Employee-oriented counselling with regard to professional development is a key factor to encourage individuals to take part in lifelong learning. “Training individuals, who can promote lifelong learning on the shop floor and who motivate colleagues to participate in further training is a successful approach”, says Thomas Habenicht from the Industrial Union of Metalworkers, who launched the project. To provide employees with competent guidance in education counsellors – so called Learning Mentors – should be qualified. The development of a structured competence model and supporting tools for Learning Mentors is the main focus of the EU-funded project “Professionalisation and recognition for guidance in education (Learning Mentor)”.

Learning mentors are in-company counsellors who are responsible to sensitise employees to take action in order to find their own individual career pathway and to develop their professional pathway in correspondence with their own ideas and demands. Learning mentors should not be individual career coaching professionals but they function as a guide in terms of individual development and they promote further training within the company in general. In this context learning mentors are directly connected with employees, shop stewards and works council, employers and educational providers. Depending on the national systems of workers representation, learning mentors might be shop stewards themselves. The learning mentor gives orientation and support and encourages employees to take part in vocational training measures, having in mind that there are many alternatives for people with a certain professional background and special needs. The challenge for the learning mentor is to make these alternatives and possibilities visible to the employee, who probably has not analysed his competences yet, and to offer tools to answer the questions and challenges the employee is confronted with. This is even more important considering social changes like inconstant occupational biographies, demographic changes and the increase of marginalised groups.

The EU project “Learning Mentor” is funded within the Lifelong Learning Programme of the European Commission (Leonardo da Vinci) and is designed as an innovation transfer project. The consortium consists of seven trade unions and educational institutions from five EU Member States: Belgium (LBC-NVK), Germany (IGM, ver.di, bfw), Ireland (IDEAS), Latvia (LBAS), and Portugal (ISQ). Three concepts and tools will be adapted and transferred to all of the partner countries: 1. the Irish professional profile of Union Learning Representatives, 2. the Belgian methodologic-didactical concept, and 3. the German online-tool “Jobnavigator”. All transfer products will be discussed during the project meetings that take place twice a year, and adapted to the partners needs.

In 24 months the partners will develop a recognised qualification for learning mentors within their education and training systems with the possibility to transfer it do other EU member states due to its embedding in the EQF.

Currently, the partners adapt the Irish professional profile to their national needs. In the next step this profile will be filled with life by developing the training concept and contents, which will be finished this year.

Full name: “Professionalisation and recognition for guidance in education: Qualifications for in-company learning mentors through transfer and further development of high quality concepts and instruments for career advice within Europe (Learning Mentor)”

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.