For a “Learning Workplace” to be established, employees have to be actively involved in the transformation process and in sustaining a holistic learning culture within the organisation. This activity has introduced employees irrespective of hierarchy level, position, and field of expertise – scientific staff, administrative staff, technical staff, and also team leaders – to the idea of establishment of a workplace learning culture, by measuring their attitude regarding the concepts of workplace learning and workplace transformation before and after a workshop on this topic, similar to the workshop implemented with employers and employer representatives. Aiming to turn employees into “workplace learning ambassadors” who can spread and support the idea of workplace learning within organisations, the same employees were also trained on six key transversal skills, most often requested by employers today.
Through this activity, the consortium achieved: a) to introduce employees to the concept of “Learning Workplaces” by developing a one-day curriculum and interactive training material, which were used in 6 workshops for 107 employees, implemented in the 5 countries of the consortium, b) to change the attitude of employees to a more favourable approach towards workplace learning with the use of an attitude test similar to the one completed by employers, and c) to increase six key transversal skills of 109 employees which made them more competent in supporting the workplace transformation process, by developing a 35-hour curriculum and implementing interactive training sessions on 6 modules in the 5 countries of the consortium, as follows: 1) Communication, 2) Team Building, 3) Resilience and Time Management, 4) Responsibility and Ethical Practice, 5) Self-Leadership and Entrepreneurial Mindset, and 6) Learning to Learn. Some of the participating employees were assessed and awarded an ISO17024 certification on these skills, with the use of an assessment tool developed to this end.
Conclusions on the two types of workshops (reaction and learning as well as attitude change for Workshop A) are provided in the two aggregate reports developed with the use of the 5 national reports completed by the partners for each workshop. These can be used to gain an understanding of the perception by employees of workplace learning and how receptive they are of workplace transformation, the change achieved in their attitude, and how they can support workplace transformation through the transversal skills they acquired.