Organisational Development for Europe’s SME Support Agencies

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This presentation reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. (Partner logo here) ODESSA – Project Overview The ODESSA project is funded from the Grundtvig strand of the 2007 round of the EU’s Lifelong Learning programme The project, which began in December 2007, focuses on the development of quality standards for organisations and individuals supporting SME It is therefore of relevance to all business support organisations/agencies within Europe, whether in the private or public sector The project is led by Exemplas, the UK’s leading business support organisation. The 3 EU partners (the Toledo Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the national SME development agencies of Slovakia and Bulgaria) are joined by two non-EU partners (the Swiss Federation for Adult Learning and the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry)

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This presentation reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. (Partner logo here) Grundtvig Programme – what is it Nikolai Frederik Severin Grundtvig ( ), Danish pioneer of folk high schools, philosopher, theologian and social reformer Programme is part of the EU’s family of Lifelong Learning Programmes (with Erasmus, Leonardo and Comenius), which has budget of €7 billion for 2007 to 2013 (current deadline February 29 th ) LLP focus on promoting links between learning and work/life. Projects are expected to produce learning materials/systems, etc Grundtvig focus is on non-accredited Adult Education Mobility, Networks and Multilateral projects See p/index_en.html p/index_en.html

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This presentation reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. (Partner logo here) Grundtvig Programme 2007 – winners 62 Grundtvig bids were successful, but only 5 from the UK We were 34 th largest and scored 20 th, the lowest UK score! See ents/subprogrammes- results/2007_selected_GRU_MP.pdf ents/subprogrammes- results/2007_selected_GRU_MP.pdf

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This presentation reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. (Partner logo here) ODESSA – Rationale SME managers do not participate enough in formal/vocational education (research of 468 SMEs in 9 CEE states found only 16% SME managers with formal managerial competence and only 37% would use education to improve) Need to develop educational/training support systems tailored to SME managers SMEs will not take the lead. So government intervention is necessary Some EU intervention (eg PHARE & INTERREG IIIc) but focused on training for business advisers rather than improving the system as a whole Provides an important role for SME support agencies But we need quality standards for (a) SME trainers/coaches/advisers and (b) SME support centres.

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This presentation reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. (Partner logo here) ODESSA –Objectives Overall aim: to promote SME competitiveness in Europe by improving the quality of SME support, through the implementation of common EU-wide quality standards for trainers, consultants and SME local support centres. Specific objectives: To identify common core areas of competence for those training or advising SMEs and local SME support centres To develop effective assessment tools for these areas of competence, and establish these tools within a single quality framework To pilot these assessment tools/framework within the networks of SME support centres within partner countries To train advisers and auditors in each partner country to promote, and assess against, the quality framework To develop plans for a wider roll out as common EU-wide standards, backed by a common brand associated with quality

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This presentation reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. (Partner logo here) ODESSA – Project Phases Phase 1 Research & Scoping UK partner meeting Research existing best practices Stakeholder Forum Develop outline Dec 07 - Apr % Phase 2 Drafting Standards May 08 – Sep 08 Spain partner meeting Draft Detailed Standards Initial Training Materials 12.41% Phase 3 Piloting Standards Oct 08 - Jun 09 Slovak partner meeting Pilot Standards With SME Support Centres Recruit & Train Advisers and Assessors 39.70% Phase 4 Refining Standards Jun 09 - Oct 09 French/Swiss partner meeting Finalise Training materials Conduct Evaluation 15.88% Phase 5 Dissemination and Close Down Oct 09 - Nov 09 Bulgaria partner meeting Franchising & Brand Strategy Dissemination Conference Final Reports and Audit 13.65%

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This presentation reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. (Partner logo here) ODESSA – Current Actions Existing quality standards to which SME trainers/advisers and local SME centres are working Areas in which implementing standards would add value to the training/business advice provided SME trainer/coach/adviser competencies & qualifications core service frameworks/training packages Benchmarking of costs, client numbers, staff numbers, etc. and best practice in other countries Research, including talking to local SME support centres, government and national/professional bodies about: Establish Stakeholder Forum in each partner area of key players that emerged from the research. Each Forum to consider the research gathered in its area/country before forwarding to Exemplas to aggregate

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This presentation reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. (Partner logo here) Underpinning Documents Roll-out strategy Results of research Evaluation results ODESSA – Outputs Diagram Quality Overview Quality Assurance process backed by a Quality Manual Quality Standards Standards for Trainers/Coaches Standards for SME support centres Training Materials Training pack for Trainers/Coaches Implementation pack for SME support centres Promotional Materials Brochures for SME centres, national SME Agencies and SME trainers/coaches Website and a unique logo/brand Franchising Pack

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This presentation reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. (Partner logo here) ODESSA – Volume Targets 28 Advisers/assessors trained (WP 16), being 3 advisers and 3 assessors per partner (=6*4) plus a further two trainers/advisers and two assessors from the UK, who deliver the training to the others (=24+4=28) 32 SME support centre managers training (WP 14,17), being 2 people from 4 local SME centres in the pilot being run by each partner (=2*4*4=32) 48 trainers/advisers/coaches/consultants employed by or associated with the local SME support centres trained (WP 17), being 3 per local SME centre (=3*4*4=48).

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This presentation reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. (Partner logo here) ODESSA – Project Partners EHL - Exemplas Holdings Limited, Hatfield, UK CCIT - Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Toledo, Spain NADSME - National Agency for Development of Small and Medium Enterprises, Bratislava, Slovakia BSMEPA - Bulgarian Small and Medium Enterprise Promotion Agency, Sofia, Bulgaria SVEB - Schweizerischer Verband Für Weiterbildung, (Swiss Federation for Adult Learning), Switzerland ADCCI - Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Abu Dhabi, UAE

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This presentation reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. (Partner logo here) ODESSA – Project Partners

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This presentation reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. (Partner logo here) ODESSA – Project Website One of the outcomes of the project will be a promotional website During the course of the project, up to date project information can be found at