Labour Office & Clients
Counselling and Communication Skills
for Labour Office Advisers,
Counsellors and Job Mediators
Curriculum
&
Training Manual
Imprint
Project promoter: Úrad práce, sociálnych vecí a rodiny Dunajská Streda,
Alice Dobra, Ádorská 41, 929 48 Dunajská Streda
Web: www.upsvar.sk
Project coordinator: BEST Institut für berufsbezogene Weiterbildung und Personaltraining GmbH,
Dr. Wolfgang Eisenreich, Mariahilfer Straße 8, 1070 Wien
Web: www.best-training.com
Project Number: SK/04/B/P/PP-177401
Graphics and Layout: TELEHAUS WETTER / VeVFAR e.V.
Preface
Placing Employment
The new Employment Guidelines (2005-8) of the European Employment Strategy EES are streamlined. Numbering eight they fit within three priorities. To attract and retain more people in employment ranks first. The objectives require an efficient delivery system, in which the public employment services play a prominent role. Strengthening the effectiveness of job counselling and job placement is an European wide concern. Better matching of jobseekers and vacancies in the labour market are among the key objectives of the EES.
The project "Labour Office & Clients" (LOC)
… in this regard aims at promoting the transfer of experiences and competences in the area of job counselling and job placement. Co-operative learning and the exchange of professional expert knowledge provide the basis to develop and raise the awareness for the importance of specific key skills in the professional fields of counselling and job mediation.
This LOC - Curriculum and Manual
… is a joint product of 16 organizations of 10 European nations. The vocational trainings offered are designed to optimize job counselling and strengthen the effectiveness of public employment services operations at regional and local levels.
Sustained success of training means transfer into practice
The central feature for the success and high quality of vocational training is actually defined and recognized by the sustained change of habits and performance. This new approach incorporates the widening of skills and competences in order to fulfil the daily tasks.
Key skills are indispensable
… to achieve a – reasonable - success via training. Especially communication and social skills play a central role in the transfer process of knowledge and competences into the daily practice of job counselling and job mediation.
Consequently the following LOC - Curriculum & Manual is designed to perform both: to develop key skills and widen the competences of professional activities. They are clearly superior at putting across professional expert and general knowledge, which are the core elements of classical offers in the field of vocational training.
Indicators of Quality
The course participants will be involved cognitively (knowledge), affectively (sensations, intrinsic and ethic values) and in relation to habits and alternative actions. This underlines and supports the active and self directed transfer into the individual practice of job counselling and job mediation at the individual workplace in a process oriented way. One of the central criteria of quality and success lays in the detailed definition and selection of target groups and training needs (Social Marketing Approach).
Methods
This way of organized vocational training works best with group work and work shops. The delivery acknowledges and addresses a diversity of learning styles. The methods and modules provide a need-oriented way of learning, offer an innovative, individual variability and contain a mix of cooperative and participative training elements.
Subject Areas: Target group-oriented services
The LOC Curriculum & Manual is designed to perform both: to develop key skills and widen the competences of professional activities
q to strengthen and communicate a service-oriented culture within Labour Offices and JobCentres, to differentiate customers and to establish a detailed monitoring and evaluation
q to raise the awareness for the importance of soft skills in the job placement process
q to promote the dialogue between labour offices and employers
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Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Preface 3
1. Understanding Clients 9
Guidance for Unemployed 10
Schedule 01 - Two-Days-Course 13
Guiding refugees, asylum-seekers and migrants 17
Schedule 02 - Three-Days-Course 20
Guiding clients affected by basic skills deficits 24
Schedule 03 - Two-Days-Course 27
Schedule 04 - One-Days-Course 32
Guidance for women 34
Schedule 05 - Six Half-Days-Course 37
2. Requirements of the Labour Market 47
The Importance of Soft Skills in the Labour Market 48
Schedule 06 - 18 Sessions á Half a Day 51
Job Matching and Workplacement 64
Schedule 07 - Five-Days-Course 66
Customer Relation - how to promote the dialogue between labour office and employer 72
Schedule 08 - Three-Days-Course 73
