Prioritising the places and people that need it the most
Mentoring for workforce transformation
A new social model for workforce transformation
From Social Support to Career Success!" – Helping vulnerable individuals gain skills, confidence, and meaningful employment.Our project breaks barriers to employment by providing structured mentoring and skills development for marginalized individuals, ensuring long-term workforce integration. By connecting mentees, social mentors, businesses, and policymakers, we create inclusive workplaces, sustainable careers, and stronger communities.
North Macedonia
Regional
Western Balkans Region
Mainly urban
It refers to other types of transformations (soft investment)
Yes
2025-01-15
No
No
No
As a representative of an organisation
Our social model builds upon: 1) social mentoring programme that maps, activates and support marginalized individuals in the transition from social exclusion towards the labour market; and 2) professional mentors that support the mentee at the workplace. It integrates the New European Bauhaus (NEB) values of sustainability, aesthetics, and inclusion, creating long-term social and economic improvements while addressing territorial challenges in the Western Balkans. It ensures social and economic sustainability by equipping marginalized individuals with skills for long-term employment, reducing unemployment, and fostering human capital development and inclusive workplace culture. Environmental sustainability is promoted through a fully digitalized training program via MOODLE, remote mentoring via ZOOM, and real-time evaluation tools. The model also prioritizes human-centered design, creating structured and accessible digital learning environments for social and professional mentors, while incorporating cultural diversity by tailoring mentoring programs for Roma women, victims of domestic violence, NEETs and persons with disabilities. Its Professional Mentoring Programme enhances workplace inclusion by training professional mentors in job carving and job crafting techniques, helping businesses create adaptive job roles for diverse employees. In the Western Balkans, where youth unemployment reaches 25.1% and marginalized groups face systemic exclusion, the project bridges employment gaps by aligning skills with labor market needs, promoting career development, digital transformation in workforce training, and structural policy change. By embedding NEB values into its sustainable, inclusive, and scalable workforce development model, the project enhances employability, social cohesion, and business diversity, ensuring a lasting impact on individuals and communities.
New model
Workforce development
Breaking barriers to employment
Inclusive workplaces
Economic participation
Our model promotes sustainability, ensuring a transformational and long-term impact on workforce development. With regards to the social dimension, our objective is to empower marginalized individuals in the Western Balkans through mentoring, skills development, and structured pathways out of unemployment and social isolation. While focused on employment, it also activates additional support services to maximize job potential. On the other hand, the Professional Mentoring Programme enhances workplace integration, training professional mentors from companies to apply job carving and crafting techniques, promote diversity, and foster inclusive, sustainable employment. Regarding the economic dimension, our objective is to create long-term economic impact by aligning workforce training with business and labor market needs in a challenging labour market. In the WB at the end of 2024, there were officially registered almost 1 million citizens as unemployed. Our model challenges quick fixes and the widespread myths: "everyone who is looking for a job, will find and work" and "who entered the void of social protection, did not leave voluntarily" which are held by public institutions and companies. Our objective is to minimize environmental impact while ensuring broad access to training and mentoring through a fully digitalized program for social and professional mentors via MOODLE. Social and professional mentors access recorded sessions, assignments, and feedback online, with training, supervision, and evaluation conducted via ZOOM and real-time tools. Only individual mentoring and company meetings are held in person. This model is exemplary in sustainability because it redefines labor market inclusion by transforming mentoring into a systemic, long-term solution for marginalized groups. Unlike short-term employment programs, it fosters deep structural change by actively involving mentees, businesses, and public institutions in a collaborative and data-driven process.
Our key objectives in terms of aesthetics and quality of experience are primarily to ensure visually appealing, structured, and user-friendly digital environment to support learning and professional growth of social and professional mentors. As previously described our training currently is implemented on the Moodle platform. Our team is working on developing a new project with main aim to create more friendly interface, personalize the learning process, enhance data collection and management to ensure the creation of a data driven model.
More so, our objective is to create safe, welcoming, and empowering spaces for mentees through the individual support provided by social and professional mentors. The mentoring approach prioritizes well-being and psychological safety, ensuring mentees feel respected and valued. Social mentors provide in-person mentoring and company visits, they enable cooperation with the professional mentors, foster inclusive dialogue and professional development in supportive environments where our mentees can grow.
