Bundesinstitut für Berufsbildung (BIBB)

Presentation of the prize winning concepts

Dr. Ilona Zeuch-Wiese, Head of the Press and Public Relations Department at BIBB

• In-service continuing dual training for the occupation of state accredited technician in the field of mechatronics
  
  The prize for innovation in continuing education and training awarded to this concept demonstrates how innovative and creative a school operating in the field of continuing education and training can be if it is afforded more responsibility for the organisation of its teaching and the content of its provision. This is precisely the policy the government of the State of Schleswig-Holstein has been pursuing in the case of the Commercial Vocational School at the Regional Vocational Education and Training Centre of the City of Flensburg, and the school has taken full advantage of this opportunity! It has taken the new occupation of "mechatronics technician" and added an even more innovative dual scheme of continuing vocational training in the form of a qualification as a "state recognised technician in the field of mechatronics", thus making the occupation more attractive. This qualification is not, however, merely restricted to mechatronics technicians. It also provides access to those who have undergone training in traditional engineering and electrical trades, after they have completed special bridging courses. All of this has been of benefit both to the skilled workers themselves as well as being in the interests of several industrial companies in the Flensburg region seeking new development opportunities for their employees.
  Within the context of their personnel development, the Flensburg based companies Danfoss Compressors GmbH, Motorola GmbH, Krones AG and Clausen & Bosse from Leck had signalled an urgent need for CVT opportunities for skilled workers interested in upgrading their training, whilst at the same time attaching a specific framework to this requirement. During the period of continuing vocational training, there should be no interruption to the activities of these employees, (ruling out part-time training, which the pattern of shift work could not accommodate) and the companies wished to benefit from the knowledge their employees were gaining whilst the qualification process was still ongoing!
  The crucial momentum that made the scheme feasible was provided by the Institute for Vocational Education and Training for Work and Technology at the University of Flensburg. Taking this as their basis, the school and A&R Managementberatung Flensburg worked together with the partner companies to develop a model to replace the conventional part-time training provision featuring afternoon tuition with one meeting all the requirements demanded by the companies, which is based on the structure and content of initial vocational education and training in the occupation of "mechatronics technician", albeit at a higher level, and which is also free of charge to the participants selected by their companies, apart from the significant sacrifice of leisure time required throughout the duration of the scheme, 8 hours of learning on Fridays and Saturdays over a period of just under three years. The other aspects of the further training are conducted in-company at the workplace or are organised on an individual basis, using information from the Internet. When the participants have successfully completed the required 2400 hours for the technician qualification, the final examination is also the equivalent of a certificate of general qualification for university entrance, enabling them to pursue their studies at this level should they so wish.
  The jury found this further training concept to be worthy of a an award in the way that it provided skilled workers in the electrical and engineering field with new opportunities to access advanced training, offering them a route oriented towards their in-company workplace and preparing them for a later management position within the company in a very specific and practice related way. An excellent project, resulting in the award of the Prize for Innovation in Continuing Education and Training 2006. Our warmest congratulations to all who were involved in the development and implementation of the concept.
  
  Contact:
  Gewerbliche Berufliche Schule am Regionalen Berufsbildungszentrum der Stadt Flensburg (GBS), Herr Heiko Heß;
  E-Mail: rbz@gbs-flensburg.de
  
