The aim of the project was to prevent burnout at work and raise resilience by developing toolkits for SMEs staff, management staff, SME owners to help them to forecast burnout ( develop coaching and counselling methods and tools) recognize the warning signs, to take steps to get balance back and to change peoples’ approach to a balanced life, to improve working conditions, reduce the cost of burnout, stress. Main project rezults developed during the project lifetime are: - Framework about burnout and resilience- Assessment to explore and recognize burnout and resilience- Toolkit for resilience - 5 toolkits, 5 ways to raise resilience. Toolkits are linked to the test on identifying factors that hinder or help your resilience.5 toolkits are:1. Personal coping 2.Experience of work 3.Health and wellbeing 4.Think yourself strong 5.Create resilience in your environment- Toolkit for managers 5 toolkits, 5 ways to raise resilience designed for SME managers to help prevent burnout at work. The content helps spot any warning signs at an early stage and ultimately improve employees’ happiness in the workplace. The toolkits are linked to the self-assessment on identifying reduced resilience of your employees. 5 toolkits are:1.Circle of Influence2.Core Quadrants of Ofman3.GROW Model4.Progression Feedback5.Social Styles- E-learning development with gamification elements- Guidelines for workshops - A total of ten workshops were delivered across the partnership, with two workshops taking place in each partner country (Belgium, Italy, Poland, Portugal and the UK). The main objective of the workshops is to test the SME Tools to Prevent Burnout platform (IO5) with managers and employees working in SMEs. The platform has been designed for two target groups: managers and employees. The workshops enabled the partnership to test various aspects of the platform including the quality of platform content and how user-friendly it is. Guidelines are attached to this report together with the final report. The partnership grew from relationship established over several years with an emphasis arising from LdV Transfer of innovation.The project proposed a well-balanced partnership structure designed with full consideration of the skills and expertise necessary for the execution of the project. Okrganizations were directly involved in the development of the project: CTCP from Portugal, Obelisk from Belgium, Materahub from Italy, Inova from UK and Globalnet fro Poland. CTCP is a public training institution that operates in the area of footwear industry in Portugal. Obelisk is a company providing multiple trainings and consultancy, it's a customer-orientation, flexible, professional and mature organization with 16 years of expertise in the area of learning and development. INOVA Consultancy is a private for profit SME specialised in providing consultancy services and project work in the field of gender diversity and equality. Materahub IT is an aggregator of people and business, a “space” where they meet, encourage the creation of new job opportunities through a process of mentoring, training and business development. Globalnet specializes in e-learning solutions and cooperates with people from various vocations. It owns the e-learning platform that is adjusted to different training courses. These project partners are responsible for the creation of toolkits and e-learning content. Due to its geographical spread the project contains high cultural diversity and varied national contexts. In addition, the project is composed of partners with large networks of contacts and expertise in creating connections among organizations. Thus, the project impact and reach will go beyond the partner countries. Generally the project and its results will have a possitive impact on many areas. Not directly the project will cause the decrease of stress level and the general working conditions should, therefore, improve - less stress and tools to prevent burnout and raising resilience and at the same time: - raised resilience will influece the professional activity of employees- less people suffering from stress and equipped with tools to fight burnout and raise their resilience- self - assessment tools to assess participants resilience and help them raise it- less people suffering from stress-related conditions caused by work (cardiovascular, musculoskeletal disease, immunological problems)- better health of staff, wellbeing, improved satisfaction with life, possitive emotions-positive effect on health and resilience,-an increased mobility of people involved in the project, - an interest in the project of the employees organizations, companies,- interest in the project outcomes of the institutions not involved in partnership,-an increase of the offer of educational institutions,- development of new initiatives between partners from European countries,- increase in interest in lifelong learning

The theme of succession in family-based SMEs is an important and complex issue involving the companies themselves and all the business environment from suppliers to customers and other stakeholders. This issue becomes relevant in Europe, where more than 90% of the businesses are SMEs, mostly family-based.The transference of the company leadership from an actual leader to a successor is an unique moment in business lifetime to innovate and reinforce the sustainability of the business or, conversely, to fail, putting in risk many jobs, suppliers and clients.Annually, more than 700.000 companies in European Union cross succession processes. Studies outstand that approximately 1/3 of the entrepreneurs responsible for the leadership of family businesses will abandon their activity during next 10 years, involving directly more than 2,8 million of jobs, and only 50% of the