and process safety school and platform The main objective of the project was to ensure the participation of at least 2,000 Seven of the eight publications were in employees in most beneficial training cou-journals, presented at international conferses to improve their key competences. The rences and entered in the Cobiss system, KOC-TOP project delivered 415 training and one was in a newspaper. The Factori-sessions with 1,662 people and 2,908 in- es of the Future Development Programme clusions. The participants were of both with practical guidance and steps has male and female, from all age groups and been published in the Factories of the all levels of education. Future brochure: https://www.mps.si/do- cuments/179/KOC-TOP_e-brosura.pdf. All 11 joint training sessions were open to the public and the partners, and also In an effort to ensure the project’s sustaina-promoted the competence centre and its bility and given the wide interest, further activities. Six new training programmes and support has been ensured for the factories one external training programme were te-of the future through concrete programmes sted as part of joint training sessions, whi-facilitating the speed and quality of the de-le knowledge exchanges involved a large velopment of smart factories in Slovenia. In number of experts. cooperation with similar projects, an expert decision support system for RESPO training Among the new training programmes, the selection was developed during the project following are worth highlighting: implementation. • Competences 4.0: Strategic management of technologies and human resources in All key objectives of the project were achi-the factories of the future eved, and the majority of them were also 26 Together for greater competitiveness Petra Janežič workshops on digital lean manufacturing. The activities foreseen in the application were successfully implemented, and the objectives were attained. The response of exceeded. The provision of information on partner companies to the usefulness of the the project focused on the key stakeholders competence centre regarding the improve-of the factories of the future, taking into ment of their competences was also very account the objective of sustainability of positive. the project activities after completion of the project. To this end, several projects were “Gorenje Orodjarna’s participation in the prepared with various international consor-KOC Top project resulted in the preparation tia, some of which have already been ado-of a good catalogue and the implementa- pted and followed by their implementation. tion of a training plan with a competence model for soft skills. The project carried out By raising the employees’ competences, the various professional training sessions whe-project results also have beneficial effects re we promoted, above all, the strengthe-on the broader social environment and ning of competences for the digitisation of sustainable development, in particular on processes, automation and lean manufac-the sustainable development goals (SDG 4) turing, as well as soft skills. Training cour-with regard to education, and indirectly on ses involved different professional profiles: other SDGs. Moreover, the project has had a sales engineers, project managers, quality positive impact on social responsibility and engineers, production workers, and so on. the level of environmental care as a result The KOC Top project gave us the opportuni-of numerous training sessions in these two ty to deliver far more training courses in a fields. A wide range of areas was covered shorter period than the company would with regard to enhancing the knowledge of have done without the co-financing.” digitalisation in companies, from training courses for the more sophisticated use of Petra Janežič, Head of Strategic Develo-extended software packages to intensive pment, Gorenje Orodjarna, d.o.o. 27 Information We created a unique business gift. It is an illustration of a bee by the renowned painter and illustrator Žarko Vrezec. The attitude towards bees is something unique among Slovenians and therefore represents the added emotional value of the gift, while at the same time it is a metaphor for the coexistence between workers or employ- ees and those responsible for their success. This symbiosis in nature and the business media, she presented two excel-business world at the same time led to lent examples of good practices in the im-the thought we added below the illustra- plementation of agile techniques in these tion: “Employees are like bees, you have companies. This was followed by an active to invest in them to be successful”. but relaxing break with Maja Kosmačin and 15 minutes of exercise and relaxation. Undoubtedly, the Let’s Get Creative web conference held on 14 September 2021 The exercise was followed by an interest-was one of the major events of the project ing round table with representatives from in 2021. The aim of the conference was the Šoštanj thermal power