Turning information into action. In a nutshell, this is the key point demonstrated to us last Friday by the Wirtschaftsförderung Region Stuttgart GmbH during the Automotive Skills Alliance Working Group 4 meeting, which focused on identifying, promoting, and supporting the work-regional hubs in the up- and re-skilling of workers through targeted projects.
The road to re/upskilling at local level foregoes the opportunity to involve all stakeholders to collaborate in the process of defining objectives and identifying potential obstacles. It is essential to proceed with a proactive approach as to efficiently put ideas and proposals into concrete actions while also maintaining the capability to anticipate the possible barriers that may arise throughout the implementation.
The ASA is at the beginning of its ambitious journey. The first part of the Friday morning meeting, organised by ETRMA, leader of the WG4, was dedicated to analysing the demands and impressions given by the regional partners gathered from previous discussions. The goal was to identify the major difficulties associated with preparing an up/reskilling programme. These challenges included the defining of objectives, getting in touch with stakeholders, identifying drivers of change, and promoting sectoral training, among others.
During the second part of the meeting, we had the pleasure to listen to the ideas and proposals from one of the regions that is most advanced in the field of automotive workforce retraining. Dr. Sabine Stützle-Leinmüller, from the Wirtschaftsförderung Region Stuttgart, reported on the ongoing activities from this essential automotive hub.
In the case of Germany, the head of the Skilled Workers Division of the Stuttgart Region highlighted how crucial it is that there is cooperation between both large companies and SMEs, who should be equally involved in the process while supporting each other by sharing knowledge and best practices. Another essential aspect is the need to be creative in implementing projects once priorities have been set, using what is already available and bringing experience on board to carry out new projects.
An important element for success is to involve all the actors, to include people throughout all stages of the process and to mobilise them when moving from theory to practice. This will be essential in establishing the right approach and contribute towards the collective success in the implementing of changes which will result in efficiently organised training courses for the automotive workforce in the area.
As in any major shift, a successful implementation will include everyone, where we will need to ensure that no one is left behind.
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