And finally, our objective is to recognize and integrate cultural diversity while promoting self-expression and personal growth. We address the unique needs of marginalized groups and have an adapted mentoring approach for Roma women, victims of domestic violence, NEETs and persons with disabilities. Social mentoring builds self-confidence, career aspirations, and leadership skills, contributing to long-term social and economic empowerment. More than 90% of our mentees report increased self-worth, motivation, and a sense of belonging in the workforce.
The project is exemplary as it transforms the mentoring experience into a holistic journey of growth and inclusion, for both the social mentor and the mentees. Its seamless integration of technology, psychology, and social impact makes it a best-practice model for creating inspiring and inclusive workforce development programs.
More so, our objective is to create safe, welcoming, and empowering spaces for mentees through the individual support provided by social and professional mentors. The mentoring approach prioritizes well-being and psychological safety, ensuring mentees feel respected and valued. Social mentors provide in-person mentoring and company visits, they enable cooperation with the professional mentors, foster inclusive dialogue and professional development in supportive environments where our mentees can grow.
And finally, our objective is to recognize and integrate cultural diversity while promoting self-expression and personal growth. We address the unique needs of marginalized groups and have an adapted mentoring approach for Roma women, victims of domestic violence, NEETs and persons with disabilities. Social mentoring builds self-confidence, career aspirations, and leadership skills, contributing to long-term social and economic empowerment. More than 90% of our mentees report increased self-worth, motivation, and a sense of belonging in the workforce.
The project is exemplary as it transforms the mentoring experience into a holistic journey of growth and inclusion, for both the social mentor and the mentees. Its seamless integration of technology, psychology, and social impact makes it a best-practice model for creating inspiring and inclusive workforce development programs.
Our model breaks barriers to employment and economic participation, redefining inclusion as an ongoing process requiring support systems, adapted workplaces, and long-term engagement beyond job placement. It was developed in response to a welfare system lacking innovation in inclusion, facing low activity rates, high female passivity, youth unemployment, and skilled workforce migration. Education policies fail to equip individuals with competitive skills, while conventional labor market measures do not produce lasting effects. Additionally, it emerged from our efforts to transition vendors of “Face to Face” magazine into the open labor market, revealing the need for structured workforce integration. Instead of progressing, vendors remained reliant on the magazine, highlighting the absence of professional development pathways and inclusive workplaces.
Recognizing these challenges, we designed social mentoring as structured guidance for care professionals, businesses, and professional mentors to facilitate work integration. Through the continuous involvement of over 150 marginalized individuals and 50 stakeholders, we co-created a two-tier mentoring model: social mentors support activation, skills development, and employment, while professional mentors ensure workplace adaptation and job retention.
Our bottom-up approach actively involves stakeholders, making it authentic, participatory, and deeply relevant to vulnerable individuals. It fosters agency and confidence in decision-making, ensuring employment sustainability. While its core focus is employment, it triggers additional support services to fully unlock the potential of marginalized individuals, creating a holistic and systemic workforce integration model.
Recognizing these challenges, we designed social mentoring as structured guidance for care professionals, businesses, and professional mentors to facilitate work integration. Through the continuous involvement of over 150 marginalized individuals and 50 stakeholders, we co-created a two-tier mentoring model: social mentors support activation, skills development, and employment, while professional mentors ensure workplace adaptation and job retention.
Our bottom-up approach actively involves stakeholders, making it authentic, participatory, and deeply relevant to vulnerable individuals. It fosters agency and confidence in decision-making, ensuring employment sustainability. While its core focus is employment, it triggers additional support services to fully unlock the potential of marginalized individuals, creating a holistic and systemic workforce integration model.
