SMEs account for 99% of all companies in Europe and the biggest challenges to face these companies are lack of skilled workforce, increasing costs of workforce, business transfer challenges, and the ability of businesses to adapt to market requirements, which also depend on the skills of the workforce. The focus of this project is on human resource development opportunities for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the Šiauliai and other partners regions, as well as to reduce adult learning provision’s reliance on actual human resources development opportunities and needs.

Abbreviation: PULSE

Lead partner: Vidzeme Planning Region, Latvia

Partners: Siauliai Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Crafts, Lithuania; Volkshochshule im Landkreis Cham e.V, Germany; Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Shipping of Seville, Spain; JAMK University of Applied  Sciences, Finland; Estonian Education Forum, Estonia

Objective: To develop innovative high-quality flexible adult learning pathways for smart specialization-oriented SMEs.

Activities:

• To identify new patterns how to cover the gap of knowledgeable and skilled human resources.
• To develop high-quality flexible approaches for unlocking the potential of the available human resources and their motivation.
• To foster the implementation of new human resources management patterns and approaches in smart specialization-oriented SMEs.
• To encourage the integration of new adult education provision approaches into human resources management patterns, including more productive cooperation between different adult education.

Results:

• Methodology for integration of AE into personnel development measures of smart specialization-oriented SMEs;
• Guidelines on the application of the methodology.

Implementation period: 01.09.2019. – 28.02.2022.