AlmaLaurea News
"Extending the AlmaLaurea model across Europe"Interview with Leonardo Sforza, director of the European Club for Human Ressources: "Upgrading human resources is essential for the competitiveness of the company"
The AlmaLaurea project deserves to be internationalized, because such a survey system, which is so widespread and eclectic, compared to the different know-how areas that it covers, does not exist in other European countries." This is the opinion of Leonardo Sforza, director of the European Club for Human Resources. As for the economic recovery, he said: "Compared to the situation of the last year, Europe is experiencing a cautious optimism, even though there is the risk that this process will be too slow and geographically differentiated. A new growing phase of the gross national product is still limited, but it has finally started to rise again for the majority of the countries."
What kind of added value would the AlmaLaurea databank provide to the European countries?
"The knowledge- and innovation-based economy will play an increasingly important role for the economic development, the creation of new jobs and their quality. Monitoring the knowledge- and competence-based resources – the present and even potential ones- that are available in the different local contexts is essential. It contributes to determining the choices made by companies regarding the concentration of new investments, the launch of new products and services or, on the contrary, de-localisation itself. The AlmaLaurea project becomes a fundamental instrument not only for companies, which can have access to the CVs of best graduates in real time, but also for public authorities, which aim at the upgrading of human resources as a factor determining the competitiveness and the development of their local contexts"
Should AlmaLaurea be extended to the European countries?
“It’s a shame that such a service has not yet been extended on a European scale. In that case we would have a more clear, coherent and updated framework of the qualified workforce available in each country of the EU. The perspective would be, in that case, to influence the evolution of competences and educational programmes, so that they can meet the future labour market requirements. Such an instrument would enable us to set shared analysis parameters for the evaluation of graduates' employment performances. This should not be underestimated, above all if we consider the mismatch between the requirements of the companies and the human resources having an academic education, that affects the majority of the European countries. From this point of view, AlmaLaurea is an essential “connecting link” between universities and the labour market. Moreover, it should also be taken into account that this kind of databank offers plenty of information for any quantitative and qualitative analysis on graduates’ perspectives and expectations on job, wage, professional career and personal fulfilment.”
The statistics presented by AlmaLaurea show that in Italy both the unemployment rate and graduates earnings have fallen. What kind of situation can be examined on a European scale?
“The economic crisis of the last two years had a devastating effect on the labour market for almost all the European countries. This happened in spite of all the efforts made both by companies and by the public authorities in order to mitigate its social impact. However, the results showed in the fifth edition of the Pan-European HR Barometer allow us to be more optimistic for the 2010 - 2012 period as for the chances to create new job opportunities and to reach a higher level of professional training of the human capital of the companies operating on the European market. Our yearly survey, which has been carried out by Hewitt Associates for the European Club for HR and which involves all the human resources managers of the international leading companies operating in different market sectors, shows a change of perspective in terms of company requirements and priorities, compared to the last year. Although the instability and weakness of the economic context still persist and they are also influenced by the worrisome increase in the public debt, there is a clear improvement in companies’ optimism toward the possibility of a recovery of their reference markets. Moreover, there is also greater propensity to start active policies aimed at the development of their activities, which very often lead to a renewed commitment to employment".
Shall companies start again to hire personnel, then?
“There is a rising number of companies in which the amount of hired personnel will rise from 8% of 2009 to 20% of this year. However, there is still the necessity to improve the operational productivity and to pursue the adjustment of the work force to the changeable needs related to production and work organisation. From this point of view, an important incentive for companies could be a strengthened cooperation between universities themselves and the local communities. A similar synergy -if lasting, well structured and not incidental- would enable us to better understand and forecast the ongoing changes in the productive sector and to define shared policies aimed at the creation of the professional figures that companies have trouble finding.”
Is the crisis from a certain point of view an opportunity?
“Our survey gives a clear answer: the priorities of the business leaders have changed. Now companies are much more concentrated on the upgrading of the human capital, whether it be management professionalization or the development of new leadership profiles or policies aimed at assessing and improving the satisfaction of the workforce with their job in the company. This happens because, in spite of what is commonly thought, the most dynamic and successful companies have actually considered the crisis like an opportunity for a modernisation and make the most of their resources, rather than seeing it like a “straitjacket” that hinders every movement. The main asset of differentiation against the competition among these resources is represented by the quality and the commitment of those who work in companies and by the ability to attract new talents".
What is the role played by Italy in the European context?
"The situation emerging from the analysis of the different European countries compared to the main parameters and innovation factors shows that Italy has still one of the lowest rates, both in terms of investments in research and development and in terms of public-private sector partnership and upgrade of the human capital. The AlmaLaurea project could become a good incentive to the young talents and an opportunity to free themselves”
Redazione AlmaLaurea
April 12th, 2010