Work organization: New Work & Mobility 76
Schedule 09 - Two-Sessions-Course 78
Vocational orientation for young women 80
Schedule 10 - Two Half-Days-Course 82
3. Cultural and Gender Distinction: 85
Gender Mainstreaming (GM) – Sensitisation for Labour Office Advisers, Counsellors and Job Mediators 86
Schedule 11 - Four Half-Days-Course 88
Political and legal obligations in the vocational field of Labour Office Advisers, Counsellors and Job Mediators 93
Schedule 12 - Five Half-Days-Course 95
Networking Approaches promoting Gender Oriented Job Placement Activities and Trainings 101
Schedule 13 - Five Half-Days-Course 103
Equal Opportunities 109
Schedule 14 - Three Half-Days-Course 111
Diversity Management for Labour Office Advisers, Counsellors and Job Mediators 115
Schedule 15 - Two half days 117
Manual Exercises & Handouts 121
01 Handout Basic skills deficits 122
02 Handout Experiences on basic skills deficits 126
03 The state of knowledge 128
04 Functional Illiteracy 129
05 Handout Share Ideas 130
06 My culture 132
07 Handout multicultural guidance I 133
08 Handout multicultural guidance II 134
09 Handout: The organisation for which you work ... I 135
10 Handout: The organisation for which you work ... II 136
11 Creating a vision 137
12 Handout Filling in a form 138
13 Handout Excuses 139
14 Motivation - Communication 141
15 How ‘they’ live their lives 143
16 Professional project construction 144
17 One day in the future 145
18 Opposites or diversity? 146
19 Pessimists and Optimists 147
20 The kind of message pictures send 148
21 Reflection “Who am I ...?” 149
22 Expectations of the Course 150
23 Morning round with musical instruments 151
24 Soft Skills in the professional context 152
25 Collage showing variety in communication 153
26 Communicating Ball as Feedback 154
27 The only one 155
28 Ball Game in a circle 156
29 Dealing with communication barriers 157
30 Hidden pictures 158
31 Picture dictation 159
32 Expression and variety of non-verbal communication 160
33 Morning drawing 161
34 Chain of information 162
35 Problem Solving Strategie 163
36 Ways of meeting people 164
37 Handout Teamwork 165
38 Warming up 166
39 Drivers of motivation 167
40 Motivational factors in the spotlight 168
41 Perception: Mix up 169
42 Dissemination activity 170
43 Final sound 171
44 Feedback 172
45 Interview productions 173
46 Key Qualifications 174
47 Networking 176
48 Typical professions 177
49 Women go self-employed 178
50 Gender Sensitisation 179
51 Feel the difference 180
52 Municipal Planning Department 182
53 My Life 183
54 Project „Sharp Eye “ 184
55 Qualities 185
56 Ranking 186
57 The 6-3-5 method 187
58 Roles & expectations 188
59 Activation 189
60 Self-Reflection 190
61 Handout Eisenhower principle 191
62 Learning Diary 192
63 Handout Learning Diary 193
64 The only one 202
65 The life tree 203
66 Working life curve 204
67 Handout Working life 205
68 Web of competences 206
69 Handout awairness raising 207
70 Profiling my individual competencies 209
71 Handout: Profiling 210
72 Skills Analysis 214
73 Handout Skills Analysis 215
74 Handout Skills analysis 216
75 My latest success 217
76 Feedback vehicle 218
77 Feedback rules 219
78 Feedback chair 220
79 Handout: Feedback rules 221
80 Knowledge, skills & experience 222
81 Positive thinking 223
82 Survival strategies 225
83 Learning situations 227
84 Handout: Learning situations 228
85 Listing and evaluating significant events 230
86 Handout Significant events 231
87 American debate 233
88 Handout: American debate 234
89 Ten questions never to be asked 238
Partnership 241
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Curriculum
1. Understanding Clients
Guidance for Unemployed
Why this course:
The first aim is the return into the labour market of unemployed and job applicants
Current context:
q Unemployment of long duration
q Reduction in the offers,
q Inadequacy between supply and demand in term of professional sector, trades, competences and qualification
The strategies (national and European) of fight against the inequalities in particular regarding access to employment
The local market analysis shows larger and larger differences between not provided offers and the stagnation, even the increase in number of unemployed individuals
After long period of unemployment the job seekers have the feeling that their requests are not taken into account or understood and that office advisers, counsellors, case managers and job mediators do not bring them the service they are expecting
All this makes essential, for the advisers, the development of their capacities in:
q Individual listening and analysis of’ problems applicants are facing
q Designing training path in order to facilitate the return of their clients into the labour market
Aims of the course
q To analyse the request of applicants for work and to build an individualized answer.
q To accompany the person throughout the course proposed.