plant, Line-to show, together with first-rate domestic al and Ypsilon Institute, who presented and international guests and examples of their experiences and examples of good good practice, how creativity can be im-practices for achieving greater creativity proved and how it can also be achieved and innovation through intergenerational through intergenerational cooperation. cooperation. First, Janja Milič Velkavrh from Agilia Next on the programme was a virtual in-warmed up the atmosphere with a pres- teractive game with participants dividentation of agile techniques that will ed into six virtual groups. They worked surely help participants to plan innova-in teams applying creative thinking and tion processes. seeking products and services that would be commercially interesting for the chal- Together with her guests Valerija Marenče lenges of a modern HR service in 2030. from Adacta and Mitja Jereb from PM, 28 Together for greater competitiveness After the lunch break, Dragana Prijano-The KOC programme was also present- vič from the Olos Institute gave a lecture ed at the Fund’s conference entitled on an excellent tool, Points of You®, de- “Knowledge. Opportunities. Develop- veloped by the Israeli couple E. Shani ment. Changing the future through life-and Y. Golan, which allows participants long learning” , which took place on 19 to search for random associative stimu-and 20 May 2022 in Laško, Slovenia The li through stories, photos and music to conference featured examples of good open up a broader perspective, which is practice and the achievements of all the one of the prerequisites for boosting and Fund’s programmes co-financed by the reviving creative thinking. European Union. The conference was closed by the Ameri- can expert, Ryan Jenkins, CSP® (Certified Speaking Professional)™ who is an inter- nationally-recognised keynote speaker, virtual trainer, and author of books and articles on the topics of leadership, generational differences and the future of work. He is a co-founder of Sync Learning Experiences, a company that focuses on one-to-one leadership development workshops, and is also the President of the TopRock.org platform, a digital university where students can get a degree by learning on their smartphones. Ryan is an expert in the fields of working with different generations and the leadership of millennials and Generation Z, the future of work, reducing loneliness and foster-ing a sense of belonging at work. 29 Competent Slovenia In the era of globalisation, the Europe- an Union’s economies continue to face new challenges. And in the future, all working-age citizens of the European Union will need a broad range of core com- petences to be flexible enough to adapt to rapid changes in a dynamic world. Through funding from the European So- cial Fund and the budget of the Republic Some of the high-profile training events of Slovenia, Competent Slovenia aims to organised by Competent Slovenia during provide free access to modern business this period are presented below. knowledge and skills to those who want to achieve their full potential. Competent Nilima Bhat presented her rich experience Slovenia has been designed for all em-in managing global companies and advis- ployees in the Slovenian economy who ing multinationals such as Tata Consultan-see workshops on a particular topic as an cy Services, Etsy, Societe Generale Bank, opportunity to develop their careers, es-Microsoft, Vodafone and the YPO Group in pecially managers and HR professionals, an online lecture titled “The Heroic Jour-and all those responsible for employee ney of Leaders for the Future”. The power development. It promotes the develop-of leadership, or Shakti Leadership as she ment of soft and entrepreneurial skills in calls it (embracing both feminine and mas-the areas identified as competences of culine power in business), means focusing the future. It takes the form of workshops on a permanently innovative business and training sessions held throughout scenario with the goal of not only surviv-Slovenia in cooperation with various lo-ing but also succeeding. This direction and cal stakeholders. this path requires a great deal of resilience and inspiring energy, which we can only The interest in the Competent Slovenia draw from “Shakti” – the infinite source of training sessions during the KOC 3.0 power within us that fully represents us project was exceptional. We organised and fuels our creativity and changes. If you more than 230 training sessions and at-have accepted this as a “call to adventure”, tracted more than 4,200 participations. you have offered yourself the opportuni- ty for an exponential transformation and 30 Together for greater competitiveness to the Hansen Beck Method”, consisted of five intensive full-day workshops where participants learned about the role of a leader, the establishment of leadership integrity, effective communication with colleagues, speaking and chairing meetings, leading in times of