Jos Sanders

Research area

Smarter people by giving in depth insight in one’s currently available skills-set (skills passport) and through increasing one’s positive learning experiences and through these insights stimulate self-directedness and self-leadership in lifelong learning and sustaining employability. Smarter workplaces by integrating working and learning and creating and optimizing strong working and learning environments by improving learning leadership and smarter regions mainly by stimulating companies/employers and educators to work closely together and make better use of available human capital and by sustaining human capital development for today’s and tomorrow’s labour market.

Recent results

In the first three years of my lectorate we’ve gained insight in leading design principles for powerful and strong learning and working environments in what we call ‘smart companies’. Companies that have integrated learning and working in such a way that available skills can be optimally used and developed. We are currently designing these powerful learning and working environments in the health and wellbeing sector on the basis of some 11 design principles.

Together with Bouwend Nederland, Volandis, Techniek Nederland and OTIB we have developed and tested the Digital Skills Passport for workers in building, construction and installation providing workers with a clear insight in their current skills set and in the way that it develops. End of 2022 we will publish the DSP 2.0 version of this innovation. We will then continue implementing and further studying this new concept version.

Together with Saxion and commissioned by Instituut GAK, we conducted the first inventory and appreciation of 100 career checks in the Netherlands. We found that these instruments are rarely suitable for less educated workers, who obviously would also have great use for them. We described principles for ‘ideal’ Career Checks. This description has been the basis for at least one new research-project in which, together with Saxion, Hogeschool Zuyd and NOLOC, ideal instruments have been built and tested in 2022.

Together with FWG we built a Labour Market Monitor for the 7 Dutch UMC’s (academic medical centers). Among others we analyzed and described current and future tasks of 49 functions (job titles). Information on these future tasks is now available for employees so that they ca match their skills and motivation to these future job demands. Next, we will study whether these insights will help employees to aim their skills development actions.

Recent projects

• House of Skills (EFRO-ESF, REACT-EU)
• Instituut GAK – Career Checks inventory and appreciation
• Instituut GAK – Skills Passports for free travelling on the labour market
• Bouwend Nederland, OTIB, Techniek Nederland – Digital Skills Passports for Craftsmen in Building, construction and installations.
• Sofokles – Labour Market Monitor for Academic Medical Centers

Top publications

• Sanders, J., Post, J., Genabeek, J. Van & Ballafkih, H. (2022). Skills als basis voor een nieuwe (re-)integratiepraktijk. Beleid en Maatschappij, 2022 (49) 1, 53-72. doi: 10.5553/BenM/138900692022049001006.
• Thunnissen, M. & Sanders, J. (2021). Learning and development in the public sector. In: Steijn & Knies (Eds.) Research Handbook on HRM in the Public Sector. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing.
• Woudstra, L., Cuperus, J., Nijman, DJ & Sanders, J. (2021). De werkplek als leerplek. Principes voor het ontwerp van een krachtige leerwerkomgeving. Tijdschrift voor HRM, 2021, 4, 77-102.
• Sanders, J., Kraan, K.O., & Boermans, S. (2018). Duurzame inzetbaarheid van laaggekwalificeerde werknemers: werken aan competentiebeleving. Gedrag en Organisatie, 2, 31, 151-172.
• Sanders, J. M. A. F., Dorenbosch, L., & Eerenbeemt, J. (2018). Slim sleutelen aan ‘futureproof’werk op een arbeidsmarkt in taken. In: A de Lange & S Detaille (eds), Fit for the Future : Handvatten voor toekomstbestendig HRM-beleid. Vakmedianet
• Sanders, J. (2017). Verduurzamen van inzetbaarheid bij lager opgeleid personeel. Tijdschrift voor HRM, 4, 20, 1-22.
• Sanders, J. (2016). Sustaining the employability of the low skilled worker: development, mobility and work design (Proefschrift). Maastricht: Research Centre for Education and the labour market.