Mindshift team speaks about intergenerational mentoring and learning

Mindshift team speaks about intergenerational mentoring and learning

Ana Loya, CEO

In 1920, Erich Scheurnmann wrote the The Papalagui, a literary masterpiece that proves us that the way different cultures see the work can create insurmountable barriers in communication. Ageism is one of the greatest communication enemies within a culture. Since this prejudice affects mainly older people, it is necessary that they open up to learn with the youngest about new ways of communication, otherwise both generations will only coexist in parallel worlds.

 

Hugo Bernardes, Partner

In the current civilisational paradigm shift with the digital transformation of organisations and societies, generational cross mentoring programmes are one of the most effective techniques to boost dual learning. Seniors pass on their working experience and knowledge to the youngest and these teach the most experienced to know and use digital tools and new forms of communication.

 

Isabel Nunes, Director

Paraphrasing the American film director Steven Spielberg, “The delicate balance of mentoring someone is not creating them in your own image but giving them the opportunity to create themselves.” I see mentoring relationships as a unique way to promote intergenerational learning, personal and professional growth, and networking opportunities.

 

Sandra Araújo, Project Manager

From the ancient Greek, the word mentor designates someone who gives a younger and less experienced person guidance and counselling. In times of accelerated technological change, intergenerational mentoring is a win-win approach to foster knowledge sharing and exchange of experiences. Introducing a healthy shift on the power relations within organisations, reverse mentoring helps to build sustainable work relationships and collaborative learning processes, which are key to foster inclusive work environments.

 

Célia Tavares, Project Manager

A Portuguese journalist, Catarina Nunes, once said: “one day, the world will be a great place where nobody is seen as old but rather as someone further down the path of life”. Fostering relations between different generations is a way to achieve that utopia. Learning happens all the time. Intergenerational learning is, as I would dare to say, life itself.

 

 

Ana Paulino, Project Manager

I believe intergenerational learning is a place of relation and empathy, between younger and older, beginners and experts, where stories and competencies are shared to nourish each other’s growth. It is the unique opportunity to preserve our roots, rebuild our circumstances, and act as changemakers of our futures, effectively creating meaning from being together and establishing strong bonds with others.

 

 

Vasco Gaião, Project Manager

Among different strategies that exist for companies to deal positively with an ageing working population, there is — in addition to traditional mentoring — reverse mentoring. This strategy brings together younger employees as mentors of older employers to train them on topics that are usually better mastered by young people, such as new technologies and digital tools. This way, reverse mentoring plays an important role in bridging the gap across generations in the workplace.

 

About Mindshift

Mindshift Talent Advisory is a consulting company specialised in Human Resources that invests in the performance and upskilling of people’s competences, focusing on boosting the digital and interpersonal maturity in organisations and society.

At a European level, Mindshift operates as a strategic partner in developing innovative solutions in the field of education and training. To ensure the impact of every cooperation project, we work in close cooperation with local partners representing a range of NGOs, educational providers, social economy players, different business sectors, professional networks and public bodies.

Currently, Mindshift’s key-areas of action are upskilling & reskilling; inclusion & employability; sustainable development; women empowerment; entrepreneurship & creativity; and digital talent.

Mindshift brings together a team of staff with various backgrounds and professional experience, based in three regions of Portugal: Lisbon, Centre, and Oporto.

     

    Motion Digital, who we are and our contribution to LearnGen project

    Motion Digital, who we are and our contribution to LearnGen project

    Motion Digital is a start-up founded in 2019 in Czech Republic, in Prague – the heart of Europe. Our mission is to enrich people’s lives in a sustainable environment through technology, exponential growth, and human development. And our core purpose is to empower lifelong learners to take control of their lives and drive systemic changes which improve the quality of life.

    We are proud to embrace our main values of:

    •  Diversity & Inclusion
    •  Responsibility & Sustainability
    •  Growth Mindset
    •  Honesty & Integrity

    As part of our mission we are connecting with other organisations and educational institutions in Europe with a similar goal. We work together on international projects with the theme of wellbeing, inclusion and sustainability funded by Erasmus+.

