A productive labour market where supply and demand are well aligned and where everyone’s talent counts. It was with this admirable aim in mind that the Arnhem-Nijmegen Region Human Capital Agreement was signed this year. Karin Wellen and Jos Sanders believe that one way to achieve this is through a skills-focused approach to learning and working. This is already happening in various places, including ROC Nijmegen and HAN University of Applied Sciences.
Karin Wellen is project leader for skills-based learning and working at ROC Nijmegen. “We are actively working on innovation issues in the fields of education and the labour market,” she explains. “Talent development is an important part of that.”
Jos Sanders has been engaged with this theme ever since he wrote his final-year dissertation in 1997 on employability in the banking sector. He is now, amongst other things, Professor of Human Capital Innovations at HAN University of Applied Sciences and conducts research for TNO into the sustainable employability of people with practical training in particular.
“I focus primarily on maintaining skills and continuing to invest in development. The decision to raise the state pension age has made this even more relevant in recent years. People were suddenly told they would have to remain motivated and productive for a few more years. On top of that, there is now a labour shortage. Moreover, professions are changing very rapidly these days. Whether as an employee or a self-employed person, it is vital to maintain your value to the labour market and to invest in it. Our system is only gradually adapting to this. There is still a world of opportunity to be seized.”
Your path
Both believe that a skills-based approach is a key means of achieving this. Sanders: “It’s mainly about looking at human capital differently. You are not defined by a particular profession or qualification; instead, you must learn to see yourself and others as a collection of knowledge and skills. Then you ask yourself where you could put that to use.”
At ROC Nijmegen, they’re already putting this into practice in a very concrete way, explains Wellen. “Whereas we used to focus mainly on qualification-based training, in recent years we’ve been working on making learning smaller and more concrete. We do this by breaking down a course into parts. The MBO certificates are examples of this. With practical certificates – known as the MBO certificate – we’ve broken it down even further. Through this, a person learns one or more work processes from a standard course in the workplace. The employer endorses that practical certificate to confirm the skills the person has mastered.
In the near future, we want to take this a step further by issuing digital badges for vocationally relevant skills. With this approach, the education sector and the labour market are genuine partners working together on people’s development.”
Working towards various certifications rather than following a fixed curriculum leading to a diploma is appealing to students, Sanders believes. “There is no longer just one path; it becomes more your own path. If, for example, you decide at some point not to continue with a course, you’re not left out in the cold with nothing. You can still make use of that experience in all sorts of ways later on.” Wellen adds: “This also helps us attract other target groups: people who, until recently, didn’t feel at home in the classroom, perhaps because of a negative learning experience, a language barrier or an intellectual disability. In doing so, we’re making education more accessible and inclusive for a larger and more diverse group of people. It also fits in very well with the government’s vision of lifelong learning.”
Skill passport
HAN is watching with interest and admiration the steps ROC Nijmegen is already taking in this area, says Sanders. The university of applied sciences was itself involved in the development of the House of Skills’ Skills Passport. “A passport like this reinforces the idea that you gain all sorts of learning experiences whilst working. Not everyone realises that. It’s important for people to see that learning doesn’t just happen at school or among ‘clever’ people. You learn every day and everywhere. Perhaps seeing this development could significantly lower the threshold for walking through the doors of an ROC or university of applied sciences. That isn’t the aim, but it would, of course, be a welcome bonus.”
There are many different types of (digital) skills passports in circulation, say Wellen and Sanders. ROC Nijmegen is making preparations to gain experience with Volandis’ Digital Skills Passport as part of a pilot scheme. Wellen: “You could see it as an alternative to a CV, but we see it more as a supplement. With a skills passport like this, you can keep a good record of the experience you’ve gained. It’s also a bit more informal. You might leave out informal care on a standard CV, but it fits very well on a skills passport like this.”
Human Capital Agreement
This skills-focused approach to learning and working aligns perfectly with the Human Capital Agreement signed earlier this year by the Province of Gelderland, The Economic Board and the Arnhem-Nijmegen Green Metropolitan Region. The agreement sets out a commitment to utilising the region’s available human capital effectively and sustainably, particularly with a view to a number of major transitions.
“The skills toolkit is a crucial prerequisite for achieving those goals,” says Sanders. “If, for example, you want to make progress on a green agenda, you first need to identify which skills people currently possess that are not yet being utilised in a green context. This requires a thorough assessment of the region’s skills stock. Working with skills passports can also be very helpful in this regard. By closely monitoring the deployment of that skills pool, we can make progress together on the Human Capital Agenda and further implement the agreement.”
