In a time of overwhelming transformations and disruption, the challenges regarding People Management are endless and it is within this defiant context where the “magic” of People Management sparks, which, by the way, is an inaccurate science.

We are talking about People! We are not talking about “things”, we are not talking about numbers! And when people come within the equation, it gets more complex, but also interesting!

Among many others, the most widely debated challenges in recent times are the War for Talent and the resourcefulness that companies must have to retain the best professionals; the management of different generations with distinctive characteristics, experiences, goals and very different views regarding work; the digital transformation; and societal issues intertwined with corporate Social Responsibility are increasingly valued!

A variety of specialty articles, most of them focus on the War for Talent. In fact, there is a lot to say on this subject, especially in certain areas where the demand for professionals is greater than the supply, as it may be the case for the profiles linked to IT.

Recently many colleagues in the area of People Management do recognize that they have already had to select people to join their teams that do not have everything the company and the teams would need, so the option goes by selecting a profile “close” to the desired.

The word “talent” is one of those words that has a certain aura of “je ne sais quoi”, in a sense that a talent for the company A may not be a talent for the company B. Regardless of what each company understands as talent, the truth is that it is not that simple today to recruit the most desired profiles.

And what about retaining talents? When companies know who their talents are (concerning the needs of the company; it has a lot to do with cultural fit), it is certain that they will want to retain them.

A lot of ink has also been rolling over this theme of talent retention. Is it just what the company can afford? No, far from it! While there are people driven by the monetary outcome they get, there are many others who value other intangible and/or aspirational outcomes and who can put those outcomes at the top of their list. Among this kind of intangible outcomes, are, for example, the Companyâ€s reputation, a well-defined Purpose, a Good Work Environment and flexible working hours that allows greater conciliation between personal and professional life. In this context, we are talking about a set of factors that together give shape to what we call emotional salary.

In addition to the War for Talent and the Retention of Talent, we have the challenges interlinked with managing the different generations.

Not wanting to make abusive generalizations, the truth is each generation arrives into the job market with its own traits, different interests and motivations.

These differences that must be known by companies, if well managed (and respecting those same differences), can spark fantastic things, such as innovation, creativity, more efficiency; making the best of each person regardless of the generation they integrate.

Regarding this thought, I strongly recommend the movie “The Intern” with Robert de Niro and Anne Hathaway. This is a movie to watch (really watch!) and observe and reflect about the coexistence between different generations, leadership, conciliation between personal and professional life, empathy, generosity, authenticity, among so many other topics.

Another hot topic is Digital Transformation. Will machines replace people and take over? Several studies say no! In an optimistic perspective (and I consider realistic) the machines, the robots, the technology arrived to help. All these new tools that have arrived and will continue to arrive faster and faster, should serve to make us more productive, to stop doing repetitive activities and tasks that add little or no value.

And what about the current functions continue to exist? Will they continue to exist? Some will, others will not! New jobs and functions will emerge that do not yet exist today.

Is it challenging? Very! Especially because people and companies must be ready and available to change (faster and faster), acquire new knowledge (learn, unlearn, learn again), do things differently than usual and use skills that machines do not have. Among others, studies point out skills, such as complex problem solving, critical thinking, creativity, emotional intelligence, people management.

I believe that our education system is not yet prepared for this reality. The more technical knowledge we have acquired in our Schools and Universities are very good, however we are not yet preparing our children and young people for this reality that is already here.

Going back to the challenges in the field of People Management, employees are demanding social responsibility and social action initiatives from companies. They want to be part of socially responsible companies, available to embrace the challenges of todayâ€s society, such as climate change or inequality. And this topic cannot and should not be overlooked!

For all this, it is confirmed! The People Management is facing countless challenges and many more are yet to come! Moreover, these challenges are transforming People Management into an increasingly strategic area for business development and companies†growth.