• LoQuO
  Logistics qualification offensive
  
  Studies conducted into participation in continuing vocational training, regardless of whether these are carried out on a regional, supra-regional or international level, always produce the same results. Especially people who have acquired such a qualification in the course of their vocational education and training or higher education studies increase their employability and value on the labour market and have significantly more to offer than those who have been working for a considerable period of time as unskilled or semi-skilled workers and have not participated in the general move toward "lifelong learning". It is rare to find those in particular need of training involved in such schemes.
  The employees in the warehousing and transport division of SICK AG fall into this group of unskilled and semi-skilled workers, and this was exactly the nature of the company's problem. Although SICK AG appreciated the know-how these employees had acquired over the course of many years, the company could no longer afford their non-participation in continuing vocational training. Rising demands were making a significant increase in logistics efficiency within the SICK group a necessity, something that could only be achieved with appropriately qualified employees. Flexibility, continuous improvement processes, teamwork and social competence were all in demand, areas in which the existing staff were under qualified.
  The aim was, however, to retain the employees who had proved their worth in the work in the warehouse and transport division. This is, it seems, an aim that will be achieved!
  Since April 2005, SICK AG has been working with the Chamber of Commerce and Industry Training Centre Südlicher Oberrhein GmbH, with funding from the European Union and the Federal Ministry of Education and Research within the scope of the "Emmendingen District as a Learning Region" project, to implement a specific qualification project targeted in particular at this group of employees, largely lacking formal qualifications and unskilled, who, although they have been carrying out their duties for a considerable period of time, do not have any solidly based logistics training. The aim is to make it clear to the participants, who up until now have only been familiar with their own workplace, what their role and their duties are within the logistics process as a whole by providing them with theoretical and practical experience of upstream and downstream warehouse, product and transport processes, thus enabling them to visualise the value and individual responsibility attached to their own everyday work within the overall context of company processes as a whole. The project leads to certification as a Chamber of Commerce and Industry accredited logistics technician.
  The value and benefits of this qualification scheme, which takes place in-company at weekends and is financed by the company, are obvious.
  

  1. The participants can use what they have learned whilst the scheme is still ongoing.

  2. The insights they have gained qualify them to take on more responsibility in their area of deployment, thus also enabling them to earn more.

  3. They acquire a Chamber of Commerce and Industry certificate, providing in particular evidence of the know-how they have gained as well as recording their successful participation in the course.
   
  4. Finally, this certificate opens up opportunities for further vocational upgrading training by enabling the participants to go on to qualify as a Chamber of Commerce and Industry accredited "Master craftsman in warehouse management".
  
  This qualification is of particular significance in times where especially unskilled and semi-skilled workers are in danger of losing their jobs as necessary company changes demand qualified staff. It challenges and promotes the know-how acquired during many years of service and extends this into a formal, certified qualification with market value! This was the main reason why the jury decide to award this project the Prize for Innovation in Continuing Education and Training 2006.
  Our warmest congratulations to SICK AG and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry Training Centre Südlicher Oberrhein for this initiative!
   
  Contact:
  SICK AG, Ms Gabriele Volk; e-mail: gabriele.volk@sick.de
  

• Qualification for trainers in trade and industry
  "Corporate Communication and Language Trainer Certificate (CLTC)"
  
  Does this situation sound familiar to you? The telephone rings, you answer it and someone speaks to you in, let's say, English! You may well be able to speak English, but somehow the communication does not work out. And then there are the meetings with your partners from foreign companies. You both speak the same (foreign) language, yet seem to be talking at cross purposes. The actual aim of the discussion retreats into the far distance. And yet the trainers who have taught you in the language courses you have undertaken have certified that you have a high level of linguistic competence, and you have achieved excellent marks in both vocabulary and grammar. Your problem is that you have too many weaknesses in practical communication, or "business communication" in the workplace! Your continuing vocational training did not include communication in direct work related contexts.
  Indeed, this skill could not have been covered, due to the fact that your language trainers themselves had learned that the overriding learning aim of language courses is accuracy of language.
  Internationally operating companies, however, require employees who can deploy their language skills in their jobs quickly and easily, as well as merely being able to speak correctly. This involves being able to conduct telephone calls in a foreign language without any difficulty, putting across their own point of view in meetings and being able to make successful presentations to international business partners.
  The Prize for Innovation in Continuing Education and Training awarded in this instance recognises a project which qualifies trainers to achieve these very goals with the participants in their courses, in other words to equip them to use and manage their language competence in the best possible way in their own workplace.
  This is a qualification concept which was developed by practice for practice, by representatives of Henkel KGaA working together with the companies Bosch AG, 3M Deutschland GmbH and Skylight GmbH, all internationally operating companies precisely aware of the nature of language competence their employees need to possess and equally aware of the shortage of trainers fulfilling these requirements.
  In close collaboration with the companies mentioned above, Henkel has developed a modular continuing vocational programme comprising 60 hours of training for experienced freelance trainers and implemented this as an internal pilot project. This involves the company Henkel training freelance trainers in order to enable these to impart a foreign language to the employees of the company in a practice oriented and company specific way.
  The main reasons why the jury decided to award this concept the Prize for Innovation in Continuing Education and Training 2006 were:
  