Our model fosters an inclusive, bottom-up approach to workforce integration by actively engaging citizens (mentees, mentors, supervisors, trainers) and CSOs in its design, implementation, and impact assessment. This participatory model ensures long-term sustainability and relevance to marginalized groups’ needs. Between 2012-2018, over 150 vendors of the Macedonian street paper Face to Face (Roma, homeless youth, persons with disabilities) shaped the development of the social mentoring program. Today, 192 mentees across five Western Balkan countries receive mentoring, career guidance, and job placement support. The program’s employment success rate is 60.4%, with women achieving 69.9%. Beyond employment, 92.8% improved job search and retention skills, 66.9% reported higher life satisfaction, and 55.4% experienced financial stability gains. The project has trained 56 social mentors who empower mentees and engage businesses to create inclusive workplaces. These mentors undergo structured training, continuous professional development, and self-care support, ensuring emotional resilience and professional growth. Their involvement has led to stronger networks and long-term workforce impact.
CSOs from the Western Balkans have been key implementation partners, co-developing mentoring frameworks, adapting training curricula, and recruiting marginalized individuals. Many nominated employees as social mentors, expanding their services and strengthening organizational capacity. CSOs also advocate for the formal recognition of social mentoring as an employment tool, working with public institutions and businesses to embed mentoring into workforce strategies. The project established a strong ecosystem of CSOs, businesses, and public institutions, ensuring policy recognition of social mentoring and integrating it into local employment frameworks. By actively involving mentees, mentors, and CSOs, the project goes beyond traditional employment programmes.
CSOs from the Western Balkans have been key implementation partners, co-developing mentoring frameworks, adapting training curricula, and recruiting marginalized individuals. Many nominated employees as social mentors, expanding their services and strengthening organizational capacity. CSOs also advocate for the formal recognition of social mentoring as an employment tool, working with public institutions and businesses to embed mentoring into workforce strategies. The project established a strong ecosystem of CSOs, businesses, and public institutions, ensuring policy recognition of social mentoring and integrating it into local employment frameworks. By actively involving mentees, mentors, and CSOs, the project goes beyond traditional employment programmes.
Using a systems thinking approach and U-methodology, our model engaged stakeholders at local, regional, national, and European levels, ensuring a collaborative, scalable, and sustainable workforce integration model.
At the local level, vocational education and training (VET) institutions played a key role in skills development, enabling mentees to acquire technical competencies to enhance employability. 25% of mentees continued their education, completing primary, secondary, or university studies. The Association Public is a certified VET provider, and the social mentoring program is a recognized VET program, with the professional mentoring program currently under certification.
Local businesses and employers were engaged by providing workplaces, internships, and on-the-job training. Mentees are currently employed in 40 companies across the Western Balkans, and 15 companies have certified professional mentors, marking a shift toward inclusive hiring practices and workplace diversity.
At the regional level, six CSOs from the WB region act as local facilitators, recruiting mentors and mentees, co-developing the mentoring model, and nominating employees as social mentors, expanding their services. Partnerships with local CSOs working with different marginalized groups have enabled an efficient mentee mapping process.
At the national level, public institutions and local self-governments actively participated in sensitization groups and policy consultations, leading to the institutional recognition of social mentoring. To date, the model has been recognized in six national and local policy documents, reinforcing its integration into workforce strategies.
At the EU level, as members of the DIESIS network, we have capitalized on EU expertise in activating hard-to-employ groups, integrating best practices into our existing methodology, strengthening the replicability and scalability of our model.
At the local level, vocational education and training (VET) institutions played a key role in skills development, enabling mentees to acquire technical competencies to enhance employability. 25% of mentees continued their education, completing primary, secondary, or university studies. The Association Public is a certified VET provider, and the social mentoring program is a recognized VET program, with the professional mentoring program currently under certification.
Local businesses and employers were engaged by providing workplaces, internships, and on-the-job training. Mentees are currently employed in 40 companies across the Western Balkans, and 15 companies have certified professional mentors, marking a shift toward inclusive hiring practices and workplace diversity.
At the regional level, six CSOs from the WB region act as local facilitators, recruiting mentors and mentees, co-developing the mentoring model, and nominating employees as social mentors, expanding their services. Partnerships with local CSOs working with different marginalized groups have enabled an efficient mentee mapping process.
At the national level, public institutions and local self-governments actively participated in sensitization groups and policy consultations, leading to the institutional recognition of social mentoring. To date, the model has been recognized in six national and local policy documents, reinforcing its integration into workforce strategies.
