History

 

Since the middle of the 90’s there were several testing about Bilan de compétence (BdC) in Italy . The purpose was to develop good practices in adult vocational guidance experienced in France and create methodologies useful to empower workers in professional projects in line with their ambitions and the socio – economic environment. The absence of regulations about BdC and more widely about adult vocational guidance and long life learning lead to many different approaches in terms of methodology, pedagogical tools and even about the competence concept. For this reason there were offers in the marked starting from short interviews to long assessment. Some private and public institutions in partnership with French experts developed a good pactice guidelines for the bilan de compétences in terms of methodology, duration, beneficiaries and goals. Some of these institutions participate in 1999-2000 to the International focus group that defined the “European quality label”. Afterwords BdC was definitely distinguished from similar practices and reached his status in Europe. Seven Italian institutions were among the founding members of FECBOP on the 15th of June 2005.

 

The regulatory devolopment

 

Despite the lack of an organic legislation in Italy, the name “Bilan de Compétences” was used in several laws regulating Training or Vocational Guidance supporting young and adult employability since the 90’. This was also for the regulations of the employment centers or for the apprenticeship rules and the obligatory training. The first reference was the Act about Empowerment and Training of Public Administration (PA) Employees issued the 13th of December 2001 by the Ministry of Public Service. According to this Act several BdC were realized in order to develop careers in PA. Furthermore the presence of Italian Institutions among the FECBOP founder in 2005 has stimulated the diffusion of a BdC culture based on the European Quality Standards introducing “European” BdC as a distinguished deonthological and qualitative methodology.

 

Another important point was the issue of the “Technical Paper about BdC” (Documento Tecnico sul Bilancio delle Competenze) by the interdisciplinary technical commettee promoted by ISFOL whose partecipant were experts rapresenting Unions, Entrepreneurs Associations, Pubblic Institutions, Univeristies, Vocational Guidance Institutions and FECBOP. Nowadays this document is a National point of reference containing guide lines about BdC and has been recognized by FECBOP important for those Countries requiring acknowledgement of BdC.

 

In 2012 the Comittee Stato Regioni issued an agreement for the definition of a National system for vocational guidance. It’s interesting underline the link between BdC and a National competence recognition system introduced in all this regulatory settings. This is actually another point without a clear regulation despite few Regions are experimenting compency certification activities based on BdC.

 

FECBOP in Italy

 

In Italy there are 18 members divided between:

  • certified (European quality label): CIOFS FP Piemonte, ENAIP Piemonte, ENGIM Piemonte, CRES Università Roma 3, INFORMA Scarl Bari, CONFORM Genova, Istituto VERONESI Rovereto
  • other Istitution that recognize FECBOP principles and philosophy: STUDIO e PROGETTO 2 Sardegna, Comunità di CAPODARCO Roma, CIOFS FP Sede Nazionale , ISFOL, IAL Friuli Venezia Giulia, UNIVERSITA’ di Foggia, Servizio Stage e Mondo del Lavoro UNIVERSITA’ di Padova, CNOS FAP Piemonte, PEOPLE srl Roma, ASSOFORM Trento, plus an Expert Member (Maria Cecchin) coordinator of the network.

 

Two Italian members act in the FECBOP Board (Silvana Rasello – Ciofs FP Piemonte and Raffaella Cozzani – Enaip Piemonte). Silvana Rasello also is in charge of the Certification comittee that evaluate new members applications accordingly to the European Quality Label. An Italian characteristic is the wide diversity of Institutions providing BdC and their beneficiaries target including workers with unempolyment benefits, jobless, apprentices, high school graduate students and college students (under graduate or graduate). A particular attention was paid to develop BdC for people with handicap and disadvantaged groups acting with social assistance services institutions. The Italian network is not organized as a Federation with its own legal status none the less supports recurrent meetings for good practices diffusion. FECBOP members participate in several Regions in definition of the local policy of the guidelines concerning the BdC and spread the culture of the adult vocational guidance. Here are some examples of their implementation of the bilan de compétences methodology:


CIOFS-FP Piemonte It is a non-profit Association founded in 1967. It networks with other 14 Regional Associations, coordinated by the Headquarters located in Rome. It operates in Piemonte through a Regional Office, 11 accredited operative centres (for the delivery of guidance and training activities), distributed in 5 Provinces (Torino, Alessandria, Asti, Vercelli, Novara) and a guidance and Centre of bilan de compétences (BIL.CO). In 2001 it transferred and tested the bilan de compétences methodology, and obtained the accreditation for the centre and for its counsellors.

