SESION 3!SKILLS FOR EMPLOYABILITY

THROUGH SKILLS BASED VOLUNTEERING.!

ENGAGE VALENCIA!

FUNDAR

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OUR EXPERIENCE IN CORPORATE VOLUNTEERING

•  Since 2003, Fundar has been developing its Promoting Corporative Volunteering Program, which aims to encourage the companies in the Valencian Region to promote the participation in volunteering activities among its workers, through the NGOs projects!

•  We deal with ENGAGE project since 2008 in Valencia

•  We are now launching an international network of corporate volunteering called

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LOCAL PARTNER NGO/PUBLIC

SECTOR

CORPORATE VOLUNTEERING PROJECT

COMPANIES FUNDAR

What is ENGAGE?!An international not-for profit campaign established in 2002 with the aim of increasing the quantity and quality of employee engagement around

the world

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ENGAGE VALENCIA !

In ENGAGE Valencia our corporate volunteers play a vital role in addresing social challenges by transfering a wide range of means like skills and resources to two different targets:!– High Schools, which aims to prevent school

drop-out and to give pupils professional orientation. !

– Prisions, with convicts who are studing vocational training, and in open regimen looking for a job!

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The Spanish Educational system is characterized by high rates of failure from the ages of 14 to 16 years (around 30%) and by high school drop-out rates, and these are contributors to social marginalization

High School:!

ENGAGE Valencia has connected companies (through their volunteers) with High Schools by developing different activities that seek to reach the aims of some experimental programs of the Education Department of the Valencia Regional Government.

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What do we do? •  Development of social skills: This activity allows students

to develop certain fundamental social and moral skills for their development as a person. Company volunteers received special training from Fundar before starting with this activity

•  Students visits companies with the same volunteers: •  visits of the whole group of students •  individual visits for those who have showed a special

interest in the activity of each company

•  Skills for employability: volunteers teach students how to handle a job interview or how to improve their CV, etc

High Schools:!

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Fundar has played two main roles:

1- An intermediary role between companies and the Department of Education at the moment of defining possible activities and designing the whole project, as well as at the moment of coordinating all activities (date, place, materials, contact person, etc.)

2- A facilitator of the voluntary work inside companies. The majority of the companies that have taken part in the ENGAGE Valencia had never done volunteering before. We have promoted volunteering inside de companies, and we have trained volunteers

High Schools:!

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This project is just starting now and we are now developing all activities, but we could not yet assess the

results

Profil of convicts: convicts who are studing vocational training (gardering, mechanical, electrician, …), or in open regimen looking for job.

Main goals: The program aims to give new tools to improve the employability of convicts promoting self-employment (their ability to create their own small businesses), and giving them employability skills

Figures: 300 convicts from 3 prisions, and 140 corporate volunteers

Prision:!

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Description: Volunteers work for 3 months with these convicts teaching them how can they launch their small businesses, from an idea to implementation (procedures, public grants, ...). These activities are complemented with employability skills: how to handle a job interview or how to improve their CV, etc

Others activities: We are playing a football leage between convicts and volunteers in order to promote sports as healthy leisure, and link togheter convicts and people from outside

Prision:!

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What is the value of employee volunteering in terms of improving the skills essential to gaining and sustaining

employment between socially excluded groups?

- Volunteers provide a real and valuable view of the world of work and business - It is a great motivation for students and convicts that corporate volunteers help them - Personal involvement and motivation of corporate volunteers contribute with a very important add value to the activities of the program - These kind of programs are stimulating and rewarding for all participants

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How can corporate volunteering projects be used to scale up the impact on employability? The long term relationship between companies through its

corporate volunteers and socially excluded groups are essential in order to scale up the impact on employability.

It can also help to break down barriers to employment.

It is very important to create links between volunteers and the students or convicts, not just teach them how to handle a job

interview or how to improve their CV. It is very useful run other activities that promote mutual trust, like football, days in

the company, etc.

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To analyze the development of the program, a questionnaire has been designed with four versions: to volunteers, to the teachers, to the companies, and to the students.

In the evaluation a whole of 13 teachers, 12 companies, 52 volunteers, and 44 students have taken part.

How have we measured the impact of the program (High Schools)?

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The questionnaires gather information with regard to:

In the case of the volunteers: - Questions about the incidence of the program in their labor relations with theircolleagues- Questions about the management of the program and possibilities of improvement or modification for future editions

About teachers:- Principal expectations that the project have generated - Degree of participation of the students- Degree of implication and usefulness- Valuation of the activities.- Suggestions

How have we measured the impact of the program?

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About the companies:- Questions about the incidence of the program in the internal area (environment of work, employee - company relations, etc)- Questions about the incidence of the program in the image and the perception of the company in the external area

Regarding students: - Information received - Enjoyment vs Utility of the activities- General Perception!

How have we measured the impact of the program?

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According to the tutors, the program has been very positive for several reasons:

- Support for teenagers in preparation for daily adult life - Giving young people knowledge of the working world, showing them the diversity of the companies, real professionals, functions and professional orientations- Promoting values: effort, initial training, permanent training, use of opportunities, teamwork, positive attitudes, the importance of interpersonal relations, etc.

Efects on students:

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- Raising awareness of the importance of training: “it is necessary to study and to prepare oneself to get a good job and to improve in a working environment”- Opportunity to reflect: support for the pupils to think before taking a decision, to think before acting and thinking about lifeʼs possibilities and their professional future - Motivation from the example set by the company volunteers attitude towards study and training - Practices have turned out to be very close to the daily reality of the participant companies!

Efects on students:

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Some Quotes from pupils:

“Thank you very much for giving us the chance to know about this topic.”“We have liked it a lot and we have enjoyed ourselves a lot.”“Thank you for your kindness.““If somebody would have suggested it to me again, for sure that I would do it again.”“Thank you for the treatment you have given us”!

Efects on students:

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Thank you very much!DANKSAGUNG!Muchas gracias!

juan angel poyatos!jpoyatos@fundar.es!