At the EU level, as members of the DIESIS network, we have capitalized on EU expertise in activating hard-to-employ groups, integrating best practices into our existing methodology, strengthening the replicability and scalability of our model.
The Social Mentoring project integrates systems thinking, Theory U, social sciences, and neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) to create a holistic, sustainable, and scalable workforce integration model. Using a systems approach, the project recognizes that employment barriers are interconnected, requiring engagement from mentees, mentors, businesses, policymakers, and support organizations. By addressing social exclusion, skill mismatches, and workplace adaptation challenges, it ensures long-term workforce integration rather than short-term job placements.
Theory U guides the mentoring process by helping mentees shift from self-doubt to empowerment, fostering self-awareness, confidence, and co-creation of career paths. Social and proffesional mentors use deep listening, presencing, and feedback loops to support mentees in breaking limiting beliefs and transforming their employment potential.
The model also applies social sciences, particularly psychology and sociology, to enhance mentee resilience, emotional intelligence, and workplace adaptation. To further strengthen mentors’ abilities, neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) tools are used to boost self-esteem, communication skills, and leadership qualities, ensuring that mentors can effectively guide mentees through their transition into employment.
A data-driven methodology supports ongoing evaluation, with digital tools like MOODLE and ZOOM enabling accessible, remote training, supervision, and monitoring. The combination of mentoring, digital learning, stakeholder collaboration, and tailored workforce support ensures a sustainable and replicable model that enhances economic inclusion and long-term career success for marginalized groups.
Theory U guides the mentoring process by helping mentees shift from self-doubt to empowerment, fostering self-awareness, confidence, and co-creation of career paths. Social and proffesional mentors use deep listening, presencing, and feedback loops to support mentees in breaking limiting beliefs and transforming their employment potential.
The model also applies social sciences, particularly psychology and sociology, to enhance mentee resilience, emotional intelligence, and workplace adaptation. To further strengthen mentors’ abilities, neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) tools are used to boost self-esteem, communication skills, and leadership qualities, ensuring that mentors can effectively guide mentees through their transition into employment.
A data-driven methodology supports ongoing evaluation, with digital tools like MOODLE and ZOOM enabling accessible, remote training, supervision, and monitoring. The combination of mentoring, digital learning, stakeholder collaboration, and tailored workforce support ensures a sustainable and replicable model that enhances economic inclusion and long-term career success for marginalized groups.
The project stands out from mainstream employment initiatives by integrating data-driven mentoring, digital tools, and an ecosystem approach to labor market integration. Unlike traditional programs, it tracks progress through structured data, uses digital platforms to enhance accessibility and sustainability, fosters collaboration between mentors, businesses, and policymakers for long-term employment pathways and follows a process of continuous improvement through structured stakeholder participation.
Our model is unique in its bottom-up approach and the active involvement of stakeholders in the entire development phase. It is endogenous, authentic and meaningful to the lives of vulnerable people. It is participatory as it builds agency and confidence in vulnerable people for making decision. It is holistic and while it is focus on employment, it also triggers other services needed to release the employment potential of vulnerable people. It challenges quick fixes and the widespread myths: "everyone who is looking for a job, will find and work" and "who entered the void of social protection, did not leave voluntarily" which are held by public institutions and companies in the WB region.
Our model is a social innovation that:
• is a transition point from social welfare to the labour market
• contributes to changing the self-perception of vulnerable people, strengthens their capacities and puts them at the service of the labour market
• represents a solution for businesses that have problem of retaining the workforce while at the same time providing them with tools and education how to create inclusive job places.
• Builds a culture of monitoring and evaluation and continuous improvement.
• Emphasizes professional self-care among social mentors, which is as important as the professional empathy for others.
Our model is unique in its bottom-up approach and the active involvement of stakeholders in the entire development phase. It is endogenous, authentic and meaningful to the lives of vulnerable people. It is participatory as it builds agency and confidence in vulnerable people for making decision. It is holistic and while it is focus on employment, it also triggers other services needed to release the employment potential of vulnerable people. It challenges quick fixes and the widespread myths: "everyone who is looking for a job, will find and work" and "who entered the void of social protection, did not leave voluntarily" which are held by public institutions and companies in the WB region.