Madalena Rei de Sá is not yet 40, however she has been working for over 22 years. At the age of 17 she started working on Radio, one of her passions. She is a confessed addicted to music. Meanwhile, I discovered another interest and vocation – People. She studied 7 years – Degree and Masterâ€s in Human Resources Management. After that, she also participated at several trainings and an International Coaching Certification. And she still is thirsty for knowledge and willing to learn a lot, always, throughout her life!
She has been working in the People Management area for about 15 years. It is complex, it is challenging, and it is passionate!
She started working at COFANOR – Cooperativa dos Farmacêuticos do Norte. After working with other companies, Madalena is Human Resources Director at jp.group.
Each experience and reality reflect unique traits and challenges and that is what makes us grow as individuals and as professionals and she is grateful for that! But she is also grateful to be involved in a project in which she believes and in a group of companies where the motto “people make a difference!” goes further than being a beautiful phrase. In her own words “It is what we believe in!”

What is this all about?! Emotions!!! Yes, this weekâ€s tip is about emotions and we will invite you and your whole family for a cinema session with popcorns included to discover how Disney Pixarâ€s enchanted the world and may help you to explore emotions, understanding their role in your daily life and learning how to deal with them. And isnâ€t it a perfect moment to explore this with your loved ones?! No matter your age, come with us to discover this weekâ€s tip!

Disney Pixarâ€s universe is plenty of magic and enchanted stories that may work as great stimuli to explore emotions, but this time, we will invite you to watch “Inside Out”, an animated film that portrays the story of Riley, an 11-year-old girl who faces some important life changes – moving to a new city, house and school – that challenges her to deal with her inner emotional world, as would happen with anyone of us.

Throughout the film, we get into Rileyâ€s brain, where we meet her personified emotions – joy, sadness, anger, fear and disgust –, as well as the magic room where these emotions live (i.e., the conscious mind) and where all Rileyâ€s daily (re)actions are monitored, through an interactive control panel.

We are also shown that the main events of Rileyâ€s day are kept in spheres, coloured as the emotion theyâ€ve generated (e.g., if it is a happy memory, it is yellow – the colour of joy). Through this personified and joyful animation, youâ€ll be able to explore and reflect about how our brain works; how we emotionally deal with the different circumstances of our daily lives; how daily external experiences are internally processed and turned into memories; and furthermore, that all the emotions – even those we can consider less positive – are fundamental for a healthy emotional development.

And you may strengthen this exploration with the activities we will now propose to be carried out after watching the film, that can be adapted to your childâ€s age (up to 12 years old approximately) and will, with no doubt, make everyone happy at home!

The first activity we suggest is “crafting emotions”. What we propose is you and your children recreate the emotions presented in the film, using toilet rolls or kitchen towel. You may simply draw and paint each emotion according to the film or gather other crafting materials to recreate an upgraded version of the characters. Throughout the activity, it is important to ask your child about the emotion he/she is working on, naming it, remembering the examples that have been shared in the film, and sharing stories about situations that usually make each one of you experience that emotion (e.g., You feel happy when you are playing mimes with him/her).

It will certainly be an engaging opportunity to take each other perspective on how you experience different daily situations, what might eventually enhance the probability of future spontaneous sharing of feelings and emotions.

Our second activity proposal is a “guess the emotion” game, in which kids are challenged to find the emotion related to a clue (e.g., how you feel when you receive a gift; how you feel when you go to the doctor) given by a family member. These clues may be created based on the situations that have been shared in the previous activity, adding any other situations you may find relevant for your child. Kids may use their previously crafted characters to identify the emotion they relate to each situation presented. Encourage them to explain why they are making that connection, remembering we may all experience them in different ways.

The third activity we suggest is “mimic of emotions” that consists of representing different emotions (e.g., joy, sadness, fear, disgust, anger…) using your body movements and facial expressions. The emotions should be written in small folded papers, and then picked by a family member that should mimic the emotion for the others to guess it. Besides being a joyful family moment, where winners for the most smiley or grumpy faces can be chosen, this game will enhance each oneâ€s capacity to read others†emotional state by identifying signs in their body language.

And last but not the least, the fourth activity is “home story of emotions” where you may challenge your kids to join you creating and illustrating your own story of emotions, with your customised characters and life examples. Create your story about the different emotions and illustrate it with the materials you prefer. Join draws, photos and other memories… and we guarantee that it will offer memories and emotions that will last for life!

So, let†s all learn and strengthen ourselves by exploring emotions with our loved ones?!

