Exchanging views with Switzerland on the structuring of commercial occupations
Franz Kaiser
Translated by: Martin Kelsey (Global SprachTeam)
Over the course of the last fifteen years, twelve new commercial training occupations have been developed in Germany and existing occupations within the area have largely been updated. In contrast to Germany, commercial training in Switzerland (which is referred to as basic training) is predominantly regulated via a single ordinance which provides specifications for 21 branches. Does this mean that Switzerland trains completely different types of commercial employees to those found in Germany?
The Swiss Association of Commercial Employees ("KV") and Section 4.2 at BIBB, which is responsible for commercial occupations, have been fostering an exchange of views for as long as 6 years. In February this year, a cooperation agreement was signed between BIBB and the Swiss Association of Commercial Employees which now puts this reciprocal arrangement on a long-term footing. The topics covered by the agreement are a structural comparison between the two countries, new requirements being made of commercial occupations, issues of suitable research methods and the significance of commercial occupations.
From left to right: Dr. Franz Kaiser (BIBB); Dr. Franz Bluntschli (KV Zurich), Prof. Michéle Rosenheck (KV Switzerland), Anke Kock (BIBB), Claude Meier (KV Switzerland), Rainer Brötz, Isabelle Noack, Benedikt Peppinghaus, Silvia Annen (BIBB)
At the most recent meeting of the Swiss Association of Commercial Employees and BIBB on 2 and 3 May (see photograph), a major role was played by work on National Qualifications Frameworks and a comparison of the fundamental requirements being made of commercial employees (see presentation at link still to be placed in the knowledge map at bilateral cooperation agreements) . Although the development process of the new commercial training ordinance in Switzerland and the research methods deployed were based on completely different foundations to Germany, there is a high degree of correlation with regard to basic skills requirements. A detailed comparison of requirements for commercial employees in the fields of banking and public administration and in the functional area of office management also revealed close similarities. This comparison was conducted using an analytical instrument from the "Commonalities and differences between initial and advanced commercial and business management occupations" research project carried out by BIBB (http://www.bibb.de/de/wlk52110.htm).
Advanced training occupations and the issue of the new requirements being made of the dual system, something which enjoys wide recognition in both countries, are on the agenda for next year.