family businesses reach the 2nd generation and only 20% reach the 3rd generation. These facts have a common root at European level: the lack of skills on the design and implementation of succession plans and on transgenerational entrepreneurship, from the part of the actual leaders and their potential successors.Project’s main goal is to design, develop and test learning tools and methodologies, on several themes relevant for the family business succession process, targeted to the actual leaders and their potential successors, key-people and other collaborators, in order to support family-based SMEs to face and cross the succession process in a successful way. The project outputs widely cover all the succession process - awareness raising toward the actual leaders that it’s time to prepare the succession, identification of the best moment to act, support on the identification and selection of the most adequate successor, preparation of succession plan, support on its implementation - are targeted to both intervenient, and consist in learning tools focused on the organization aspects and methodologies and guidelines for training/coaching. This way, the project also envisages the creation of capacity within support organizations to train and coach the involved parties.The project envisages to provide intervention on actual leaders and successors, key-people in SMEs and other collaborators, who lack skills for the sustainable succession in SME, as well as enable trainers and coaches to provide support to the mentioned target-groups. The outputs produced during the project are the following: - A scanning tool aiming to scan opportunities and needs to start succession process, to scan training needs and create awareness raising, constituted by an evidence based research on succession planning knowledge and transgenerational entrepreneurship skills & training needs in SMEs, a scanning training needs tools targeted to the actual leaders and successors with potential of awareness raising, and to identify opportunities for the start of the succession process.- Comprehensive training paths/curricula and a contents’ Portfolio on “How to Implement a Sustainable Succession in family-based SMEs” - B-learning on How to Implement a Sustainable Succession in family based-SMEs, which includes a manual for users, a Demo for dissemination and trial purposes and a Piloting Report- Trainers/coaches resources, consisting in a common methodology on coaching for Sustainable Succession in family based-SMEs, and a correspondent support tools for trainers and coaches, including a package for training the trainers/coaches.All these Outputs are available in 6 different languages of the partnership: English, Portuguese, Dutch, Polish, Spanish and Italian. The project impact will is already visible at the following levels:- Enhancement of knowledge on transgenerational entrepreneurship.- Enhancement of knowledge on challenges and facilitators factors of the business succession and how to control/monitor them.- Up-skilled actual leaders on defining a succession plan, choosing the successor(s) and preparing him/her/them, preparing the organizational environment, involving suppliers and clients.- Up-skilled successors and key-people namely by providing them with a special training to potentiate the process-Up-skill all collaborators involved mainly on soft skills- Enhancement of the Integration of ICT in learning and training for these target groups- Trainers and coaches prepared to support the definition and implementation of the succession strategy.- Improve the quality level and open and innovative training for VET learners in the field of transgenerational entrepreneurship and other related themes to be applicable in the SME succession and other related contexts. - A robust and motivated networking of good practices in family-based business succession.- Balance the role of the women in the process, respecting and potentiating the differences.

Who doesn’t dream of waking up on a Monday excited to go to work, knowing that we spend on average half our waking hours at work? Happy people are not only more grateful, develop a strong sense of purpose and form authentic, cooperative connections with others. They also have a positive impact on the organisation they work for. Happiness leads to a 12% spike in productivity, while unhappy workers proved 10% less productive: “Human happiness has large and positive causal effects on productivity (A. Oswald 2014). Positive emotions appear to invigorate human beings.” Studies also show that happier employees are more engaged, more motivated, innovative, give better customer service, play more effective roles in teams, make better leaders and enjoy higher retention rates. Managers and employees of micro businesses (< 50 employees) strongly identify with the organization they work for. As a result, their sense of happiness is highly dependent on what is happening at work. What does happiness mean? We selected a definition as presented by M. Seligman (2001): “Happiness is a cognitive evaluation that individual’s life is moving in the right direction, individual’s constant search for meaning and purpose in life, and frequent positive emotions.” We chose this definition because Seligman is a pioneer in the methodology of Positive Psychology. This branch of psychology complements the traditional focus on pathology with the study of human strengths and virtues and the factors that contribute to a full and meaningful life. Positive psychology can be used to increase happiness and wellbeing within the workforce and will therefore be at the forefront of all Happiness@Work project activities.The main aim of the project is to increase happiness and satisfaction in the workplace by bringing the positive psychology