Thank you to: https://wallpaperaccess.com/inside-out (Header image)

Contribution by:
Ana Mouta, Ana Paulino and Inês Sá Couto are Pedagogy Specialists at jp.ik.

Follow the link and read the article: https://medium.com/@laura.c.hay/a-school-culture-of-changemaking-e9996e79269f

“If we want young people to grow up to be empathic, problem-solvers who know how to work in teams and lead change, then we have to create opportunities for them to practice. School is a great place to start.”

This is how Laura Hay introduces us, in her article entitled “A school culture of changemaking”, to the Changemaking movement that is taking place in many schools worldwide, driving Education innovation in service of positive social transformation. This movement motto is that everyone can be a changemaker – an agent of positive social change, in use of a robust set of transferable skills and an accurate sense of purpose that allows him/her to navigate and act upon the complex, rapidly changing, increasingly interconnected and uncertain world. To be a changemaker means having both the will and the skills to change each ones†conditions and circumstances, to solve current and emerging personal and communities†challenges and to contribute to a more empathetic, sustainable, empowering and fulfilling world.

Schools that are embracing the Changemaking culture, such as the ones that make part of the Ashokaâ€s Transformative Schools Network, are reimagining education to meet those deeper educational purposes and more comprehensive learning goals, going far beyond the subject-based ones that more frequently inform and shape curricula and pedagogical practices. Education is not simply conceived as an academic process, but as a myriad of processes oriented towards human and social development, which means that skills such as empathy, teamwork, leadership, creative problem-solving, and resilience (usually not targeted in the most traditional curricular approaches) become as important as literacy and numeracy.

This obviously requires important shifts in learning environments, pedagogical strategies, stakeholders†roles, institutional culture… and Laura highlights some of the most relevant aspects in her article. She refers to the importance of having passionate and committed changemaker educators that can role model that attitude and behaviour to their students, prioritizing their voice, choice and agency and creating conditions for them to act with a problem solver mindset, no matter the career path they follow. Relationships between educators and learners, as well as among learners should be strong and built of mutual trust, balancing teacher-student power in the learning equation and stating for collaboration and communication as fundamental ingredients in the process, as well as empathy as a foundation that guides decision-making, reflection, and action. This also requires learning environments to turn into trust-based social innovation hubs that foster students†ability and eagerness to learn, allowing them to explore who they are in relation to the world as well as to connect to their interests, collaborate, analyse, synthesise, solve problems and lead, becoming active agents in (re)designing their presents and their futures.

As Laura says, it will obviously take time for this to happen as a systemic whole-school transformation, but “teachers can leverage existing curricular pathways as chances to seed the knowledge, build necessary skills, and develop behaviours that underpin positive social change. With this mindset, science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics (S.T.E.A.M) present a chance to design, tinker, and create; history is a chance to choose which story to tell; and literature presents an opportunity to decide whose story matters”.

If teachers go far beyond valuing students†performance on curriculum-based assessments and pull their pedagogical practices to promote knowledge transference and action upon the world, they will already be at least planting the seed for a changemaking endeavour. If empathy finally becomes a foundational skill for learners, we will certainly be able to forecast more peaceful and tolerant societies, where people are able to share, cooperate and cocreate a better world.

Contribution by:
Ana Paulino and Ana Mouta, the editors of A Moment of Sharing, are Pedagogy Specialists at jp.ik.

Nowadays we have the idea that there are answers to everything and if need them we can just google them. I may agree to a point! However, from another point of view, I believe, there are also more questions.

“How do astronauts pee?” This question came from a twelve-year-old boy in one of my classes. My first instinct – maybe it would have been yours too! – was to tell him off for his boldness or maybe because the question was not related with the class subject and it could be seen as a joke to disrupt the “silence” of the classroom.

However, my reaction was to smile at first because I imagined myself asking this same question, but probably I would not have had the guts to do it, possibly motivated by the fear of the teacherâ€s reaction or out of fear that my peers would make fun of me.

But the question was not so out of blue, as it could easily be integrated into the subject that was being addressed, which was, in fact, space exploration. In addition, I admire creativity and boldness, so I decided to let it flow. Guilherme, a curious, polite and assertive student, however, had the kindness to prepare me by saying “teacher donâ€t take my question wrong”, a posture that soothes the teacherâ€s reaction.