Our model is a social innovation that:
• is a transition point from social welfare to the labour market
• contributes to changing the self-perception of vulnerable people, strengthens their capacities and puts them at the service of the labour market
• represents a solution for businesses that have problem of retaining the workforce while at the same time providing them with tools and education how to create inclusive job places.
• Builds a culture of monitoring and evaluation and continuous improvement.
• Emphasizes professional self-care among social mentors, which is as important as the professional empathy for others.
Our model employs a systemic, data-driven, and inclusive approach to workforce integration, ensuring that marginalized individuals successfully transition from social welfare to employment. To train social and professional mentors, PUBLIC developed a subject-centered curriculum, adaptable to different learning styles and tailored to the specific needs of vulnerable groups. The curriculum’s goals align with Bloom’s taxonomy, ensuring a structured learning process. The methodology follows key stages, including assessment and development of individual plans, monitoring and evaluation, employer communication training, delegation of professional mentors, career path development, and supervision of social mentors. Assessment tools, adapted from occupational psychology and Theory U (Otto Charmer), provide evidence-based support, including workplace assessment toolkits, employment readiness indicators, and work integration monitoring instruments. The project’s mentoring ecosystem integrates one-on-one support, vocational training, business engagement, and policy advocacy, making it a long-term empowerment model rather than just a job placement program. A data-driven approach ensures continuous improvement, with pre- and post-mentoring assessments tracking skills, employment readiness, financial stability, and job placement outcomes. Digitalization enhances accessibility and sustainability, with 100% digitalized training via MOODLE (Macedonian & English), supervision via ZOOM, and real-time evaluation tools. Tailored support through job carving and job crafting techniques allows employers to adapt roles to mentees’ strengths, while professional mentors promote inclusive workplaces and diversity policies.
The Social Mentoring project has proven its replicability and scalability through successful prototyping and piloting, demonstrating its adaptability to diverse beneficiaries, organizations, and contexts. Initially launched in December 2020 with 10 social mentors across five Western Balkan countries, the model was refined in North Macedonia (August 2021 - January 2022), achieving a 75% employment rate among mentees. Six months later, mentee contracts were extended to 12 or 18 months, with mentees reporting improved well-being, job prospects, and self-confidence, despite 87% expressing some fear of job loss. From 2022 to this moment, the project is successfully going through its replication phase in the Western Balkans.
The methodology can be transferred to other organizations by simply training social mentors in the verified education program and providing six months of supervised real-time application. The Association PUBLIC has successfully tested a model where one trained social mentor within a CSO, with PUBLIC’s support, supervises care professionals to integrate mentoring into their organizational approach—as seen with Down Syndrome Kosovo, where one trained mentor supervises four colleagues in creating employment pathways for people with Down syndrome. The project’s mentoring framework, data-driven approach, digital implementation, and collaborative model make it a scalable and adaptable solution for inclusive workforce development across different regions, target groups, and institutional settings.
The methodology can be transferred to other organizations by simply training social mentors in the verified education program and providing six months of supervised real-time application. The Association PUBLIC has successfully tested a model where one trained social mentor within a CSO, with PUBLIC’s support, supervises care professionals to integrate mentoring into their organizational approach—as seen with Down Syndrome Kosovo, where one trained mentor supervises four colleagues in creating employment pathways for people with Down syndrome. The project’s mentoring framework, data-driven approach, digital implementation, and collaborative model make it a scalable and adaptable solution for inclusive workforce development across different regions, target groups, and institutional settings.
The Social Mentoring project provides a structured and locally driven response to two of the most critical global challenges—unemployment and inequality (as identified by the World Economic Forum). By bridging education-to-employment gaps, fostering business collaboration, and advocating for inclusive policies, it creates long-term workforce integration pathways. Its scalable, evidence-based model offers a best practice for promoting inclusive, sustainable economic growth worldwide.
The ILO’s World Employment and Social Outlook Trends 2024 reports that while global unemployment and job gap rates have fallen below pre-pandemic levels, labor market fragility is emerging, with unemployment projected to rise from 5.1% in 2023 to 5.2% in 2024, adding two million job seekers. Disposable incomes have declined, youth unemployment remains high, and the NEET rate—particularly among young women—continues to pose long-term employment challenges, despite a faster recovery in women's labor participation overall.
