INQA – Three resources for better Mental Health in the Workplace
Invest in the Health of Your Employees!
Mental illnesses are the most common cause of disability-related early retirements.
Agile into the future.
Caestra – Your authorized INQA coaches.
Put people at the center, let technology be your partner.
Agile into the future.
Caestra – Your authorized INQA coaches.
Put people at the center, let technology be your partner.
INQA Coaching offers low-threshold advisory and support services for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to address the challenges of the new world of work and to establish themselves securely and resiliently for the future together with their employees.
Up to 80% of the consulting costs can be covered. Embrace change actively!
Agile into the digital future.
Labor market transformation, changing values, digitalization, decarbonization.
Caestra Consulting supports you as authorized coaches in implementing your INQA projects.
The INQA-Coaching funding program offers small and medium-sized enterprises a low-threshold and widespread access to modern consulting programs on relevant future topics in an ever-changing world of work – from digital transformation to the introduction of modern working methods.
INQA Coaching is a central offering of the Initiative New Quality of Work and is part of the overall context of the Federal Government’s skilled labor strategy and the National Continuing Education Strategy.
It is the follow-up program to “unternehmensWert:Mensch” (uWM plus), funded by the Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs and the European Social Fund Plus of the European Union.
Companies and employees have always had to adapt to changes in their work environment and conditions. Adaptability and the courage to change have always been integral components of robust and successful businesses.
What is new, however, is the speed at which adjustments and responses to unforeseen impacts on normal business operations, such as the COVID-19 pandemic or rapid developments in digital applications in the business world, become necessary. These developments go far beyond the capacities of organic adaptability within established structures.
INQA Coaching offers you a systematic approach to actively shaping change yourself, together with your employees, rather than reacting to it passively.
All measures aimed at making your company fit for the future. From digitizing your expense accounting to introducing agile forms of organization.
The aim of the INQA-Coaching funding program is to maintain your company’s competitiveness by increasing innovation, dealing constructively with change, and securing skilled workers. There are six areas of focus:
1. New business models & innovation strategies
2. Production models & work organization
3. Personnel policy, employment & qualification
4. Social relations & culture
5. Leadership, professional development & career
6. Workplace of the future, working time, and performance policy
INQA coaches must qualify separately for each area of focus. We are authorized coaches for all areas except area 5: Leadership, professional development & career.
It is difficult to describe the range of eligible measures within the framework of the INQA-Coaching funding program in brief words. While the INQA reference model provides answers to the question of possible measures, it may appear confusing at first glance and is only available in German.
In principle, INQA coaching not only supports technological digitization processes but also all measures that deal with coping with the resulting tasks and issues in your company. The same applies to challenges arising from changes in values, the transformation of the world of work, or future challenges of decarbonization.
>>Let’s say you run a company that fulfills a large part of its services through field employees – a transportation company, a craftsman’s business, etc. These employees currently work with analog order forms, and you plan to switch from paper-based order processing to a digital app-based order management system.<<
The introduction of this system is undoubtedly an eligible measure. However, INQA coaching goes one step further.
>>You have successfully implemented the system, but realize that problems arise from its application. Field employees feel monitored and isolated because their direct contact with the headquarters is now limited. Colleagues have difficulties with the correct use of the system, and some even fear for their jobs as the manual effort of order processing in your company has been drastically reduced. So, your digital measure has a direct impact on the entire spectrum of your business, and you plan to introduce a digital qualification plan, opportunities for direct exchange among colleagues, and the transformation of existing workplaces in order processing from reactive input tasks to active customer service and quality assurance.<<
These measures are also eligible for support under INQA coaching!
INQA-Coaching Funding is available for companies whose access to modern work tools and methods might be limited by their own capacities in terms of available personnel, relevant expertise, or internal resources – Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, abbreviated as SMEs.
The definition of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, within the framework of INQA-Coaching, is primarily based on the official regulations of the European Union and the funding guidelines of the Federal Republic of Germany:
The INQA coaching is carried out directly on-site at the company using a specific agile method with a role concept and approach model, mandatory accompanied by an authorized INQA coach.
For the implementation of INQA coaching, a maximum of 12 coaching days at €1,200 each are estimated within a period of up to 7 months. The funding rate is 80%.
The INQA coaching is divided into three phases with a total duration of 7-13 months:
At the heart of an INQA coaching are naturally you and your employees. In the next section, we will delve into the operational processes and the composition of the coaching participants.
As an INQA coaching client, your points of contact are your INQA coach, the regional IBS (INQA advisory center), and the DRV KBS (German Pension Insurance Knappschaft Bahn See) as the central billing center.
Responsible for the program is the BMAS (Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs) as the funding body. Through the ZIC (Center for INQA Coaching), the BMAS ensures that official INQA participants are familiar with and adhere to the program contents and defined standards.
INQA coaching follows the classic characteristics of a project. Accordingly, the organization of INQA coaching is formally adapted to the requirements of a productive project organization. There are clear role allocations, task descriptions, and documentation requirements.
A central component is the so-called Lab Team, with a Lab Coordinator serving as the contact person for the established steering committee. INQA coaching is an employee-oriented instrument, driven by agile basic concepts. It is strongly oriented towards the processes and principles of the “project method” Scrum.
It is important to note that the INQA coach is not directly involved in the creation or development of processes, organizational forms, services, or projects. The coach ensures, as a contact person for all coaching participants, that the project setup and the execution of coaching in your company proceed smoothly and productively. They are also responsible for documenting the coaching process.
INQA coaching essentially adheres to the defining criteria of a Scrum organization. For organizations with fewer than 5 employees, there is a slightly modified coaching structure.
