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Investing in Talent and Measuring the Return on Investment (ROI)

23/4/2019

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Investing in Talent and Measuring the Return on Investment (ROI)
Many SMEs realize the need of investing in young talent and have started to recognize the benefits. However, attracting new talent has its challenges and realizing what support is out there to assist this process and make it more appealing for SMEs to implement these practices requires better awareness of the existing materials, know-how and support. Moreover, this type of investment starts early, with partnerships and activities at school and universities.

Apart from the direct benefits for companies, there is also a broader spectrum of advantages for the society, such as increased employability and employment of young people, work experience opportunities, development of a pool of skilled workers at regional level, social inclusion of vulnerable groups, economic returns such as reduction of public expenditure etc.

Furthermore, SMEs providing WBL and apprenticeship programmes experience variety of advantages, ranging from financial to soft benefits both short and long term, such as higher productivity, reduction of external recruitment, highly motivated and talented personnel, enhanced corporate image, staff retention, opportunity to fill skill gaps etc.
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investing in work-based learning and apprenticeships
There are various factors and elements of the education system across the EU but a unified approach and frameworks have been developed to enhance the role of work-based learning in its different forms and apprenticeships in particular. Moreover, to make them an effective tool for SMEs to solve the issue with lack of skills and talent, on the one hand. On the other hand, they are growth and success factors for businesses as well as key drivers for success for SMEs.
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Implementing a holistic approach and system for apprenticeships allows SMEs to become more competitive and attract the right set of skills, knowledge and competences for growth and innovation as key competitive advantages in today’s economy and competitive markets.
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According to the research and surveys as well as the conducted focus groups of the project “Return on Investment of Work Based learning and apprenticeships”, co-funded by the Erasmus+ programme of the European Union, SMEs' decision to engage in the supply of WBL and apprenticeship training is determined by the cost-benefit ratio of such an investment.

Knowledge, Innovation and Strategies Management Club (KISMC) is a partner in the "Return on Investment of Work Based learning and apprenticeships" project (ROI), along with a diverse and complementary mix of organisations - from Slovakia the Technical University of Kosice (TUKE), 3 training organisations active in VET: IDEC - Greece, CECOA - Portugal, PIT - Spain and also from the UK - Social Value UK - a network focusing on social value and social impact, from Italy a network focusing on the promotion of digital learning and use of ICT - DLEARN and an ICT company focusing in ICT-enabled E&T - Cosmic Innovations - Cyprus.
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Costs & Benefits

The following costs and benefits have been identified through the project partners' research based on focus groups and surveys among SMEs:
COSTS
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  • wages of apprentices: regular, irregular wage payments, compensation for any living expenditure;
  • training costs: e.g. training personnel and supplies’ costs;
  • recruitment and administrative costs: including financial and capital costs;
  • quality costs: correction of mistakes’ costs, quality assurance costs;
  • infrastructure costs;
  • other costs: fees, duties and taxes.
BENEFITS
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  • the value of apprentices’ productive work for skilled and unskilled tasks;
  • higher productivity percentage during the apprenticeship period;
  • increased firm’s reputation: increase in local/regional/national clients, positive customers feedback;
  • saved hiring costs;
  • training subsidies;
  • society-related benefits;
  • enhanced growth and innovation
  • increased competitiveness.

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Calculation of RoI

The ROI project has been focusing on developing:

- A model for the calculation of RoI of WBL and apprenticeships by SMEs
- A digital tool that will demonstrate the RoI model in a visual way

to calculate and visualize how investment on WBL and apprenticeships can manifest to multiple benefits.

To access the ROI calculation model and digital tool, please click here.

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6 remarkable keynote speakers at the international conference "INNOVATION - Creating the Future" in Sofia

4/11/2016

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Speakers at INNOVATION - Creating the Future
The APInno team behind the international conference "INNOVATION - Creating the Future" which will take place on 21 November 2016 in Sofia, Bulgaria is pleased to have amazing speakers with diverse backgrounds and experience in innovation, entrepreneurship and education.

