Abstract:

The Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale dell’Abruzzo e del Molise (IZS_Teramo) is a Public Insitute belonging to the Italian National Health System, that provides scientific support to national and regional veterinary services. Since 1990, IZS-Teramo has performed a series of training activities for the continuous education of its personnel. Among the IZS-Teramo strategic objectives for 2022-2024, prominent importance is given to the strengthening of the managerial capacities and technical, communication and scientific dissemination skills of the personnel. In this context, from June 2022 to February 2023, a managerial training programme was established for about 90 professionals of the IZS-Teramo. The aims of the programme were to provide all participants with the necessary knowledge and skills for the enhancement of human resources and the establishment of stimulating and collaborative working relationships, thus promoting and stimulating the best performances of teams and individuals in the Institute. The participants were subdivided into 7 groups, one of which was composed of the apical officials in the IZS-Teramo’s hierarchy. Trainers staff was composed of experienced psychologists, sociologists, human resources and adult training experts. The training was based on participatory and interactive methodologies, asking participants for continuous interaction with all the others, bringing them out of their particular “comfort zone” and requesting them to find the best ways to properly manage interpersonal relationships under various circumstances. The topics considered during the training included the aspects concerning the significance of the leadership role in the Institute’s organisation, the methods for promoting the role of leaders under a participatory approach, how to guide the changes and to promote them following a creative-thinking approach, problem-solving, diversity management, management of collaborators in a “phigital” context and the promotion of team working. Together with face-to-face training sessions, online questionnaires were used to stimulate the self-assessment of participants. Continuous monitoring of the expectations and satisfaction was put in place to verify and suggest possible ameliorations during the training. At the end of the course, during a plenary session, all the participants have been invited to define practical solutions and actions for better facing future organisation changes and scientific/technological challenges.

Keywords:

Managerial training, soft skills, enhancement of human resources.