 

ePortfolio

The ePortfolio is an ICT tool created by CIOFS / FP Piemonte for people and companies. The counselees can describe, narrate their work experiences using a simple and flexible ICT tool. They can choose to use ePortfolio in a public or private way. Therefore any information can be published or remain reserved for exclusive use. The program helps the counselees to become self-reliant with regard to information gathering (files, images, videos). It also support job search by creating a job profile profitable in the labour market .Companies could search by specific criteria, then access to counselees’’ pages and decide to contact them for a job interview. The instrument is aimed to: young people doing or completing training courses or paths of vocational guidance in CIOFS FP PIEMONTE; people who need the instrument and are available for short training to understand how it works. ePortofolio is also intended for companies, interested in use of a ICT “Job Opportunities” tool guaranteed from CIOFS / FP Piemonte. The training to learn this ICT tool takes about 10 hours divided in three steps. The first phase includes a presentation of the instrument and his methodology to guide the counselees to reconstruct their job path and to define their professional project. The second step is about the construction of ePortfolio, in which the counselee write the results into the mini website, filling up ePortfolio (from the scratch to the publishing on the web) .The third phase provides individual vocational counselling to refine the mini websites. Also every completed ePortfolio will be remotely monitored after 3-6 months.

 

 

Since 2005, the year of its foundation, En.AIP has been an active member of the European Federation of Centres of Budget and Vocational Guidance (FECBOP). All operating centres of En.AIP accredited for bilan de compétences meet the 10 criteria of the European Quality Charter of the Bilan and offer space, tools and qualified personnel for the design and implementation of career guidance and bilan de compétences. There is a toolkit that has been prepared and filed in accordance with quality procedures of the organization.

 

The work of the advisory group of the bilan de compétences also covers the development, implementation / upgrade of the tabs and grids used in paths structured guidance and Bilan. The toolkit of the bilan de compétences accompanies the beneficiary from the first meeting with the consultant until they get to the validation of the summary document and the construction of the professional project. The bilan de compétences is configured as technical guidance counselling that considers the analysis of skills as a possibility for the subject, to improve the marketability of their skills on the labour market from the awareness of their skills and motivation and definition of a professional project consistent with their expectations and real opportunities offered by the labour market. In this respect, the model is structured in 3 main moments that accompany the beneficiaries in the development of a project and an action plan which will make them more effective in the management of working times of change:

  • ­          Preliminary phase in which the professional goals of the beneficiary are investigated.
  • ­          Investigation phase in which the professional interests, personal characteristics, skills are investigated.
  • ­          Final phase where you build the project training/professional and action plan realistic and achievable

 

The table summarizes and synthesizes the tools used, their characteristics and the phase of the bilan de compétences in which they occur:

 

What

How

When

Contract Bilan

Formulation of mutual responsibility and assumption of obligations between the beneficiary and consultant of Bilan

At the beginning of the path after the verification of voluntariness

Interview on work history, training and skills acquired

Individual meetings lasting at least 1,5 hours

During the entire course of Bilan are provided for at least 4 individual interview

Card support the analysis of the skills and personal and professional resources

Card crafts, professional profiles, job opportunities

In the investigation phase in the vicinity of the interview on paper and on building the skills of the professional project

Autobiographical itineraries

Narrative thinking, life stories, self-evaluation

Investigative phase

Personality tests, evaluation of behavioural skills, motivations, professional interests, professional values, attitudes

Individual and/or collective use

Investigative phase

Portfolio of competences

Auto assisted filling in

During the path

Group techniques

Observations of attitudes

Investigative phase

 

The average length of a bilan de compétences (considering the time the beneficiary spends at the Centre for the activities of individual, group or interview) is 18 hours. The duration varies from a minimum of 14 to a maximum of 24 hours, in order to take into account the specificity of each recipient and encourage a process of appropriation. At the end of the path of bilan de compétences there is a satisfaction questionnaire that is handed out to the beneficiary during the last meeting dedicated to the Summary Document

 

In the experience of En.AIP the main target group to whom the bilan de compétences has been addressed are unemployed individuals (as well as young adults) within the projects financed. Due to the current situation of economic contraction that Italy has experienced in the last 3 years (2010-2013) En.AIP achieved 608 bilan de compétences carried out within the regional project for the planning and management of measures to upgrade the skills for working women and men affected by the economic crisis in the implementation of the State-Regions 12/2/2009.