The programme for the years 2004-09
at www.tykes.fi
The aim of the Finnish National Workplace Development Programme (1996-99) is to boost
productivity and the quality of working life by furthering full use and development of
staff know-how and innovative power at Finnish workplaces. The programme aims at this by
developing human resources and helping work organizations to reform their modes of
operation.
The research-assisted development programme aims to:
- support workplace-initiated projects
- speed up initiatives at the level of the workplace
- boost the use of research in developing working life
- create and maintain co-operation networks to disseminate and build up knowledge and
competence
- increase international information exchange
The period of project application has been expired in June 1998. As only few new
projects will be launched in 1999 the focus of the programme will be in evaluation of the
first programme period and the projects programme has supported. Decisions concerning the
possible second programme period (from 2000 onward) will also be made this year.
The programme gives priority to support for projects aimed at bringing about a
comprehensive change in the mode of operation of a work organization. The programme
supports projects set up on the initiative of companies and public-sector organizations.
No sector is excluded. Although projects must be workplace initiated, they do not have to
be limited to specific workplaces, as several workplaces can participate in a project as
clusters. Projects should promote both productivity and the quality of working life.
Furthermore, both management and staff should make a commitment to the project's aims and
to carrying it out in co-operation. The programme can give support both to development
projects and less extensive basic analyses.
Decisions on granting projects expert support are made by the Ministry of Labour,
following preparation by the project team and an opinion from the programme's expert
group. This is made up of representatives of the central labour market organizations, the
Confederation of Private Entrepreneurs and the Working Environment Division and the
Occupational Safety and Health Division of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health.
A project should fall within one of the areas of focus set down by the programme's
management group. This has set five focus areas for projects launched in 1996-1998:
- promoting new forms of working and work organization
- developing management and co-operation skills
- developing human resources
- promoting the status of aged and young workforce
- promoting sexual equality.
The period of application has been expired in June 1998.
Absolute criteria
1. Projects should promote a shift in the work organization towards mode of
operation that simultaneously improves productivity and the quality of working life. A
change in the mode of operation can be considered holistic and comprehensive when it aims
at the simultaneous development of technologies, leadership, forms of work organization,
vocational and professional skills among staff, and working conditions and occupational
health. A funded project need not focus on all of the above-mentioned areas. However, how
holistic and comprehensive a change in the mode of operation is held to be constitutes a
significant criterion; notwithstanding, project targets should be sufficiently concrete,
so that their attainability can be clearly evaluated.
2. Project should focus on one of the target areas approved by the programme
management group. The management group has approved the following target areas for
1996-1998:
- promoting new forms of working and work organization, such as teamwork and networking
- developing management and co-operation skills, taking also development needs of local
negotiation and bargaining systems into account
- developing human resources, with the specific target of increasing staff expertise and
innovation
- promoting the status of aged and young workforce as well as the interaction of workforce
of various ages
- promoting sexual equality.
The target areas listed are neither mutually exclusive nor conceptually equal.
3. Projects should be realisable. In evaluating how realisable a project is, the
targets and implementation methods, the work organization's readiness for change, the
expertise of those in charge of the development project and the project timetable must all
be considered. For each case, the programme requires a guarantee that those responsible
for implementing the project possess a sufficient level of expertise. Experts either
internal or external to the work organization can be in charge of the development project.
4. Management and staff of the work organization must commit to the project's
targets and to implementing them jointly. The minimum requirement is that management
and staff representatives jointly deal with the project's implementation plan, and that a
group representing all the above parties is established to monitor project implementation.
The group should at the minimum represent those staff groups whose work will be affected
by the project. The scope of management/staff co-operation is a significant project
criterion.
5. The work organization and the experts in its employ must accept programme-imposed
procedures. Such procedures involve project documentation, evaluation, result
reporting and publicity, the grounds for sharing expenditure between the work organization
and the programme, and payment for expert help with the project.
For each project, an agreement is drawn up between the Ministry of Labour and the
applicant. The ceiling for expert funding granted to any single project is FIM 400,000.
This is intended primarily to cover the wages or fees of experts employed by the project.
Expenses arising from experts' travel costs, use of information services and research
materials can also be part-funded under the programme.
The programme contribution to the project's calculated expenses cannot exceed 50% for
large companies and public-sector organizations (with at least 250 people), or 70% for
SMEs and small public-sector organizations. If a project is deemed especially innovative,
or seen as possessing great national or sectoral importance, programme funding in the
former category of workplaces rises to maximum of 70%, and in the latter to the maximum of
90%. Costs arising from loss of labour input during the project can also be included among
computed expenses.
Project duration is not restricted. In normal cases, the programme does not grant
expert funding for periods of over two years at a time.
6. The programme does not contribute to funding of product development, machinery or
equipment investments, information activities, or solely training measures.