    We are a proud partner of a multi-country consortium, working together on a project called LearnGen: Intergenerational Mentoring and Learning in the Workplace. The focus of the project is to address the issues of ageism and social exclusion in the workplace as evidenced by the bias, discrimination and segregation of marginalized workers.  Both older workers as well as young workers need to develop the necessary core skills to teach and learn from each other. According to the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (Cedefop), 70% of EU workers need at least moderate digital skills to perform their tasks. These are becoming core skills needed for their employability and career success. This is especially a big issue for older employees (age 55+) who face discimination in employment and access to goods and services (40% of EU citizens believe there is widespread age discrimination in their country according to the 2019 Eurobarometer).

    At Motion Digital, we are very excited to embark on this project and the impact that we can make in our community. Our team and our partners will develop and disseminate a curriculum which will be accessed and used by many trainers, HR professionals and other managers. Through this we aspire to help older workers narrow their generational gap and younger workers to improve their skills, in the pursuit of improving intergenerational learning for both groups, empowering them and confidently integrating them in the workplace.

      Introducing the project team of CARDET

      Introducing the project team of CARDET

      Dr Panagiotis Kosmas

      Panagiotis Panagiotis is our Head of Education unit at CARDET responsible for 45 of projects related to education. As a senior researcher he has long-standing experience in research and managing european projects. His expertise lies mainly in education, innovation and technology and he has a keen interest in lifelong learning, adult education and proffesional development.

      Kiki Kallis

      Kiki is our HR manager at CARDET with over 20 years of experience in HR consulting and managing human resource departments.

      A strong proponent of social justice and inclusion, she is also project manager on projects dealing with diversity and inclusion and employee wellbeing, topics that are close to her heart and professional interests.

      Panagiotis Loizou

      Panagiotis is a Researcher / Project Manager at CARDET with a background in the domain of Psychology and HR & Corporate Strategy. Throughout his studies he has received multiple academic awards and honors and he has worked in a variety of different professional and research settings. Amongst his aims and research interests is to work towards promoting social inclusion, and improving peoples’ well-being.

      CARDET expertise in similar projects:

      With over 350 completed projects, CARDET has vast expertise in the areas of professional development, developing strategies for adult education providers, developing competences. Improving the integration of low-skilled adults, supporting older workers in coping with age transitions and work requirements and improving VET training for young low-skilled learners.

      Some recent indicative project names are: CODE, DIMA 2.0, GenZ, Walk the global walk, Measy, beOld and PROMOVET.

        Introduction of BRCCI

        Introduction of BRCCI

        The Bulgarian-Romanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BRCCI) is a private association of companies interested to develop their business in Bulgaria and/or Romania. Our members are mainly Bulgarian and Romanian companies, but dozens of companies around the globe seek our assistance to get to know the two neighboring markets.

        One of the most frequently asked questions by potential investors in Bulgaria and Romania is whether there are enough trained specialists in our countries. They are looking not only for digital knowledge and skills, which are largely possessed by the younger generation, but also employees with experience and understanding of the offline environment. We know that the staffing problem is one of the most serious for the local business, and the difference between the generations deepens it. Our experience in the cross-border region shows that employers are looking for staff from the neighboring country, but there are a number of obstacles to labour mobility. That is why we have created the VISA-Cross-Border Labour Mobility Agency, which deals with the main challenges facing cross-border employment between Bulgaria and Romania. We have been actively working on this topic for several years, and we do realize that there are differences in the perception of the two nations, despite the close geographical relationship. To be even more useful, we have licensed a professional training center within the Chamber, where at the request of employers and individual participants, we deliver various trainings – professional, key skills such as communication in a foreign language, communications, digital marketing. These trainings bring together employees of a specific company or people, who want to change their professional qualification at different age, who by the end of the training build intergenerational relationships and manage to exchange experience.

        We believe that international business relations become successful when we invest in our future – the children. Our social mission and corporate responsibility is the Bulgarian-Romanian Kids Fund, which provides opportunities for Bulgarian and Romanian children and young people to meet and communicate, to make friends and to overcome cultural barriers. The development of the links between generations and more valuable communication is one of the long-term goals of the Bulgarian-Romanian Children’s Fund.

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