This analysis must be made thoroughly in order to have a global vision of the professional profile but also of expectations, assets, constraints, and of the client’s autonomy in job searching
The adviser must have a good knowledge and practice of the various services he will be able to propose to the person according to the results of the diagnosis.
He must also be able to evaluate the relevance of the training or support measures developed, whether they are led by himself or an external provider
Who would benefit from taking the course?
All advisers in charge of:
q Making individual interviews for diagnosis,
q Designing accompaniment path towards employment
q Following these paths and results obtained
The approach of the course
Basic modules
q Diagnosis Interview
q Construction of an accompaniment path towards employment
q Follow-up and accompaniment of the client
P We recommend addiotional modules according to needs and interests
Optional modules: Animation of thematic workshops - Development of a professional project - Job research - Creation or resumption of company.
METHODOLOGY
q To be able to use individual interview techniques considers the various spheres (professional profile, personal situation, personal situation, expectations and assets, autonomy for research) in order to identify the possible relevant questions to collecting useful information (existing guide or to be achieved by training providers)
q To develop a cooperation approach with the applicant, shared diagnosis in order to:
§ Identify the future situation expected
§ Define targets (professional sectors, trades, companies, geographical areas.)
§ Evaluate: strengths and weaknesses resources available in the environment
§ Work out an action plan and the means needed.
q To define the adviser’s role in a following up process of the agreed path where the unemployed client is at the centre
The choice could be done according to the needs and setting possibilities of the different contents:
q To acquire by simulation a methodology for workshops animation (short duration course, ½ day) focused on job seeker’s activity supported by an employment adviser
q To develop expertise about different subjects to b e considered to build a professional project, job searching, enterprise creation
ROLE OF THE ADVISER
q To analyse the speech of job applicants to highlight the decision criteria and to bring elements of expertise.
q To provide information according to this analysis
q To provide a psychological support to assist the implementation, to objectify difficulties and success, to develop progressions (trainings towards autonomy)
EVALUATION
Evaluation at the end of training
Questionnaires of qualitative evaluation of the modules
Definition by participants of the axes of individual progress.
Duration
2 Days
P We recommend additional trainings concerning specific target groups
Schedule 01 - Two-Days-Course
Day 1: Guiding and advising clients – Skills asessment
Welcome Coffee
Introduction of the trainer
Description of his/her professional background, experience in the field of job matching and work placement
Introduction of the participants
Description of their respective professional backgrounds and momentary occupation, motivation for participating at the seminar, expectations
Warming up ”Roles and expectations ” [m58]
Dealing with expectations among team members
(90 min)
Preview of Contents
Presentation: “Problems job applicants are facing”
Participants will receive information about changes in the labour market and will increase their competences for guiding and advising of their clients.
The current economical and sociological situation of unemployed
Indication of future trends: the development of job requirements and qualification demand in various work sectors
Discussion
Exercise: “Case Studies” [m04/05]
Presentation and discussion of several case studies in order to clarify and exemplify terms presented above.
It may well be that the client does not wish to have psychotherapy from a specialised service (this can be seen as stigmatising). In this case you will need to keep in mind the problem even though - assuming you are not a trained psychotherapist - you cannot offer appropriate counselling,,
Above all, you are seeking answers to these basic questions: what methods and processes are the most appropriate for the client groups which are the focus of this course? What additional needs are they likely to have? What can you deal with yourself and what can you refer to other agencies?
Compare to experiences of the trainer and/or participants.
Lunch Break
Methods and Contents of Skills Assessment
Individual Work ”What knowledge, skills and experiences do I have?” [m67]
It is important to distinguish between formal and informal knowledge. People gain formal knowledge in the formal education systems. On the other hand informal knowledge and experience are obtained by self-learning process, part-time work, voluntary work etc. The informal knowledge and experience are often unjustifiably overlooked.