The European third sector is a major economic sector with around 13 million FTE workers, in addition to 16 million volunteers. Those employed in the sector, in the main, are low paid which creates difficulty in recruiting and maintaining quality staff. Sector activities are wide and varied but all staff work with vulnerable groups that need additional supports. This creates additional stress for staff members. Staff progression rates appear to be poor as staff member’s informal learning and experience are not easily recognised and difficult to demonstrate in job applications. This project will address this by providing an entry-level induction programme for staff entering the third sector defined as having 18-month service or less. Unlike an induction programme for a specific company, this programme will be an introduction to the sector with an emphasis on personal development and core sector-specific skills. By using digital badges we can validate the learning made by participants on the programme and allow them to be used for both personal development and career progression. The project will have 4 partners from Ireland, Finland, United Kingdom and Germany. 12 participants will undergo short-term staff training for the programme trainers. 80 participants will undergo the full programme across the 4 countries. The programme will be aimed to upskill new staff entrants into third-sector organisations. They will undertake a programme with 2 modules. Module 1 will focus on sector-specific knowledge and will consist of 2 days face-to-face training augmented by 2 online training sessions utilising webinars and online communication platforms. Module 1 will focus on the structure of the third-sector and working arrangements, as well as, information on policy formulation and advocacy. These are key elements for working in the sector that most new staff entrants would not be accustomed to. The second module will focus on personal and professional skill development. Professional skills will cover basic project management, report writing, engaging with vulnerable groups and approaches to multi-agency working. Personal development skills will cover presentation and facilitation skills, self-care, negotiation skills and other interpersonal communication skills. It will similarly have 2 face-to-face training days augmented by 2 online training session. The programme will use a blended learning approach with both face-to-face learning augmented by online learning. Training will be learner focused with training needs analysis conducted in advance of training. Evaluation will be comprehensive and both certification of completion and digital badges being awarded to participants who complete the programme. The programme will be delivered in all partner countries by the local partner and in the local language. The short-term training element will be delivered through English. In practical terms, the key output is a modular training programme available to third-sector organisations across Europe to be run for new staff entrants. 80 new staff members of third-sector organisations to gain relevant up-skilling and be more effective at their roles. A 3-year sustainability/transfer plan to ensure project modules and materials are utilised post project and mainstreamed will be devised but also validation of learning by participants through open digital badges. Ultimately, the long-term benefits will be threefold. First, it will make the participants more effective at engaging with and assisting vulnerable groups and individuals and achieving their organisations social missions. Second, it will give participants validated knowledge which will support them in their career progression. Third, the materials will be made available across Europe and the investment made in the project will be leveraged widely post project.
The overarching goal of the project team was to develop a comprehensive induction training programme that would attract newcomers to the third sector across Europe. It was important that our outputs were accessible and readily available to support those who have just started out in their career or have made a career move from a different sector. We were also conscious of supporting the diverse range of workers in our sector, for example those from diverse cultural backgrounds and those with additional needs. Often the third sector needs to compete with other sectors to attract and retain talented workers. It is not always possible to compete in terms of salary, so a tailor-made induction training programme is something we saw as an attractive hook to entice workers to the sector. Not only will workers get some internal / organizational onboarding, they can now also benefit from our programme and gain an understanding of this new sector that they find themselves working in. Our programme accelerates learning that would otherwise be done on the job over a prolonged period of time. We also wanted to champion the often-invisible skills and competencies that exist in our sector. We did this by creating a valorised training programme. We developed a digital badge for each of the 4 modules, plus a 5th ‘Meta badge’ for those learners who complete all 4 modules and join the F4S3 alumni. The project also set out to form a strong project team. We achieved this by working closely and consistently together across all elements of the project, and all partners reported that they would work together again if other opportunities arose.
This project addresses an identified need by the consortium to combat high levels of staff turnover, burnout, and unclear pathways to career progression and mobility in the European third sector. The overarching goal of the project team was to develop a comprehensive induction training programme that would attract, support, and retain newcomers to the third sector across Europe, as well as address the need for clear pathways for career progression in the third sector. The European third sector is a major economic sector with around 13 million full time workers, with an additional 16 million volunteers. Fundamentally, the project aimed to meet the needs of newcomers to the third sector by offering a comprehensive understanding of the sector, both in terms of professional and personal skills needed to succeed, as well as avoid turnover and burnout caused by the demanding nature of the work involved such as working with vulnerable groups. We addressed the aforementioned needs by: - Creating an entry level induction programme for newcomers to the third sector which focuses on the sector itself and personal development skills (IO1 and IO2). - Using Open Badge Factory as a skills validation method to recognise the non-formal learning gained through participation in the training programme (IO3). - Creating a Transferability Report which allows the programme to be replicated by the wider third sector and other European countries (IO4).