EU Project Pravo-Justice Initiated the HR School for the Probation Center HR Service

On September 5, with the initiative and expert support of EU Project Pravo-Justice, the HR School has opened its doors to HR professionals from the Probation Center HQ and branch offices. The online training will last for two months and will be delivered in the format of four thematic modules: recruitment and adaptation; evaluation and development of staff; corporate culture; motivation of the personnel/healthy dismissal. The lecturers are Serhii Synohub, National Expert of EU Project Pravo-Justice, and David Knott, International Expert of EU Project Pravo-Justice.

"Our HR school will help to form a unified comprehensive understanding of the HR functions in the State Institution "Probation Center", while also contributing to increasing qualifications of HR professional. The training will give an opportunity to familiarise with international practices in the HR field, including those of the United Kingdom. The trainees will acquire knowledge and skills to implement effective HR projects in the branch offices," said Serhii Synohub.

Within the first module dedicated to recruitment and adaptation of staff, David Knott shared tips on how to build a profile of an ideal candidate for a position and hold an effective interview. He also spoke about the methods of evaluating candidates to probation branch offices of probation, gave some reliable recommendations and outlined the ways of their practical verification. In addition, the expert presented modern tools for finding candidates, including: job boards, profile communities, networking, reference programme, recruiting strategy.

"Most problems in the organisation can be addressed through high-quality recruitment. It all starts with HR: the way a vacancy is presented, the identification of a candidate’s true values and competencies. It is important to be updated on the trends in the labour market that influence the selection of personnel," said David Knott.

He urged the participants to be impartial and objective in their professional activity and to always consider legal and ethical consequences when hiring people.

In his turn, Serhii Synohub spoke about effective tools for speedy, friendly, and effective adaptation of staff. The expert noted, in particular, that there are three options for adaptation. The first one is formal where an employer sets a probationary period, and proceeds with discussing the remuneration and the scope of powers upon its successful completion. However, according to the expert, this method fails to give a sense of stability and motivation to a new employee. The second one is challenge-based, which implies creating additional difficulties in the form of complex tasks during the probationary period. Such a method, as noted by Serhii Synohub, facilitates the selection of stronger candidates, but often fails to end up with successful adaptation.

"Yet another option for adaptation is partnership-based. It is applied by mature companies with extensive experience in recruitment. They are aware that there is no ideal employee and are ready to invest their time in adaptation of newcomers. This is the method that has already been launched and is being deployed in the SI "Probation Center"," said Serhii Synohub.

Upon completion of the training, the HR School participants will receive the advanced training certificates.

"All the participants will take the final exam, which will allow assessing their level of acquisition of theoretical knowledge and practical skills," summarised Viktoriia Kliuch, Head of the HR Department of the Probation Center.