Ljubljana, 21 September – AmCham Slovenia has launched a project designed to empower working women and men using tried-and-tested tools that make it easier to achieve a work-life balance.

The project, funded by Norway under the Norway Grants programme, is worth nearly half a million euros and involves eight partners from Slovenia and one from Norway, Amcham’s Samo Surina said at a debate organised by the chamber on Wednesday.

Indirectly, the project, under way through April 2024, will also explore the implementation of personalised, custom-made educational approaches based on positive psychology.

The debate, focusing on psychologically safe corporate cultures, saw participants argue that a person who feels threatened will achieve worse results in the long term than a person who feels safe, and that parents, teachers and superiors should act as mentors and lead by example.

Youths want candid conversations with their more senior colleagues on an equal footing, said organisational psychologist Jan Kovačič.

They want a respectful, equal relationship that gives them room for thinking. “In fact, this would be an appropriate relationship for work with all employees,” he said.

Darja Ferčej Temeljotov, head of strategic programs at pharma company Lek, said it was indeed necessary to be each other’s role models and motivate each other.

“No organisation cannot have all the know-how and skills in-house. We have to be open to other perspectives,” she said.

Source: STA