  1. its purpose: the acquisition of content and methods for the teaching of employment oriented and work related foreign language skills for communication in the workplace (business communication),

  2. its method: the use of the concept of blended learning, comprising the alternation of phases of formal learning, self-directed learning and IT supported learning depending on the respective learning goals,
   
  3. its content: the alignment of the learning programme with the standards formulated in the "Common European Framework of Reference for Language Learning and Teaching", which aims to make language competence measurable and comparable across Europe. The level of recognition accorded to the certificate that is acquired thus extends well beyond the direct company related context.
  Our warmest congratulations on the WIP 2006, and we wish your concept every continued success!
   
  Contact:
  Henkel KGaA, Frau Gabriele Eilert-Ebke; e-mail: gabriele.eilert-ebke@henkel.com

• Quality management skilled worker in home economics
  
  Skilled workers and management staff in the field of home economics operate in areas where great emphasis is placed on quality and management or, perhaps I should say, ought to be placed: in hospitals and health clinics, in old people's homes and care homes, in child and youth welfare facilities, in training centres and in many other companies operating in the care services sector. The aim of new statutory terms of reference, as formulated in Social Code Volumes 11 and 12 and in the Law Governing Nursing and Other Homes, is to ensure this. Although they impose the introduction of binding concepts of quality assurance and quality management for the specialist area of home economics, no appropriate provision exists for the fulfilment of these statutory requirements.
  That no provision exists is not quite correct. In 2003, the German Federation for Home Economics launched its practice oriented continuing vocational training scheme leading to qualification as "Quality management skilled worker in home economics", and, since this point, the gap in provision which hitherto existed has been closed.
  The level of innovation in continuing vocational training that this represents could not be clearer!
  The Federation was not merely reacting to the new statutory regulations when it identified the need for this CVT provision. The lack of specialist knowledge both on the part of facilities providers and home economics skilled workers and management staff in the area of quality development and assurance had also become increasingly obvious in the course of the advisory services the body provides. And demand was being voiced for continuing vocational training from within professional practice, skilled workers and management staff increasingly finding themselves confronted with tasks in the area of quality management without being equipped to deal with these in an appropriate way.
  These factors were instrumental in the development of CVT provision, which has already resulted in success. Two cohorts, 29 participants, have passed their examinations with flying colours and interest remains at such a high level that 2005 saw a third programme being launched involving a further 15 people.
  The 110 hour further training programme, which can be completed as an in-service scheme, is generally financed by the employer and leads to education provider certification, all essential content relating to the field of quality assurance and quality management which is necessary for the area of home economics across the wide variety of institutions being imparted.
  The unanimous verdict of all the participants in the course so far has been to recognise its practical relevance. All have benefited greatly from their improved professional and social competence and have brought about a sustained improvement in their position within the company, whilst, of course, increasing their value on the labour market at the same time. And the direct benefit to the companies has also rapidly become apparent. Consistent, customer oriented improvement processes are replacing obsolete structures and opening up the door to modern developments.
  A particular reason why this project has been awarded the Prize for Innovation in Continuing Education and Training is the fact that it has closed a gap in the quality management system of social institutions both by providing a new qualification profile and by extending existing occupational profiles by establishing new qualifications. This strengthens the process of professionalisation within the home economics sector in practice and represents significant progress in this area.
  Work in the home economics sector, whether in hospitals, old people's homes or child day care facilities, needs a lobby! The jury hopes that this prize awarded to the German Federation for Home Economics in recognition of the commitment it has displayed in this project will contribute towards raising public awareness of this socially important work.
  Our warmest congratulations to the German Federation for Home Economics for this project!
   