In this blog post we are showcasing the keynote speakers and their experience while we will still have a publication about our speakers at the discussion and games panels. Although you would notice that most speakers are representing universities, all of them have a broad industry exprience ranging from starting businesses on a variety of continents to management exprience in the creative and hospitality sector, aerospace and electronics to leading institutions commercialising innovation. In addition to the industry practice, our keynote speakers provide trainings and lectures in areas such as entrepreneurship, innovation management, cultural management, design thinking, 3D printing and others.

Our 6 speakers are either former or current Innovation Managers, Entrepreneurs, Senior Managers, Directors, CEOs, Trainers and Researchers. Therefore, you would be able to hear every side of how to make innovation happen.

Take a closer look below to find your added value in the conference where you would not only listen to the speeches, but where you could take part in the discussions and meet all the speakers and international guests from over 12 countries.

Learn more about the conference


Keynote Speakers

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1. Dr. Simon Best - Middlesex University, United Kingdom

Simon is a Senior Lecturer at Middlesex University Business School. He is the Programme Leader for the M.Sc. Innovation Management and Entrepreneurship and the Project Leader of EDH@MDX, the enterprise development hub. He is also the university lead for APInno and SBeA, two Erasmus funded projects. Alongside these roles Simon is a Teaching Fellow. Simon has been involved in entrepreneurship on a global scale. Over a period of 30 years he has started businesses in India, Viet Nam, Papua New Guinea and Australia. Simon has also been a consultant to small and medium businesses in Japan, Taiwan, India, South Africa and Viet Nam. More recently he has been delivering workshops and seminars in Hungary, USA and Viet Nam to emerging entrepreneurs.


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2. Prof. Andy Penaluna - University of Wales Trinity Saint David, United Kingdom

An international thought leader in developing enterprising creativity through education, Andy has advised Welsh Assembly and Westminster Governments and is an expert at the United Nations in Geneva. He has led discussions at the European Commission, developed teacher training for 8 countries in South East Europe, and was commissioned by the OECD to write international education policy guidance. Funded by the World Bank, he also led the development of what is believed to be the world’s first integrated (compulsory) school curriculum for innovation and entrepreneurship in Macedonia (FYROM).


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3. Dr. Zuleika Beavan - Middlesex University, United Kingdom

Zuleika has more than two decades of experience in the creative industries and she was a senior lecturer in Arts Management at the Arts University Bournemouth, taught on the MA in Cultural Management at the University of Winchester and was a researcher in the Cultural Management Applied Research Group at the University of Greenwich. Drawing on her research focus of work in the music business, Zuleika's PhD was a longitudinal study of musician start-ups. She also has an interest in the effects of technology on the industry and is carrying out a Research Council-funded case study of a Kickstarter-supported album recording and release.


Watch the conference video!
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4. Eduardo Díaz - Fundacion madri+d, Spain

Eduardo is currently in charge of the new technology-based firms unit at Fundacion madri+d. He is a former Innovation Manager consultant and university lecturer. Eduardo is an expert in the fields of startups, innovation, regional development, technology auditing, technology transfer and cluster policies and he also has technical and management experience in the electronics and aerospace sectors. Eduardo is coordinating regional, national and international programmes in the fields of Entrepreneurship, Startup Funding, Venture Mentoring and R&D Commercialisation including Innovation and Entrepreneurship studies and publications. 


