The coaching approach program for the executives and management personnel of 18 centers of the State Employment Service (SES) has been launched. The initiative is intended to strengthen the leadership skills of more than 40 heads of departments, HR managers, and representatives of management personnel, their openness to change, and also to introduce a coaching approach related to staff.

Nowadays, employment centers support everyone in need of help on their journey to find a job. Their personnel promote the reintegration of veterans and help women, people over 50, and internally displaced persons restart their careers.

“Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, professionals at employment centers increasingly work with people in need of support when coping with current challenges. We believe that the decision to integrate a coaching approach into the operations of employment centers will ensure tools not only to develop teams within the organization but also to work more efficiently with different population groups, to involve and reintegrate them into the labor market,” notes Olga Voitovych, PMP®, Civil Society Development and Support Cluster Lead, manager of the Inclusive Employment Project.

The six-month coaching approach program is based on the International Coaching Federation (ICF) competencies. The training will last until June 30, 2026, supervised by certified PCC/MCC ICF experts of the Upscaling Coaching School. Participants will master the psychological aspects of coaching, its ethics and core features, learn the mechanics of a coaching session, and also acquire useful skills such as building trust, active listening, and awareness.

The program will be implemented in six regional employment centers of the Transcarpathian, Lviv, Kyiv, Rivne, Khmelnytskyi, and Cherkasy regions. It will also be introduced in 12 branches, including the ones located in the Uzhhorod, Mukachevo, Drohobych, Zolochiv, Boryspil, Obukhiv, Rivne, Dubno, Khmelnytskyi, Kamianets-Podilskyi, Uman, and Cherkasy.

Following the program, methodological guidance will be prepared to share the experience gained with other SES branches.

The coaching approach program is being implemented by East Europe Foundation as part of the Inclusive Employment Project within the framework of the Multi Donor Initiative Skills4Recovery, which is financed by the European Union, Germany, Poland, Estonia, and Denmark within the Multi Donor Initiative Skills4Recovery implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH and the Solidarity Fund PL (SFPL).