change, motivating, increasing personal performance, and more. To secure effective knowledge transfer, participation in all five modules was mandatory. The meetings were held over a period of three months. the chance to discover within yourself the We have decided to present the well-es- “elixirs” for you and your business. tablished Franklin Covey method of improving performance, “The 7 Habits of A cycle of Bojana Florjančič’s workshops Highly Effective People”. The method has entitled “Training for CEOs, Legal Repre-been selected by the world’s top 20 ed- sentatives and Board Members according ucational institutions in the field of lead-31 ership programmes for nine consecutive whole, thus encouraging discipline and years. The five sessions of the licensed intelligence rather than passion and tal-e-learning course were delivered by Uroš ent. Learning is a physical process that Kozina, Head of Trainers at Franklin Covey is to be two-way (receiving and giving). Adria. The e-training was based on eter- There is a limited possibility at school nal, unchanging principles and proven ef-and work to give feedback, which is im-fective practices on how people’s behav- portant for connecting synapses. iour can be changed for the better. Jef Staes therefore encourages so-called Jef Staes, an authority on learning pro-destructive ideas (with a positive conno- cesses and innovative organisations, was tation) that change the world – such as our guest at the “Managers and Heroes” Red Monkey ideas. These are confronta-workshop. The problem he perceives and tional ideas that disturb the beliefs and lectures about is that generations born in daily routines of people, teams and or-the so-called 2D world find it harder to ganisations. They are seen as opportuni-adapt to the rapidly changing 3D world. ties by some, but often a “threat” to the One reason is a school system that pro-vast majority. As an example, Staes used vides content piece by piece but not the the launch of a vacuum cleaner without a 32 Together for greater competitiveness filter bag. This was a brilliant idea, but it as well as some government institutions, was a loss of business for filter bag sup-to get their messages across to mostly pliers. This also explains why “we fail to young people under 30, the so-called learn and innovate fast enough”. Generation Z. Timothy Armoo explained the impor-Timothy Armoo also presented his three tance of innovative marketing. In a three- main principles to win the hearts of Gen- hour lecture entitled “Generation Z: How eration Z: to win their hearts” he presented inno-1. Enable people to become the stars of vative ideas from his rich experience on their own show how to gain new customers more effec-2. Create narrative content tively through a variety of new communi- 3.Touch their culture cation channels. He claims that any brand can appeal to At the age of 24, Timothy Armoo is al-young people – what matters is the ap-ready CEO of Fanbytes, a successful on-proach used or the way of presenting it line video advertising platform. It helps to them. global brands such as Apple Music, Sony, YouGov, Warner, and Universal Studios, One of the best personality coaches in 33 Europe, Werner Katzengruber, recogthe first-order reality and concerns hard nised as the number 1 personality coach facts, figures, and data – what really ex-in Germany, gave a workshop on Leader- ists. The other reality, or what he calls the ship or Manipulation. second-order reality, involves emotions. These emotions provoke people to re- He presented the Transolution method spond again, and the repetition of a cer-that is an excellent tool for improving in-tain behaviour forms patterns. Patterns terpersonal relationships in both private are not only generated here and now, and professional life. The Transolution they also have a past. So we are active method involves a wide range of new within these two realities, but also within knowledge and skills, models and tech-the past and present, and we can look at niques that can be applied to create a how these two spaces, the space of expe-successful future. The Transolution meth- rience and the space of knowledge, influ- od presented by Werner Katzengruber ence the future. It’s all about change. But at the e-workshop is primarily a mental it is not just about feeling better or differ-model, a cognitive construct combining ently, or even doing things differently, it two levels or realities. The first is called is about making these things measurable. 