1. The ATLAS project
Harrie van den Brand
Fontys University
The Netherlands
PASS IT ON
Malta 19 – 11 – 2011

2. ATLAS:
Assessment and
Training of
LAbour market related
Skills

3. Occasion
The most common reason for people
with little or no schooling loosing their
job is lack of social skills

4. Goals
1. An objective assessment of
performance in social
situations
2. Allocation of the needed social
skills

5. Focus
On three levels of employment:
1. Open labour market
2. Sheltered employment
3. Day centres

6. 7 European
Countries involved
• Belgium
• United Kingdom
• Ireland
• Austria
• Greece
• Romania
• The Netherlands

7. Components
• Target group
• Employers
• Assessment and training
• Social competences and skills

8. Target group
• People with intellectual
disabilities
• People with little or no schooling

9. Employment
• Regular employment: Real pay in a regular
environment
• Sheltered employment: Real pay in a sheltered
environment
• Sheltered work: No pay in a sheltered
environment or training
for employment or work

10. Employers
• Three relevant sectors:
• (Light) industrial
(reproduction, assemblage)
• Open space planning
(gardening, greenhouse)
• Service sector
(catering/cleaning)

11. Conclusions surveys
employers
Employers of the 3 sectors think differently about which social skills are
required from employees if they work for them.
Employees working closer to paid jobs in the free labour market, the more
demands regarding social skills are required from them by the employers.
We suspect that the opinions in the various countries about the required social
skills differ.

12. Assessment & training
• Impossible to come to one assessment
instrument
• Overview on assessment
instruments
• ATLAS decision tree

13. Change of focus
from skills to competences

14. Definition Social
Competence
Labour market related social competences are:
Competences that consist of an integration of
Knowledge, Skills, Attitude, personal traits and
Experience.
They enable clients to socially perform in an
adequate way in a certain profession in a certain
context.

15. Competences & skills
• Skills are part of the competence
• Competences focuses on all aspects of
client’s performance
• Competence-based is client-centered
• Starting point are abilities of a person

16. The 7 ATLAS
Competences
• Ability to communicate
• Ability to perform during work
• Ability to have positive relations on the work floor with e.g.
superiors & customers
• Ability to have positive relations with colleagues
• Ability to behave in a social accepted way
• Ability to manage his/her stress effectively
• Ability to comply with general rules and agreements

17. Competence-based
training
• Assessment
• Starting situation
• Personal development plan
• Training
• Reflection

18. Assessment and
Starting situation
• Assessment
– ATLAS decision tree
– Real life settings
– Prove the ablility
• Starting situation: STARR method
– Situation
– Task
– Action
– Result
– Reflection

19. Paradigm shift
Thinking in
perspectives and
possibilities for
young people who
want to participate