The OSUVA operating model is based on the future
“In our task of developing working life we are seeking to produce more focused services for the province. Our senses are alert to what is happening in Lapland’s entrepreneur and business sectors
and to the direction in which things are developing.”
The Rovaniemi Municipal Federation of Education assesses and anticipates the future need for education and competence in jobs and working life. This is necessary for the planning and implementation of education and development services. This is supported particularly by the OSUVA project. The main goal of the project is create an integrated, functional network model that makes it possible to anticipate the need for competence, education, development and services in Lapland. The participants of the OSUVA project are analysing, among other things, how business
will develop in Lapland, how working life will change, the nature of jobs in the future, who will hold those jobs and what will happen to employees.
Correctly focused education serves the entire province
“It is really increasingly important to be able to respond to changes in the operating environment. This young age group is shrinking, so this resource and its education must not be incorrectly focused. It’s good that the regional administration, entrepreneurs and education organisations are ready to work together, look to the future and search for solutions. This benefi ts everyone.”
The OSUVA operating model is being developed as a regional joint effort. Companies, public organisations, arrangers of education and the regional administration are all cooperating. The direction in which the business and public sectors are heading now and in the future is being considered at the strategic level. At the operative level the participants are dealing with the practical questions of working life and planning education and development projects. The operative level includes various events, decision-making by arrangers of education, clusters comprised of experts
and customer interfaces.
Clusters composed of experts are currently being started up within the OSUVA project. These clusters have been built in different sectors or groups of sectors in business. They are producing knowledge and they are analysing and planning various possibilities of responding to changes that refl ect on jobs and their content. These clusters are also surveying future demands for competence and professional skills at the customer interface and analysing acquired knowledge to be
able to create the best possible solutions.
Competition for Lapland’s labour force
“Sector growth and development in Lapland are viewed positively in nearly all fields.”
If all the major projects in the province are implemented, there will be competition for Lapland’s labour force. Natural wastage will be substantial in the near future. The question is: are employers prepared for this situation? Bringing up a new generation to replace the preceding one is a challenging task. For example, forming an overall picture of the sector and learning silent knowledge takes its own time for new employees. If arrangers of education and employers would engage in dialogue regularly, also this matter could be taken into consideration already during the
learning phase.
A need for permanent collaboration and support for it
“Anticipation of changes in business life and work is crucial for the entire province,
so its continuance should be important also for arrangers of education.”
At the moment the OSUVA operating model is at the level of an initial model. It depicts the entity primarily from the viewpoint of content. It lacks a description of the processes contained in the model, structural implementation (organisation and funding), conscious implementation of the model in the involved organisations and interest groups and continuous development and assessment of the operating model. OSUVA activity requires the introduction and use of practices and tools and above all, belief in mutual competence created through dialogue.