To these global challenges we are offering local solutions, a new social model that offers targeted mentoring, a bottom up approach that actively engages mentees, mentors, business and policy makers and advocates for inclusive and diverse business culture. It creates long-term employment pathways for persons facing diverse challenges in the labor market. This model is scalable, adaptable, and a best practice for workforce integration across different regions and sectors.
The ILO’s World Employment and Social Outlook Trends 2024 reports that while global unemployment and job gap rates have fallen below pre-pandemic levels, labor market fragility is emerging, with unemployment projected to rise from 5.1% in 2023 to 5.2% in 2024, adding two million job seekers. Disposable incomes have declined, youth unemployment remains high, and the NEET rate—particularly among young women—continues to pose long-term employment challenges, despite a faster recovery in women's labor participation overall.
To these global challenges we are offering local solutions, a new social model that offers targeted mentoring, a bottom up approach that actively engages mentees, mentors, business and policy makers and advocates for inclusive and diverse business culture. It creates long-term employment pathways for persons facing diverse challenges in the labor market. This model is scalable, adaptable, and a best practice for workforce integration across different regions and sectors.
So far, our project has trained 56 social mentors across the Western Balkans, equipping them with skills to support vulnerable individuals in their transition to employment. These mentors play a crucial role in career guidance, empowerment, and workforce integration, ensuring long-term economic and social impact. A total of 192 mentees participated in the program, representing diverse backgrounds, educational levels, and employment challenges.
Mentees range from ages 19 to 50+, with 42.5% having secondary education and 34.5% holding university degrees. The program is inclusive, reaching both urban (82.5%) and rural (17.5%) participants, with a focus on long-term unemployed individuals—33.3% had been jobless for over 24 months, while 26.7% were seeking employment for 1-6 months. Additionally, 75.3% had prior job experience, while 24.7% were entering the labor market for the first time, highlighting the need for mentoring at different career stages.
Economic hardship was common among mentees, with 25.8% classified as in very poor financial conditions and 28% as poor. The mentoring program supports financial stability through career advancement, with a 60.4% employment success rate post-mentoring. Women particularly benefited, with an employment rate of 69.9%, reinforcing the program’s gender-inclusive impact. Post-mentoring, 83.8% of mentees felt more secure in their employment, demonstrating increased job retention confidence. A staggering 92.8% reported improved job search and retention skills, proving the practical effectiveness of the mentoring model. 55.4% of mentees reported improved financial stability, while life satisfaction increased to 66.9%, indicating both economic and personal benefits. Beyond statistics, mentees experienced improved self-image, confidence, and independence, reinforcing the psychosocial benefits of mentoring. Mentors also benefited, gaining stronger preparation, expanded professional networks, and improved self-care practices.
Mentees range from ages 19 to 50+, with 42.5% having secondary education and 34.5% holding university degrees. The program is inclusive, reaching both urban (82.5%) and rural (17.5%) participants, with a focus on long-term unemployed individuals—33.3% had been jobless for over 24 months, while 26.7% were seeking employment for 1-6 months. Additionally, 75.3% had prior job experience, while 24.7% were entering the labor market for the first time, highlighting the need for mentoring at different career stages.
Economic hardship was common among mentees, with 25.8% classified as in very poor financial conditions and 28% as poor. The mentoring program supports financial stability through career advancement, with a 60.4% employment success rate post-mentoring. Women particularly benefited, with an employment rate of 69.9%, reinforcing the program’s gender-inclusive impact. Post-mentoring, 83.8% of mentees felt more secure in their employment, demonstrating increased job retention confidence. A staggering 92.8% reported improved job search and retention skills, proving the practical effectiveness of the mentoring model. 55.4% of mentees reported improved financial stability, while life satisfaction increased to 66.9%, indicating both economic and personal benefits. Beyond statistics, mentees experienced improved self-image, confidence, and independence, reinforcing the psychosocial benefits of mentoring. Mentors also benefited, gaining stronger preparation, expanded professional networks, and improved self-care practices.
