Starting out in youth care
This participatory action research project involves five youth care organisations. We investigate how newly appointed residential youth care workers experience their job. Together with employees and employers, we explore which interventions—both in private life and the workplace—can lead to greater resilience, more sustainable work, and improved retention. As an outcome of this process, the project aims to develop a set of accessible, practical tools by the end of the trajectory—tools that support employees in strengthening their resilience and assist employers in implementing an integrated HR policy.
In the first phase, we recruit five organisations. In the second phase, a project team is set up within each organisation, consisting of staff members from various levels (management, middle management, frontline staff). In the third phase, an exploratory analysis is conducted in each organisation through surveys at different organisational levels. In the fourth phase, an action plan is developed together with the organisations to establish an integrated HR policy. In the fifth phase, we analyse the completed trajectories, formulate general conclusions and policy recommendations, and finalise the development of tailored tools for employees (resilience) and employers (integrated HR policy).
