RELATIONAL QUALITY FROM THE START: ACCOMPANYING NEW GENERATIONS OF PROFESSIONALS AT SEAT

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKNExP4r8yI

A Dual Vocational Training (FP Dual) Experience

It is undeniable that relational quality in the workplace has a direct impact on people's commitment, efficiency, motivation, and well-being. Technical excellence and professional knowledge are no longer enough. The business fabric seeks and needs newcomers to the labor market with social and human skills—so-called "power skills"—which have a long-term impact on people and project efficiency.

The relational fabric, shaped by life experiences, requires a process of self-awareness and knowledge. The ideal framework to begin this process of understanding is when a person is at the doorstep of the labor market. We refer to the formative seed: universities and, more specifically, Dual Vocational Training (FP Dual).

The SEAT Apprentice School has not only understood this but has also managed to transfer it to the students' reality, thanks to the humanistic vision of its former manager, Ismael Lara.

For five years, the Relational Institute has been collaborating with the School through the Relational Competence Development Program, alongside Lorena Sánchez, head of studies at the Apprentice School, and the teaching team. We continue to accompany and adapt this program to the needs of each generation, supported by the relational vision of the current manager, Sílvia Roig.

This is a clear commitment from SEAT’s management and a true statement of intent: to develop these competencies from the very first moment of contact with the company, generating a relational culture from the start of the professional journey.

Structured support over three years

The Relational Competence Development Program takes place during the three academic years of the Dual FP training. Based on the Relational Evolution Model and the keys of Recognition Pedagogy, it accompanies students on the journey of "learning to be," in parallel with their technical training and internships at the factory.

We offer a safe and structured space for support—a relational laboratory—that allows apprentices to become aware of how they relate to others, focus on developing their relational skills, put them into practice, and observe and evaluate their progress.

Each student has a personal Relational Growth Plan, where they define specific development goals, record their progress, and reflect on their evolution session by session. In this way, the process combines self-knowledge, action, and evaluation, generating experiential and sustained learning over time.

Relational skills for professional and personal life

We work on relational competencies such as the ability to make requests, disagree with assertiveness, generate clear and sustainable agreements, hold meaningful conversations, recognize one's own and others' strengths and uniqueness, and contribute confidently to the group. Above all, the program helps them develop cooperation as an essential skill for quality and efficiency, both personally and professionally.

The sessions address real relational challenges that students face in their daily lives, adapting to the organization's particularities and the relational skills that SEAT considers key to its corporate culture.

What the protagonists say

Students express the need for spaces where they feel heard, where they can relate to colleagues on a level beyond the purely professional, and where they can acquire relational tools to help them manage their day-to-day lives.

The program facilitates group cohesion and mutual recognition. They discover that they are valued and important to others and learn to put their own strengths at the service of the group project. Suddenly, relationships become visible and gain meaning within their individual universe.

An evolving program

Throughout these years, we have adapted the program to the current needs of young people, incorporating experiential conversational methodologies focused on their real daily experiences. The work also aligns with SEAT's corporate culture, building bridges between the relational dimension and the organization's operational reality.

This experience demonstrates that investing in relational quality from the start of one's professional life is not only possible but is a strategic choice that makes the difference in building committed, efficient, and cohesive teams.

By SÍLVIA PENÓN y MORA DEL FRESNO.