Desenvolvimento de competências e flexibilidade na atuação funcional: um estudo com os assistentes em administração de uma universidade federal

Abstract

This study has the main goal of presenting the Development Career Strategies for the position of administration assistant at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN, in portuguese acronym), including a well aimed skill development that are related with flexibility on functional acting. Numerous technical and/or administrative positions have been extinguished owing to their perceived redundancy, leading to a dilution of the workforce at Brazilian public universities which is extenuated by the current hurdles to holding civil service entrance examinations. Adding to the issue, civil servants must comply with legal training requirements so as to be prepared for internal and external changes and workplace reassignments. Thus informed, we set out to conduct a predominantly qualitative, mixedmethod case study grounded in exploratory documentary analysis. The first stage of the investigation comprised the extraction of data from documentary sources, specifically by identifying and analysing strategic documents issued by UFRN. The second stage was geared towards collecting primary data by conducting interviews with the university’s Staff Training and Development managers, in addition to requesting that Administrative Assistants participate in a survey. Participants’ responses were assessed by resorting to methodological triangulation. Findings indicated that discussions on workplace flexibility are already underway at UFRN, as part of the institution’s strategic policy on workforce recovery, as dictated by the current state of affairs wherein recruitment options are limited, and that the said discussions are, however, still in their early stages, pending the completion of studies on staff assignment and distribution, as well as up-to-date competency mapping. Likewise, the results seem to suggest a lack of institutionally consolidated strategies for preparing Administrative Assistants to better cope with workplace flexibility. Lastly, the paper reports on the potential benefits of implementing workplace learning simultaneously across multiple departments and offices, as this is expected to foster university-wide acclimation to a novel reality and also lead to institutional compliance with the new National Policy on Human Resource Development.