methodology into practice in micro businesses (MB), building a support system for both MB managers and employees. This will be realised by bringing M. Seligman’s 5 ingredients of wellbeing into practice and translate them into a context that micro business managers and their employees can relate to. The 5 ingredients of wellbeing are known as PERMA: Positive Emotions, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning and Accomplishment. These elements can help people reach a life of fulfilment, happiness and meaning.Partners, widely spread across the EU so as to increase the reach and impact of Happiness@Work, will develop an innovative dual training methodology combining online (Happiness@Work Online Learning Platform) and face-to-face (Happiness Circles™) learning that is fully job transcendent and can therefore be applied in any type of business sector. The programme will be tested over 2 pilots with micro business managers and employees being directly trained across the partnershipResults:- Happiness@Work Positive Psychology Framework (IO1): presenting similarities and differences in the approach and understanding of happiness in the workplace in each partner country and clarifying target groups’ specific needs within the realm of the 5 elements of Positive Psychology- Happiness@Work Self-Assessment Questionnaires (IO2): development of 2 fully-fletched self-assessment questionnaires that will analyse micro business Managers’ and Employees’ happiness in the workplace, based on Seligman’s 5 elements of Positive Psychology- Happiness Circles™ for Managers and Employees, including 2 piloting phases (IO3): unique personal development training, using blended action learning techniques to support managers and employees in increasing their own and other’s happiness at work (in the case of managers) through soft skills building and strengths-based coaching in order to increase their self-efficacy.- Happiness@Work Online Learning Platform (IO4): an innovative learning platform where participants will be presented with daily doses of short videos and/or texts, the content of which will be linked with their individualised learning path. Each partner country will finally organise 2 multiplier events to ensure wider members of the target groups are given opportunities to participate and feedback into the project and benefit from project results.Happiness@Work will hereby achieve threefold impact that will remain deeply embedded in the workplace atmosphere of participating MB and beyond:1. MB managers will have an increased awareness that happiness is not only an important topic for their employees, but also for themselves, and that their own happiness has an impact on the functioning and wellbeing of their employees2. MB managers will have an increased knowledge on how to utilise postive psychology techniques and how to bring them into practice to increase their own happiness, support their employees and integrate the Happiness@Work philosophy in their leadership3. MB employees will have an increased awareness that they have an impact on their own happiness and how they can improve this in their working and personal lives

"The rationale behind the Mindful Managers project was the high absenteeism in the public sector due to stress, anxiety and poor mental health. Research conducted prior to the submission of the project showed that more than 40 million people are affected by work-related stress and illness in the EU (Zoni, S. & Lucchini, R. G., 2012). Around 50% of European workers experience stress frequently and it is considered to be the main health and safety risk they face in the workplace (EU-OSHA, 2016).Therefore the Mindful Managers project aimed to:- develop and provide techniques and tools to public sector managers to support their and their teams’ mental wellbeing,- de-stigmatise the discussion around mental health at work and raise awareness. 4 partners gathered from the UK (Inova Consultancy), Cyprus (CARDET), Belgium (Obelisk) and Finland (VAMK - Vaasa University of Applied Sciences) to achieve the above mentioned project objectives. The project built on the 5 habits to wellbeing identified in the Mental Capital and Wellbeing research project (UK Government, 2008). These five steps are Connect, Be active, Take notice, Keep learning and Give. This mimics the successful campaigns across Europe for healthy eating which focus on getting '5 fruits/vegetables or more a day'. The 5 thematic areas are present throughout all project results. The direct target group of the project was public sector managers. As part of the piloting sessions in the project, past managers and people applying for such positions were engaged. Secondary beneficiaries of the project were stakeholders, policy makers, health and support organisations. Feedback received from participants was very positive (e.g., “Relaxation exercises were wonderful and the atmosphere at the sessions was calming and good.“, “A remarkable seminar with very interesting information that can help self-improvement.”)In order to achieve the above mentioned project objectives, the partnership developed 4 intellectual outputs.- Mindful Managers Training Programme (O2): The partnership successfully developed 5 modules as part of the training programme (5 steps to wellbeing) and piloted the modules in 2 pilot phases in Belgium, Cyprus, Finland and the UK. In total 136 public sector managers participated in the programme face to face or online. As part of the output, the Belgian partner developed webinars that reached more than 200 views.- E-learning game/App (O3): This App was developed with more than 100 mini scenarios to guide players through various challenges and solutions in the public sector. The game is available in the App Store and Google Play. The game is self-paced and can be useful for stakeholders and other sectors. Players can collect stars as they complete the different quests. More than 150 users downloaded the game during the project lifetime.