State pledges €9m to workplace innovation
The Workplace Innovation Fund is due to become operational in the first half of this year and will be jointly managed by the National Centre for Partnership and Performance (NCPP) and Enterprise Ireland. It will primarily be aimed at small to medium enterprises seeking to improve their competitiveness and productivity through the implementation of new organisational processes and practices.
It forms part of the NCPP’s new strategy for 2007 to 2010 — Irish Workplaces: A Strategy for Change, Innovation and Partnership — which was officially launched yesterday by Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, who urged employers, employees, trade unions, government departments and state agencies to support the NCPP strategy.
The strategy represented an ambitious work programme to drive and support workplace transformation, said the NCPP’s director, Lucy Fallon-Byrne.
“With the positive engagement of all concerned, we can help to deliver an immediate response to the longer-term goals and priorities set out in Towards 2016 and the National Workplace Strategy,” she said.
“The fund offers a unique opportunity for companies to receive financial support for projects to develop the role of employee participation and partnership-style practices as enablers of workplace change.”
The €9m fund will also be used to finance a public awareness campaign that will inform the country’s two million employers and employees of key workplace development issues.
Mr Ahern said: “The NCPP’s new strategy challenges employers and employees alike to work smarter, not harder, over the years ahead. If we can improve organisational performance across all sectors, we will not only sustain and increase competitiveness, we will also support the wellbeing of workers generally. We will have done much to position Ireland at the forefront of the emerging global knowledge economy.”
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