The teams should have autonomy and responsibility to self-organize their work and deliver results in iterations (work phases). To utilize all operational capacities and create broad acceptance of your innovation projects, the steering committee consists of members of the management board and the employees.
The organization defines and fills three roles – steering committee, lab team, and coach, to ensure clear task allocation and responsibilities. The fundamental philosophy revolves around considering innovation potentials, meaning ideas and know-how of your employees.
All participants have access to information about the project status and priorities in the respective work phases.
No! The INQA-Coaching funding program emphasizes a low-threshold access to government-funded consulting. You don’t have to win a paper war to end up with an INQA voucher in your hands at the end of the day.
The concept of the INQA-Coaching funding program is based on professional support in all phases of your innovation project – from registration to billing.
The initial contact is made through regional initial advisory offices (IBS), which accompany you through all phases and administrative tasks of INQA coaching. IBS advisors are flesh and blood, not automated input forms.
Caestra Consulting will, upon request, provide free contact with the initial advisory office responsible for you.
The INQA-Coaching funding program places great emphasis on professional consulting services. To ensure the professionalism – that is, the quality – of the consulting, INQA coaches must be authorized by the Center for INQA Coaching (ZIC). Potential coaches must meet the following criteria/requirements:
Each authorized coach receives an authorization badge indicating the validity period, as well as a unique INQA Coaching ID. In addition, they are included in the official register for authorized coaches on the:
Important! The authorization is tied to the respective coach and is independent of organizations. Consulting agencies with multiple consultants can only deploy those consultants for INQA Coaching who have been personally authorized.
For Caestra Consulting, Sascha Hunsinger is personally authorized under the coach ID IC2384978.
His authorized design fields include:
1) New business models & innovation strategies
2) Production models & work organization
3) Personnel policy, employment & qualification
4) Social relationships & culture
6) Workplace of the future, working time and performance policy
The standardized authorization process for INQA coaches ensures that the coaches listed in the consultant database meet the requirements of a high-quality INQA coaching in terms of objectivity and expertise.
Formally, the INQA coach must be authorized for the specific field you have chosen. For example, if you are planning to implement an online booking portal for your hairdressing business, this falls under Field 1 – New Business Models and Innovation Strategies. If the desired coach’s authorization for this field is not documented in the consultant database, they cannot support you in this specific measure.
When looking for a suitable coach, do not let their professional qualifications for the specific measure blind you. While a coach specializing in online marketing may seem like the right choice at first glance, their expertise does not necessarily reflect their abilities to set up and implement an INQA measure in your specific business.
A suitable INQA coach must be able to collaboratively implement and sustain the basic principles and ideas of an agile development method with you and your employees. This requires more about communication skills, creating acceptance, or methodological competence than bringing in specific expertise as an expert into the result creation.
In short: There should be “chemistry” between you and the coach. Do not hesitate to meet several potential coaches in an initial conversation. All relevant coaching stakeholders from your company should be present – at least the potential steering committee and the planned lab responsible. Only when your intuition and that of your employees are satisfied, you have found a suitable coach. This is why the majority of authorized INQA coaches offer a free initial consultation. Make use of the opportunities!
Funding programs are a dime a dozen. INQA-Coaching funding program manages to distinguish itself from other programs with significant unique selling points. What makes INQA-Coaching so attractive to us as authorized or registered consultants for a variety of funding programs?
INQA-Coaching emphasizes self-help assistance.
What sounds dramatic is actually mundane in reality, and yes – from the business perspective of a management consultant, INQA-Coaching funding is the best way to make oneself dispensable in the long run.
INQA-Coaches, in their role within an INQA program, are not IT experts, programmers, product developers, process optimizers, or organizational designers who establish specific applications or processes according to your wishes. INQA-Coaches impart to you the knowledge and principles of a simple yet effective agile method, enabling you, within your own organization and with the resources available to you, to independently achieve the objectives of the specific task of INQA-Coaching and systematically and organized identify and address future challenges.
INQA-Coaching emphasizes quality, acceptance, and sustainability.
Many projects, especially transformation projects, fail due to unclear task assignments or role allocations. The introduction of the project concept inspired by Scrum ensures that these technical errors cannot lead to the failure of your project from the outset and helps you to find and establish a high-quality solution for your requirements.
Projects also fail when the developed solution, while of high quality, lacks acceptance and fades into oblivion. INQA-Coaching fosters broad acceptance by ensuring the involvement of management and employees from the outset. The INQA-Coaches’ transmission of agile method principles includes ensuring the long-term, sustainable integration of work results into everyday business operations.
INQA-Coaching is indeed a low-threshold funding program.
Your first step towards participating in the INQA-Coaching program is an idea for a specific measure that could contribute to the future security of your company – no matter how small it may be.
The next step is already making contact with a real-world person – either your Central Advisory Office or a listed coach, rather than filling out a confusing and time-consuming online form alone. The IBS and coach will work together with you to develop a suitable measure and take on the lion’s share of the required documentation for measures – in an uncomplicated and tailored manner.
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Invest in the Health of Your Employees!
Mental illnesses are the most common cause of disability-related early retirements.
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Do you want to make your company more digital, agile, and resilient? Then get coached!
We are authorized INQA Coaches. Take advantage of the Government funding opportunities offered by the INQA-Coaching for your projects.
Work transformation, change in values, digitization, decarbonization. Relevant topics of the funding program Initiative New Quality of Work (in German: Initiative Neue Qualität der Arbeit – INQA for short), cover all parts of your company. Find out how you can use INQA-Coaching for your logistics here.
On July 12th, we received our authorization certificate as an INQA-Coach from the Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs.
*Dear customers, in line with our principles, here you will find only a selection of anonymized references that do not allow conclusions about our clients. If you have a justified interest, we are happy to facilitate contact with the respective referees.
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