  Contact:
  Berufsverband Hauswirtschaft (German Federation for Home Economics), Ms Karen Beuting-Lampe; e-mail: beuting-lampe@kompass-wesel.de
  Ms Beate Imhof-Gildein; e-mail: fortbildung@berufsverband-hauswirtschaft.de
  
• Securing jobs and competence development for semi-skilled/unskilled older employees
  
  This project represents a wise move on the part of the Bochumer Verein Verkehrstechnik GmbH. It has made use of the know-how available within the company and quite consciously reaped the rewards of this!
  The task facing the Bochumer Verein Verkehrstechnik was as follows. In order to be able to meet increasing customer demands, changes needed to be made to the way workers were deployed on the production line of the wheel rolling mill, the plan being to have 3 or 4 production shifts in the future rather than 2. In terms of work content, this involved great flexibility on the part of the staff, a major challenge for the largely semi-skilled workforce, average age 41, who had been operating in the same workplace within the company for a considerable number of years, scarcely undertaking anything at all in the way of continuing vocational training during this period. Although they possessed well-founded know-how directly related to their workplace, very few of these workers had looked beyond their immediate environment. They had only very sketchy knowledge, if any knowledge at all, of the upstream and downstream processes associated with their work, what was going on around them or how the company as a whole functioned.
  Nevertheless, the company did not wish to lose these employees. Their know-how was worth its weight in gold, but this gold needed to be polished up to make it shine. In other words, if the company wished to continue to deploy the high level of competence of the employees in a productive way, this competence needed to be enriched and expanded by the knowledge of other colleagues. If each worker were able to fill his or her colleague's workplace as well as his or her own, a higher level of production flexibility could be achieved with the existing staff.
  Within the scope of the EU inclusion initiative EQUAL, the Bochumer Verein Verkehrstechnik worked together with Soziale Innovation GmbH Dortmund in the development partnership GENERA to develop a competence model for semi-skilled, older workers, the results of this collaboration then being implemented in the form of a two-year pilot project within the wheel rolling mill. The main focus was on learning partnerships, so-called "tandems". These "tandems" consisted of an older, experienced expert at a particular workplace and a colleague who had little or no experience of the same workplace. The experienced employee took on the position of the teacher, the other assuming the role of the pupil, for an average period of between two and four months. By this point, the pupil had learned enough from his or her teacher to be able to operate effectively in the latter's workplace, and the teacher was free to join another tandem, this time as pupil, to extend his or her knowledge too.
  Management staff, on the other hand, took on the task of imparting knowledge extending beyond an individual workplace, in other words coherent, production specific knowledge. Before and after shifts, they used small learning groups to explain the whole of the production process, thus enabling the individual workplaces to be visualised as parts of a complex procedure.
  To prevent any slowdown in production as a result of this extensive qualification scheme, the Bochum based company have also created extra jobs in accordance with the "job rotation" model. In each of the first two years, 8 unemployed people were recruited for 12 months to take over the jobs of the tandem partners on a short-term basis. This also afforded them the opportunity to become qualified in the work they were doing. They did this so well that 9 out of the total of 16 temporary workers received a permanent contract.
  The jury was impressed by this project because it
  

  1. allowed semi-skilled and unskilled workers to experience the value of the in-service qualification they had acquired and challenged them to expand this value. This, in turn,
   
  2. promoted the occupational development and employability of a target group which rarely constitutes the main focus of any CVT schemes: people who find life hard and often, therefore, draw the short straw when operational restructuring measures necessitate redundancies. And the project went still further in this regard by
   
  3. also providing those without work with an opportunity to find employment and become qualified within the scope of the "job rotation", thus improving the future employment chances of these people too.
  Our warmest congratulations on this project!
   
  Contact:
  Bochumer Verein Verkehrstechnik GmbH (BVV), Herr Robert Bienert;
  e-mail: bienert@bochumer-verein.de
  Herr Dietmar Halbeisen; e-mail: dietmar.halbeisen@t-online.de
  Soziale Innovation GmbH, Frau Dr. Cordula Sczesny;
  e-mail: sczesny@soziale-innovation.de

Last modified on: November 23, 2006