- Reflection Rounds (O4): this peer mentoring programme was designed to offer public sector managers a confidential learning environment to reflect on their mental wellbeing and goals in their professional and personal lives. The programme was piloted twice with a total of 60 participants in Belgium, Finland, Cyprus and the UK.- “Developing Mindful Managers: A Guide for Improving Mental Health and Wellbeing in the Public Sector"" (O5): this Policy Makers Guide was prepared to compile the recommendations of the Mindful Managers project and to highlight the importance of mental wellbeing at work. The Guide also offers a comprehensive overview of the products developed in the Mindful Managers project. The Guide is available in English and an executive summary was translated into Dutch, Greek and Finnish.Project partners carried out various online and office dissemination activities and organised 3 multiplier events. A total of more than 5000 people were reached by the dissemination activities and had access to the results of the project during the project lifetime.The final activities of the project were carried out online due to the Covid-19 pandemic. In the current circumstances, the pressure on the public sector is higher than before the pandemic with many public sector workers being on the front line. Therefore specific support provided to the sector is of utmost importance and more in demand. In order to sustain the project results, all training materials have been shared on the project website (https://mindfulmanager.eu/en/). These resources are freely accessible to anyone who wishes to learn about the project, utilise the materials with their clients or use the online game. Continued commitment of partners to disseminate further the findings and results form part of the sustainability plan."

“Cultural differences should not separate us from each other, but rather cultural diversity brings a collective strength that can benefit all of humanity. Intercultural dialogue is the best guarantee of a more peaceful, just and sustainable world.” (Robert Alan Aurthur)This statement represents what we have done in het Erasmus+ project, Intercultural Mediation for managers. Intercultural mediation is an essential skill for each employer managing an international and intercultural workforce. The large influx of migrants in Europe needs to be effectively integrated and one aspect of integration is employment. Research has shown that employees in a positive work environment are more effective in their work and perform better (Jeffrey Fermin, www.business.com). Therefore, successful mediation within an intercultural workforce context could improve the company’s productivity and thus their bottom line. InterMED aimed to train managers in intercultural mediation across Belgium, UK, Poland, Italy and Portugal to integrate migrants successfully in the workplace by transferring overall mediation skills to an intercultural context. Through the training, managers were also able to assist their employees in respecting and understanding different cultural demeanors in order to keep a calm and productive atmosphere at work. They were also be able to better understand strategies to recruit, retain and help migrants progress in their organization. Participants:- SME's who are managing an intercultural workforce- SME's who are about to recruit migrants and want to successfully integrate them in the workplace- SME's who are not managing an intercultural workforce and need more information about the business case of diversity in the workplaceMain project results developed during the project lifetime are:- Mapping skills for Diversity management (IO1): Framework on diversity- Intercultural Mediation for Managers Facilitators Guide (IO2): The facilitators guide is divided into 4 sections: (1) Train the trainer skills; (2) Training day 1: Beyond the differences.; (2) Training day 2: From differences to synergy; (3) Training day 3: Non violent communication skills- Diversity Circles™ Facilitators Guide (IO3): Diversity Circles™ are a safe place for participants to share, discuss and resolve challenges they face as a manager working in an intercultural environment. The guide provides insights and exercises, … to support facilitators in managing the Circles™. - National Pilots & the Mediation Event (IO5): Each partner organization has hosted training sessions and diversity circles to test the material we have developed in IO2 and IO3. We have also organized an online training event with the aim of providing partners with insights and skills to work together in the international context of Erasmus+.- Business Case for Diversity Management (IO6): The guide is useable for any stakeholder with interest in creating a diverse workforce and develop the ability to mediate within the workspace in order to maintain a pleasant atmosphere and encourage integration- E-learning Platform for Diversity Management (IO7): The online platform consists of all material from the training, as well as extra learning materials and articles. Impact:- As a direct impact to the participants who participated in the pilot sessions, managers are able to better integrate a migrant in their existing group of employees and manage any conflicts related to cultural differences.- We as partners gained new insights and skills in Intercultural Mediation and the impact this has on our international cooperation’s- We believe that due to the online platform and the business case for diversity management, that stakeholders have a better understanding of cultural differences.