Occupational insertion companies

EDU2013-45919-R

In the current context of socio-economic crisis and precarious working conditions, insertion companies stand out among active employment polices because of their potential for fighting against the exclusion of people who struggle with integrating themselves socially and in terms of work by improving their employment choices and their life quality.

This project is focused on the training and accompaniment processes in these businesses, especially in research work known as “Training, accompaniment, qualification and personal development processes in insertion companies: innovation in social inclusion from employment”, funded by the Spanish Government.

In order to achieve that, professional performance of the accompaniment staff is described mentioning the functions that accompaniment and production technical staff develop. The study also pays attention to difficulties in their role performance. This analysis is based on an observation qualitative project, interviews and assessment of the results obtained in terms of job performance and personal and social development carried out throughout three years in eight Spanish territory businesses.

The conclusion points to the most relevant aspects that affect accompaniment development and the form in which employability of insertion staff is promoted.

Ministry of Economy and Finance

Insertion companies, as we mentioned before, are third-sector social economy initiatives whose aim is to improve social equality combining economic and social aspects focusing on sectors of the population in risk of exclusion. On previous works (Córdoba and Martínez, 2011; Marhuenda and Bonavía, 2011; Marhuenda, Bernad and Navas, 2010) we revealed that there are some common patterns on learning development and we have noticed signs of teaching processes in jobs of a part of the population who lack formal qualifications (Abiétar, Marhuenda and Navas, 2013; Chisvert and Córdoba, 2017; Navas and Marhuenda, 2013). It also finds in these businesses the possibility of learning in standardized labour contexts despite their past of addictions, judicial measures, gender-based violence and/or social services dependencies.

Because of the analysis carried out by several autonomous communities we highlight that, in the same line in which AERESS and FAEDEI (2014) are set out, insertion companies (EI) focus on different structures when it comes to both, staff organisation, and the context and population in which they intervene. This diversity is understood by the processes that are developed through PTI claims and needs. In this way, they try to answer equally in situations of social exclusion. As a consequence, even if tools for work in the different stages of labour insertion are institutionalised, their precision in the EI accompaniment development is very varied. This does not involve the fact of not taking into account reference manuals, but their use being suitable for claims.

Conclusions
The review of principles, roles and functions and their application to different EI analysis led us to conclude in different aspects. On the first place, we highlight the fact that methodological principles proposed from AERESS and FAEDEI (2014) would need revision for meeting teaching and learning processes that take place in EI. On EI we work differently, and not with fixed processes, aspects such as participation and autonomy or customisation and socialisation, taking into consideration the individual process of each PTI. In the same way, following another of the methodological principles, we conclude that given the complexity of the accompaniment staff functions, their initial and permanent training should be an essential aspect in their professional development. Secondly, our conclusions confirm the need of PTA and PTP roles being developed by different persons -as happens in the main part of the business- and that have a close coordination in which management also takes part as a role as guiding those who accompany.

That being said, this role differentiation does not mean exclusivity in functions and actions: coordination has to be settle on in a constant and fluent communication in which both, PTA and PTP meet personal, socio-occupational and technical-professional competences to develop. In this way, accompaniment process individualisation is provided in educational and productive contexts, and, in some cases, personal variables are key in the performance of these functions (Marhuenda, 2018c). However, we want to stress that EI plays a complex role in the current context with the limitations set up by social labour policies. Not only do they have the challenge of improving social equity in exclusion situations created by structural and circumstantial aspects, but also they have productive needs and businesses. Therefore, they face the difficulty of combining training and production; that is, that have to guide insertion staff individually without stopping the business functioning. In fact, the evolution of a person in insertion from the dependency to autonomy in the workplace is precisely what marks the rhythms in the process rather than setting the limits in the stages stablished on the manual. The different performances studied set out aspects that work more than what has been specified in a formal level. In that sense, accompaniment in insertion companies has to be understood as an educational relationship in which different subjects and processes that form it intervene.

Training, accompaniment, qualification and personal development processes in insertion companies