Vision and mission

Our vision

At CIAO, we hold the opinion that everyone should be able to participate in society fully and to their own capacity. Having a paid job is the key to full participation, as this positively affects mental and physical health. Meanwhile, unemployment negatively affects mental and physical health ^1,2,3 and may lead to social isolation. ^4,5

In order to enable everybody to fully and sustainably participate in paid work, work needs to be made more suitable both for those working and those searching for jobs. In our view, this may be accomplished by organizing work differently and better so that those working may put their core qualities to work in the most optimal way, while those searching for jobs may (re-)integrate in the labour market via starter or development jobs. This way, we can realise better jobs for everyone.

Our mission

It is our mission to achieve better and paid jobs for everyone by making as many organisations as possible (more) inclusive. For this purpose, CIAO offers knowledge and expertise to all parties working professionally towards enhancing inclusion within organisations. Inclusive organisations are able to offer people with a variety of talents paid employment and keep them employed sustainably.

CIAO gathers this knowledge and expertise by performing research and doing projects. We also develop methods and instruments based on best practice, and we provide a training programme for various types of professionals working in HRM or employer services.

Our motto: ‘Better jobs for everyone’

Our motto means that CIAO seeks to promote sustainable employability for everybody, both those working and those searching for jobs. ‘Better jobs’ indicates good quality jobs. There should be a good person-job fit and jobs should be designed in such a way that people don’t get ill because of their job. Moreover, work should enable employees to develop themselves and learn new skills, so that they may continue to be valuable to the organisation and society in a sustainable way.

Organising work differently and better for everyone

Organisations are facing big challenges due to technological, economic and societal developments. There is a scarcity of various kinds of skilled craftspeople and professionals, in sectors such as engineering, healthcare, education, IT and financial services. In CIAO’s experience, however, the core qualities of these scarce craftspeople and professionals are rarely used in the most optimal manner. Instead, these employees spend much of their valuable time performing supporting tasks that used to be performed by employees who have since been laid off to cut costs. In the meantime, people searching for jobs cannot meet the demands set by the current labour market, and their talents go to waste as well. Work pressure and personnel scarcity may be solved by organising work methodically and, in consultation with those involved, differently and better This creates space for starter and development jobs for people searching for jobs, and career and development opportunities for people already working.

Starter and development jobs and lifelong development for everyone

CIAO sees plenty of opportunities for organisations to create starter and development jobs for everyone, while leaving room for lifelong development by organising work methodically and, in consultation with those involved, differently and better. When work is redesigned in a participative and SMART manner ^6,7 aided by IWR 2.0, the work that is created will be high-quality and valuable for everyone. This way, four important problems the labour market is faced with may be met:

• With IWR 2.0, work can be organised in such a manner that distance to the labour market (faced by people with lower qualifications, due to e.g. disability) may disappear, due to the creation of starter jobs. This way, people in certain target groups will be able to start working from day one, possibly in combination with IPS⁸, an apprenticeship or learning through working. Many people fare much better gaining qualifications for the labour market when learning through working than gaining them in school. Moreover, when this group of people enters the labour market, people already working have more room for career opportunities and development, and to put their core qualities to use.
• Work pressure may be reduced, which boosts the sustainable employability of working people.
• Organising work in a better way may promote high-quality work in an educational work environment.
• Organising work in a different and better way may also promote switching between different branches of work. If work can be organised in such a way that people can learn on the job, people with different qualifications have an easier time transitioning between jobs and meeting the demands for their new jobs while already at work.

¹ Schuring, M., Robroek, S. J., & Burdorf, A. (2017). The benefits of paid employment among persons with common mental health problems: evidence for the selection and causation mechanism. Scandinavian journal of work, environment & health, 540-549.
² Wanberg, C. R. (1995). A longitudinal study of the effects of unemployment and quality of reemployment. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 46(1), 40-54.
³ Warr, P. (1994). A conceptual framework for the study of work and mental health. Work & Stress, 8(2), 84-97.
⁴ Paul, K. I. (2005). The negative mental health effect of unemployment: Meta-analyses of cross-sectional and longitudinal data.
⁵ Paul, K. I., Geithner, E., & Moser, K. (2009). Latent deprivation among people who are employed, unemployed, or out of the labor force. The Journal of psychology, 143(5), 477-491.
⁶ Parker, S.K., & Knight, C. (2024). The SMART model of work design: A higher order structure to help see the wood from the trees. Human Resource Management, 63(2), 265-291.
⁷ Hay, G. J., Klonek, F. E., Thomas, C. S., Bauskis, A., Baynam, G., & Parker, S. K. (2020). SMART work design: Accelerating the diagnosis of rare diseases in the Western Australian Undiagnosed Diseases Program. Frontiers in Pediatrics, 8.
⁸ Individuele Plaatsing en Steun (IPS): https://kenniscentrumphrenos.nl/kennisproduct/individuele-plaatsing-en-steun-ips/