By category
- Fostering employability
Human resources development in companies is a key tool in dealing with technological and organisational changes and increasing competitiveness. Developing the skills and competences of workers enables them to respond to workplace demands and to succeed in business. This involves developing employees’ potential, acknowledging formal and informal learning, recognising skills, fostering transferability of acquired skills and competences and supporting occupational mobility.
- Increasing labour market participation of underrepresented groups
Companies can contribute to increasing activity and employment rates of women and younger workers and at the same time tackle demographic change in the workforce and skills shortages. Company initiatives can help to integrate younger workers into the labour market and address the needs of working parents. Company practices and human resource policies can promote women’s activity in the workplace by dismantling horizontal and vertical gender segregation.
- Integrating people at risk of exclusion into the labour market
Specific initiatives of companies are aimed at assisting people at particular risk of exclusion – such as the long-term unemployed, early school leavers and people with disabilities – to take up jobs in the regular labour market. Initiatives can take the form of innovative partnerships between companies and public employment bodies.
- Making work pay
These cases show how companies have succeeded in making work attractive by means of financial incentives and improving earnings potential. The focus is on innovative profit-sharing schemes. A key criterion for consideration of company examples is that such schemes are additional to standard salary arrangements. Other forms of financial employee participation, such as share ownership schemes and involvement in decision-making as shareholder employees are included.
- Towards a balanced flexibility
These cases reflect the current need to promote both flexibility and security in the labour market. Workers are increasingly opting for more flexible forms of work for reasons of personal development or general work–life balance. These cases focus on interesting examples of flexible working time models or initiatives that address the specific needs of temporary agency workers or those on fixed-term contracts.
- Business creation and entrepreneurship
The Lisbon agenda stresses entrepreneurship as a key factor contributing to growth in the European economy. These cases are examples of companies acting as drivers of local business creation both in the context of normal business expansion and in cases of company restructuring. This can include spin-off companies, transfers and competence exchange between companies, and schemes aimed at the creation of new businesses following restructuring or business failure.