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5. Raluca Pauna - Institute of Inventors and Innovators, South Africa

Raluca is the director of the Institute of Inventors and Innovators and EgoliBio incubator/SEDA in South Africa as well as the CEO of the Global Institute of Accelerating Innovation. Having started her career in Romania working at Government Ministerial Departments and at the Research Institute of Fine Mechanics and Instruments, Raluca took on an international career as a member of the EU Leadership Thinking Tank in Brussels and then onto TECHNONET AFRICA, a network for supporting Africa's entrepreneurs. She is qualified (Stanford, CA) to do Design Thinking sessions and focused trainings for emerging innovators and entrepreneurs such as Innovation Management, Technical Entrepreneurship, Strategic and Marketing Planning for Commercialisation of Innovation and applied Competitive Technical intelligence methodologies and tools. Raluca has also been an IBM International mentor for the IBM Global Entrepreneurship Programme since 2013 and was a judge in the panel of judges for the Innovation Summit Garage at Cape Town Competition 2014. At present she is also organizing 3D printing training using design thinking methodology in collaboration with VUT.


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6. Prof. Dimo Dimov - University of Bath, United Kingdom

Dimo is a professor of Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the School of Management, University of Bath. He has recently been recognised as one of the 100 leading entrepreneurship professors for 2015. Prior to joining the University of Bath, in 2012, Dimo was on the Entrepreneurship faculty at Newcastle University, on the Management faculty at University of Connecticut and on the Entrepreneurship faculty at IE Business School in Madrid, Spain. Prior to entering academia, he enjoyed a career in the hospitality industry with Marriott International and was a finance director for two hotel businesses in Budapest, Hungary.

It's Time...

With the “Innovation – Creating the Future” conference approaching, we advise you to register as soon as possible because places are filling up fast. We would like to remind you that there is no participation fee and you can REVIEW THE CONFERENCE INFORMATION and REGISTER HERE



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International Conference "INNOVATION - CREATING THE FUTURE"

20/10/2016

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The international conference "INNOVATION - CREATING THE FUTURE" will present the results of the Action Project for Innovation (APInno) under the EU Programme for Education, Training, Youth and Sport - ERASMUS + . The conference will showcase the final results of a two-year project where international partners from the UK, Spain, Italy and Bulgaria had been working on developing an experiential learning methodolgy in the field of innovation management  for fostering the partnership between business and universities.

"INNOVATION - CREATING THE FUTURE" will take place on 21 November, 2016 in Inter Expo Center Sofia, Musala Hall, blvd. "Tsarigradsko shose" 147, 1784 Sofia, Bulgaria.

Innovation Culture

The topic and concept of innovation management is still underexploited in Europe despite the efforts and financial resources provided by the respective framework programmes and financial instruments. Although а common standard is established, the concept of systematic management of innovation is not very widely used in reality. Business leaders agree that the insufficient innovation and entrepreneurial culture is holding back Europe’s economic growth. In this respect innovation management is and will be the necessary tool for businesses to achieve higher competitiveness and better conditions for economic results.

Business-University Collaboration

The APInno project aims at fostering business–university collaboration as one of the key factors enhancing the innovation culture in organisations. The project partners followed an innovative approach, developed and tested a new model and methodology for new skills and knowledge development in the field of systematic management of the innovation process. Moreover, a flexible and holistic model for successful partnership between companies and universities has been developed. Its further use and implementation could help organisations be more innovative and successful.

THE CONFERENCE

The conference will provide the opportunity for discussion of the future challenges higher education and business organisations face; exchange of good practices and experience, both by business and several academic organisations in Europe. The keynote speakers and panelists  have many years of experience of teaching and consulting in the field of innovation and entrepreneurship.

The partners in the project are: Knowledge, Innovation and Strategies Management Club, University of Library Studies and Information Technologies, Anfi Ventures, Tecnalia, JODA Training and Middlesex University.

We advise you to register now to secure your place at the conference.


register now
See Conference Agenda
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APInno Reference Number: - 2014-1-BG01-KA203-001561
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The Knowledge, Innovation and Strategies Management Club is a non-profit organisation set up in Sofia, Bulgaria in 2012 to foster knowledge and innovation management across South East Europe. KISMC is supporting the development of the innovation ecosystem in the region by bridging the gap between education, research and business.

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