As a teacher and as an individual who tries to maintain the magic, wonder and curiosity about life and its mysteries, I do consider these moments very precious, in order to spark childrenâ€s joy about learning. The fact is when this kind of challenges are presented by younger children, there is a somewhat maternal leeway, so that they can express themselves, because they are children after all. They are keen to question with creativity and wonder, because they want to know the world.

Nonetheless, when this type of questions come up later, teenagers are seen as silly kids who usually just want to disturb the class, because they should no longer ask this kind of questions.

Students like Guilherme, with an explorer spirit, are, indeed, the reason why I believe in teaching. The curiosity for the surrounding world that drive these young minds is inspiring for me.

The lack of answers for my students, and in a certain way for me, is, without a doubt, my driver. The rewarding feeling of discovering something moves me forward and the freedom of creating more questions and answers makes this an endless cycle.

It is the idea that we are continuously learning, regardless our age, that we have no right to judge or castrate the doubts of others, but to look at them as a constant form of growth (whether self-knowledge or general knowledge), which in my understanding makes people more complete and happy.

We were all children and we have had our own imaginary worlds and in the “real” world. We all also have questions that we hold on to until we find a satisfying, logical answer, whether social or individual, in order to understand and acquire meaningful information, so we can proceed to the next question and the next discovery.

Persistence and humility are also features that throughout our lives we lose or we tend to give up on them, because we are pressured to respond quickly, sometimes even without reasoning. This urgency makes us accelerate our knowledge acquisition processes, which results in knowledge that passes through us, without realizing it, to the point where we miss fantastic opportunities to learn.

We identify in the students this urgency, when teachers spark this same urgency. We, the adults in the equation, are the ones who force this rhythm by imposing a program that must be given in an academic year or by determining that they must be in school for exactly 12 years. When we force them to spend more time answering questions that have already been answered than exploring for new ones.

Children are the best explorers of worlds, and adults force them to let go of their creativity and to shape them to fit in the boxes that already exist, probably because they have lost the connection to themselves and their surroundings.

In order not to get involved in this rhythm, which goes against the creative, imaginative and questioning spirit, I believe thereâ€s a simple action we can take, and it is something I try to apply in my professional and personal daily life. And that is to listen to others, to listen to our children, to listen to our students… just listen… and first of all listen to yourself, without judging the doubts we still have and that we will always have.

“The gift of dreaming made them richer beings than certain grown people constantly stumbling over their grave importance, their pompous seriousness”

Ana Margarida Paleta, born in October 1979, is from Lisbon, but has lived most of her life in Faro.
She was born into a family of teachers and was also fortunate to meet incredible teachers, who influenced her academic journey and who later became an inspiration in her own journey through pedagogy.
Graduated in Physics and Chemistry Teaching (2006), she also has a degree in Drama and Education and some experience in both areas, always seeking to create empathy in some way. She taught in Faro and currently teaches in Lisbon.
Ana collaborated with jp.ik as an external pedagogical trainer, in Angola in 2015 and Kenya in 2016.
She always wanted to be a teacher and as a child she felt that the subject did not matter that much; an idea that she still believes today. Ana chose the area of ​​science, because she understands it a constant challenge, with endless questions and answers. She believes the role of content in the teaching-learning process is to function as a tool for skills acquisition.

Read the article:
Conversation with Thakur Singh Powdyel, Author of My Green School

If you were asked to identify your Education Systemâ€s most important goal, how would you define it? And if you were given the opportunity to set up a dream goal, would it be the same?! Are your thoughts right now flying somewhere between skills development, career readiness, individuals†potential, active citizenship, social changemaking… or happiness?! Where should our Education Systems effectively find their North Star if we do not forget the still noble role of Education in the challenging chaordic world we live in?

