THE EU PROJECT CONNECT!: FROM THE REPORTS TO THE HIGHER EDUCATION COURSE

Abstract

"Megatrends as globalization, digitization, demographic change, skills shortage, and the pandemic challenge the working lives of millions of people across the world. Organizations experience increasing pressure to become more and more sustainable and to remain competitive taking care of their employees at all levels of skills. At the same time, employees get mobile, search for attractive, stable, and future-oriented job opportunities, and need support to access labor offers all around Europe. The European Erasmus+ project CONNECT! (connect-erasmus.eu) aims to connect career guidance and counselling (CGC) with human resources (HR) in enterprises, for developing and advancing higher education and training in practice. To develop the higher education course two main phases were followed. In the first phase, the involved partners (Italy, Germany, Netherlands, Greece, Austria, and Serbia) conducted an analysis of the national situation. In the second phase, 79 HR and 77 CGC counselors were involved to answer a qualitative survey about the perceptions and best career and life designing practices. The comparative analysis of the national results allowed to identify similarities and differences and identify the main issue to be targeted. The training consists of 5 units that last 4.5 hours each and cover the following topics: The changing world of work, Innovative concepts, and development for company-based career work/HRM, Current theoretical and methodological approaches for counsellors and coaches in the company context, Connecting Guidance, Counselling and coaching for employees and the context of company-based career work, Changing in practice the organizations. After the evaluation of 10 experts from diverse countries, it has been piloted with higher education students. This presentation will focus on the Italian adaptation and the results of the piloting that initially involved 38 university master students in psychology. Two ad-hoc questionnaires about expectations and self-efficacy beliefs and one questionnaire about learning were used to verify its efficacy. Strengths and weaknesses will be discussed."