Supplementary criteria
1. Degree of innovation: Innovation can relate to new methods and tools used in
the development project, or to new practices generated by it. In measuring innovation,
similar work organizations in the same industry, or chosen in some other way, can be used
for comparison.
2. Sectoral or national importance: Sectoral or national importance can derive
directly from the results achieved through the project in question, or from its indirect
impact. In the latter case, importance is measured by the project's broader applicability
within other work organizations.
3. Strategic importance for the work organization: Strategic importance in this
context means the extent to which project experiences can be used to direct the work
organization's strategy and specifically to define target areas for development work.
4. Long-term effects on the size and quality of the workforce: In evaluating
expert funding, attention must be given to how the project supports measures by which the
organization can create sustainable employment, and which promote staff expertise.
5. Networking: The programme creates and maintains co-operation networks for the
dissemination and accumulation of information and expertise. It encourages networking in
two ways: by funding development projects aimed at the creation of a network between a
group of work organizations, and by funding the simultaneous start-up of similar projects
in a larger pool of work organizations, thus promoting information exchange between them.
6. Size of the work organization: Large companies and public-sector
organizations have access to greater expert and financial resources, through which to
develop their operations, than do SMEs and small public-sector organizations. In order to
promote development in this latter category, the programme may contribute more
substantially to projects funding than in the case of larger work organizations.
| Sector |
Number of projects and
basic analyses |
Amount of grants |
| |
Projects |
Basic analyses |
TOTAL |
FIM
1,000 |
% |
| I Agriculture and forestry |
1 |
1 |
2 |
365 |
1 |
| II Manufacturing industries & construction
|
78 |
11 |
89 |
37,018 |
50 |
| IIa Metal & engineering industries |
34 |
5 |
39 |
22,812 |
31 |
| IIb Wood-processing industries |
15 |
2 |
17 |
5,756 |
8 |
| IIc Chemical industries |
8 |
2 |
10 |
3,132 |
4 |
| IId Construction and installation |
10 |
- |
10 |
3,072 |
4 |
| IIe Other manufacturing industries |
12 |
2 |
14 |
2,250 |
3 |
| III Private service industries |
36 |
13 |
49 |
9,684 |
13 |
| IIIa Hotels & restaurants |
3 |
- |
3 |
644 |
1 |
| IIIb Wholesailing & retailing |
9 |
3 |
12 |
2,418 |
3 |
| IIIc Transport |
3 |
2 |
5 |
820 |
1 |
| IIId Communications |
7 |
1 |
8 |
1,880 |
2 |
| IIIe Financing & insurance |
5 |
1 |
6 |
1,245 |
2 |
| IIIf Other private service industries |
9 |
6 |
15 |
2,677 |
4 |
| IV Local authorities |
73 |
18 |
91 |
20,884 |
28 |
| IVa General |
13 |
3 |
16 |
3,780 |
5 |
| IVb Social services & health care |
36 |
6 |
42 |
11,058 |
15 |
| IVc Meal services |
7 |
3 |
10 |
1,864 |
2 |
| IVd Educational & cultural services |
11 |
5 |
16 |
2,924 |
4 |
| IVe Technical services |
6 |
1 |
7 |
1,258 |
2 |
| V State sector |
16 |
6 |
22 |
3,347 |
5 |
| VI Others |
11 |
3 |
14 |
2,218 |
3 |
| VII Projects involving several sectors |
12 |
5 |
17 |
X* |
X* |
| TOTAL |
227 |
57 |
284 |
73,520 |
100 |
* Grants given to different workplaces are distributed by sector.
The National Workplace Development Programme strives to promote networking in
particular areas:
- Internal networking in the labour administration
- Networking between projects
- A network of scientific expertise on the national level
- A network of scientific expertise on the international level
The programme also strives to achieve close co-operation with the main bodies funding
research and workplace development in Finland, such as the Finnish Work Environment Fund,
the European Social Fund, the Academy of Finland, the Technology Development Centre of
Finland and the other ministries.
The Government allocated FIM 16.9 million (ECU 3 million) from its 1996 budget for the
implementation of the programme and FIM 16 million in 1997, 1998 and 1999. As part of the
'rainbow Government' decision to raise Finnish research funding to 2.9 % of GDP by 1999,
the Science and Technology Policy Council under the Prime Minister decided in December
1996 to boost programme resources by altogether FIM 30 million (5 million ECU) between
1997 and 1999. This appropriation is already earmarked for supporting the generation and
testing of workplace innovations - especially organizational process
innovations - that will promote change in the mode of operation of Finnish companies
and boost employment. According to current estimates, the total programme budget for
1996-1999 will be some FIM 100 million (18 million ECU).
Publications in english can be ordered online
and they are free of charge.
All of the publications (in Finnish), list.
Project team, Ministry of Labour
P.O.Box 524, FIN-00101 Helsinki
Telefax (+358 9) 1856 8900
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