Thakur Powdyel, former Minister of Education for the Kingdom of Bhutan, invites us to deep dive into Educationâ€s dream goals and purposes in this inspiring conversation with Ho-Dac Tuc. He reminds us Education is an extremely important nation sub-system that ought to embrace and foster the global national development goals, considering its crucial role of empowering people and societies for the common good, by cultivating nobleness of mind, heart and hands. He states this honourable preposition is being forgotten in most Education Systems that set career readiness as the unique goal for formal learning; even when these systems go beyond the most traditional curricula, and aim at developing generative competencies – whatever the framework in use –, they do so to reinforce and strengthen connections between students and the needs and requirements of the labour market. This mindset tends to miss out other social, cultural, environmental and civilizational needs that should also be considered if Education is expected to contribute to make the world a better place and a one to still live in.

If a holistic and more comprehensive approach could drive our Education Systems, their North Star could indeed be much more connected to the noble purpose of Education – the one of being effectively transformative for peopleâ€s lives, both individually and collectively. No matter whether itâ€s underlined as Happiness as in the Kingdom of Bhutan, or as Empowering Changemaking as prompted by Ashokas†Transformative Schools Network, or even Equity as the Finland Education states as a baseline, we do believe they are all looking for a fundamental educational outcome we call Meaning – for individuals, for the society, for the world –, reached through an insightful and mindful combination of nourishing ingredients – academic skills that are transferable to everyday life, empathy, ethics, wise and servant leadership… This is the North Star of all our pedagogical approach!

We really believe we should move on faithfully, not forgetting David W. Orrâ€s statement:

“It is not education, but education of a certain kind, that will serve us. And the current model of western, urban-centred, school-based education, which is so often more focused on turning children into efficient corporate units rather than curious and open-minded adults, will only lead us further down…”

in: http://www.grossnationalhappiness.com/9-domains/education/

Contribution by:

Ana Paulino and Ana Mouta, the editors of A Moment of Sharing, are Pedagogy Specialists at jp.ik.

To what extent do you consider the integration of technology in education important?

It is very very important. I think technology is a very big equalizer. We have seen it in our markets in terms of financial inclusion and access to government services. I think in emerging markets where infrastructure and other services are not very developed, technology can help us to leapfrog, to jump, to catch up with where we need to be, and therefore I think technology in education is also the same thing. It reduces the cost of delivery of educational content, and at the end of the day, the focus of any technology in education project is enhancing learning. So, I think if you apply technology properly, you can enhance learning because you can have access to content.

You now, nowadays the teaching methods have to change. Children now are seeing that they want because they are used to so much information and they are becoming very sharp at a very early age.

You need to change the way you teach them, so you need to give them a platform that they are able to access as much information as they can because they have the capacity and that is what they are demanding now. Is not the way we were teaching before, so through technology, you can be able to engage students much better and therefore you enhance the learning outcomes.

In the context of ICT integration in education, what are the most pressing needs today?

I think it is the inequality in terms of the delivery of education, so I think, by using technology, we can ensure consistency.

In terms of the content, it would be consistent, in respective of whether you are in the remotest part of the country or in the best urban school. So, I think one of the things it will bring about is consistency in terms of educational content and, of course, delivery is dependent on the teacher, but, of course, if you have good materials, even an average teacher using good materials is better than a good teacher with no materials. Therefore, I think it will enhance the learning outcomes.

How can events, such as the Oporto African Forum, contribute to boosting ICT integration and boosting digital literacy?

I think that the forum brings together quite a number of people, both people who have done these projects before, people who are in the industry (they are suppliers), people who are potential partners and people who are doing projects like we are in Kenya. So, I think in these kinds of forums we are able to share our knowledge with each other and therefore be able to tap into that network of people to get help.

So for example, in education, it is needed an ecosystem of people who are interconnected. What happens is that if you have an issue with a project in one country, you can tap into that network to get help to solve that same problem. So for example when we were doing our project, we had some global supply chain issues of key components and we tapped into that network to push from different directions and we were able to actually resolve some of our problems.

Therefore, in the same way, I think the forum is able to bring people together and they are able to share their experiences, they are able to learn from each other and then ICT integration will be enhanced and digital literacy will be boosted in all the countries that participated.