34 Together for greater competitiveness Workplace”. To promote the event, we once again decided to place an advertise- ment on the RTV Slovenia website, which resulted in 101 participants taking part in the webinar. This interactive and engag-ing workshop provided different genera- tions with knowledge on what members of each generation value and appreciate, how best to communicate with them, and The collaboration with international lec-what leaders should and should not do to turers continued with Tim Elmore from connect with each employee to work to-the USA, the founder and CEO of Grow-gether as a successful team. ing Leaders, an Atlanta-based, non-profit organisation created to develop emerg- As part of a series of social media adver- ing leaders. Since the establishment of tising workshops, we organised several Growing Leaders, Tim Elmore has spoken online training sessions to provide the to more than 500,000 students, teachers participants with digital marketing knowl-and staff on hundreds of campuses across edge and skills. the US and elsewhere. He is a leading expert in intergenerational cooperation, The first workshop was conducted by and held a webinar for us in September Saša Špiler, and introduced participants entitled “Generational Diversity in the to the benefits of Instagram advertis-35 ing and how to start advertising on this Business Manager, Ads manager, events). platform (advertising via Instagram or The lecturer Saša Špiler outlined cam-Facebook Ads Manager). Similarly, the paign objectives and links to the sales second workshop on the topic of using funnel, and presented how to structure YouTube and YouTube advertising pre-campaigns and select audiences, as well sented the advantages of advertising on as how to set up campaigns (practical this platform. The lecturer Tanja Golčman demonstration). presented the relevant procedures from the first step onwards: how to start adver-We also added a workshop on using tising on YouTube (introducing the Goog- LinkedIn and LinkedIn advertising to the le Ads platform, YouTube channels, and series. The participants were informed of account linking), then the types of video why and how to advertise most effective-campaigns and various formats and the ly on LinkedIn and what the advantages connection to the sales funnel through are. a practical demonstration of how to structure campaigns, to the selection of To increase the visibility of companies audiences and the creation of “custom” and brands, we added a 360-degree pho-audiences. The participants also learned tography workshop and the application about the advantages of Facebook adver-of virtual reality for educational purposes tising and the first steps to start adver- (onboarding, training, presentations, etc.). tising on this platform (Facebook pixel, First, it was explained what 360-degree 36 Together for greater competitiveness media are, and what they enable us to do. These are more than just traditional pan- oramic images, as they allow us to move around the virtual space and see it in its entirety. This gives us a better picture of the space we want to show, which makes such media suitable for business advertising and positioning. Platforms such as Facebook, Google Street View (where people can not only walk the streets, but also enter buildings) and YouTube 360 allow such 360-degree media, the latter offering maximum promotional reach. The participants learned how to prepare The participants were shown domestic a video speech. After an overview of the and foreign examples of 360-degree pres-basics, such as what can be recorded and entations that can be used in presenting what the purpose of recording is, the spaces to potential clients or visitors (e.g. second step was the organisation of re-tourist accommodation, co-working spac- cording. We talked about choosing an ap- es, real estate, congress tourism, gaming propriate background, light and sound, as and entertainment, recreational facilities, these are the prerequisites for effective industrial and manufacturing plants, etc.). content delivery. Suitable content editing 37 software was also mentioned. The partic- ipants were shown how to edit the video themselves. The last part was dedicated to the presentation and overview of the video content, namely what is important when preparing content. They also acquainted themselves with the use of virtual reality for educational purposes. The workshop showcased examples of good practice in applying virtu- al reality, such as a presentation by KKW Brokdorf from Hamburg, the examples of the induction of new staff at Samsung, the employment of virtual reality in employee onboarding (e.g. a storekeeper), and the use of computer-generated imagery (CGI) in technical skills training (e.g. using a forklift). This allowed the participants to recognise differences between CGI and 360-degree videos as virtual reality. Vir- tual reality can also be employed in soft skills training, role-playing, communication and sales training, and so on. 38 KOC 3.0 Competence Centers for Human Resources Development Dunajska cesta 20, Ljubljana e info@sklad-kadri.si t 01 43 41 081 www.srips-rs.si Javni štipendijski, razvojni, invalidski in preživninski sklad RS Javni štipendijski, razvojni, invalidski in preživninski sklad Republike Slovenije The project is co-financed by the Ministry of Labour, Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities and the European Union under the European Social Fund.