Robert Mugo is the Director in charge of Shared Services at the ICT Authority.
He has over 21 years†experience in which his roles have included Chief Technical Officer at Wananchi Group, Chief Information Officer at Safaricom, CEO at Flashcom, TechnicalDirector at UUNET and Head of Technical Operations at Africa Online Group. He has also held senior positions in industry bodies including the Telecommunications Service Providers of Kenya (TESPOK), the Telecommunications Network Operators Forum (TNOF) and Africa CDMA Forum (ACF).
He holds an MBA in Strategic Management and a B.Sc. degree in Electrical Engineering, both from the University of Nairobi. He is also an alumnus of the Pan African Advanced Management Programme jointly run by IESE Business School, Strathmore Business School and Lagos Business School.

In the last years intel® and jp.ik have implemented together large-scale educations projects, which transformed educational systems around the world. How do you comprehend this adventure?

jp.ik has been a valued customer of Intel for over 30 years. Our education transformation journey began in 2008 when Intel and jp.ik partnered with the government of Portugal on the Magalhães†project. This project introduced PCs to over 500,000 students in Portugal and sparked large-scale technology led education projects around the world. Some key lessons from the Magalhães†project can be appointed. For instance, the value of delivering the right device for education as part of a holistic end-to-end solution designed to address the unique challenges of various education markets and the importance of proper teacher professional development to ensure teachers know how learning can be enhanced with technology. In addition, we can highlight the importance of offering full solutions that include hardware, software and content, as well as the importance of government policy to support education transformation.

From there, we worked together on many new projects with a goal of transforming education throughout the world. We have teamed with jp.ik to help empower teachers and drive better student outcomes that in turn has opened up a world of new possibilities for student success. Every deployment is different just like every student is differente, so we need to consider all the factores required to ensure that education transformation projects are going to be successfully deployed, managed, and sustained over time. One such partnerships with local universities to go beyond the classroom to drive human capital development and economic growth in both urban and rural communities. In the context of our collaboration with a broader learning ecosystem we are able to bring to students of all ages the skills & digital tools necessary for them to succeed in a global economy.

Intel and jp.ik share a commitment towards the Education 2030 Agenda. How it was to design and develop the educational projects framework in order to actively contributing to the Sustainable Development Goals†achievement?

Intel and jp.ik are very committed in support of the UN and the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals – where a Quality Education is one of the key pillars. We see the impact of this commitment being potentially considerable over the next decade given that over 190 countries are working together on the achievement of these common goals.

Intel and jp.ik are taking an active role by working with key partners and country leaders to support both the UNâ€s education and development goals.

In these past years, Intel has leading the Education Reference Design field and jp.ik has been the trusted partner in this amazing journey. How has been to work closely with jp.ik?

jp.ik has been a great partner to work with because we share the same values, to develop education technology solutions that improve the lives of students, teachers and educators around the world. Intel had a mission to develop a technology solution that was purpose-built for Education and specifically designed to address many of the issues specific to classrooms and education environments around the world – designing in features to address: rugged/durable hardware, software and applications designed to support education curriculum/pedagogy, secure manageability, funcionality to address lack of or minimal connectivity, etc.

We have achieved a maturity stage in the market where we believe partners like jp.ik can continue to evolve and bring new and increasingly more capable solutions to the education market.

We will continue to support these efforts by working with our partners to integrate additional Intel based technologies like our Intel Unite® software for collaboration, Intel® vPro™, Intel® RealSense™ cameras and capabilities around VR, AI and robotics. It is really exciting to think about what these new technology capabilities will bring to the next generation of students.

Steven A. Long is Vice President, Intel Sales and Marketing Group & General Manager of CCG Sales. He joined Intel in the early 2000s and he has held a breadth of positions across sales, marketing, product planning, pricing and operations. He began his Intel career in California as a product & pricing market analyst. In 2004, he spent a year in Hong Kong managing the operations team responsible for Intelâ€s business in Asia. In 2005, Steve moved to Brazil to lead Intelâ€s reseller channel team. Subsequently, he took over responsibility for all Latin America sales activities. He moved back to the United States in 2008 and managed multinational accounts in the Intel Americas sales organization. In 2010, Steve returned to Brazil in the role of General Manager of Latin America region. He joined SMG staff & relocated to Portland in 2016, leading SMGâ€s largest transformation effort. Steve was announced as the GM for CCG sales in October 2017. Prior to joining Intel, Steve was a wirelless communications market analyst at Nortel Networks.