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First published in Polish by Małgorzata Rosalska

Exclusion on the labour market can manifest itself in different ways. Unemployment is the most obvious one. It does not, however, exhaust all possible forms of deprivation of opportunities provided by employment. These may also manifest as exclusion in access to opportunities, promotions, resources, and earnings. They are often predicated upon gender, place of residence, family situation, and access to education. Some of the barriers in access to opportunities and possibilities are structural, systemic, and firmly rooted in culture. Others result from individual limitations, biographies, and deficits in assets. While combatting the former is rather long and arduous, we have some influence (to a greater or lesser extent) on the latter. Most often, it requires taking action and building resources that increase the chance of success. One of these resources is proactivity. 

^{Photo by Connor Jalbert on Unsplash}

Proactivity can be described by the characteristics of the person we perceive as proactive. It is worth referring here to Thomas Bateman and Michael Crant's concept of a proactive personality^[1]. It describes a person who is unconstrained by situational forces and who influences changes in the environment. According to this concept, proactive people seek opportunities, show initiative, and take action until the change which is desired and expected by them takes place.

Proactive people are most often described by a set of characteristics, such as:

• striving for change,
• recognising opportunities,
• creating situations,
• showing initiative,
• taking action.

The above set of traits can be useful for self-diagnosis in terms of proactivity. However, it is known that these traits cannot be treated in a binary manner: I either have it or I don't. There is more of a continuum. Also, at different stages of life, we have different resources and assets in these areas. Sometimes it's better, sometimes it's worse...

In reflections on proactivity in the labour market, the model proposed by Augustyn Bańka^[2] is particularly interesting and inspiring. The author distinguished 4 types of proactivity:

General proactivity, i.e., initiative directed towards building oneself up with a goal-oriented 'positive careerism'. This type of proactivity is akin to a general and persistent personality tendency to respond proactively in any situation.

Cognitive proactivity, i.e., initiative directed towards seeking information about the environments on which our development depends.

Proactivity in building a support network, i.e., initiative in terms of monitoring the social environment and treating it as a facilitator of one's own development.

Proactivity in building psychological well-being, which includes initiatives in terms of the ability to build social capital, strengthen the capacity to cope with stress and use support networks to solve problems.

The model of proactivity proposed by Augustyn Bańka is exceptionally inspiring from a counsellor’s point of view. Particularly in two aspects. The first one has a diagnostic character. If we work with someone who is experiencing setbacks in the labour market or feels excluded or marginalised, we can analyse their assets in the four areas indicated by A. Bańka. This can be done by means of a questionnaire, but also other techniques or tools available to career counsellors can be used. Identifying the deficits in particular areas will more accurately target the goals of the offers of counselling support.

The second aspect has a methodical character. These four areas can be seen as bullet points in a proactivity support programme. Such an offer can be designed for everybody and can be seen as a first-line prevention for labour market setbacks. It can also be addressed to those who are already experiencing difficulties. Apart from the first area, general proactivity, which can also be treated as a personality disposition, the other three areas are easy to reformulate for counselling objectives.

The first objective focuses on the ability to search for information and critically analyse its sources. Information can be a starting point for change. However, it should be reliable, verified and correct in terms of content. In a situation where we have unlimited access to information on the web, the ability to critically evaluate and analyse information becomes particularly important. Moreover, the ability to search for information to some extent makes one independent of a counsellor or other source of support.

The second objective, related to being proactive in building a support network, concerns developing the competence to articulate one's needs and to ask for help. Particularly for people with long term experience of exclusion or marginalisation, developing the ability to ask for help and build up trust is a big challenge. Counselling work with people who have developed a mechanism of learned helplessness often concerns this area. Restoring the belief that change is possible is an important aim of counselling support. In this respect, it is also necessary to identify systemic and institutional solutions and to develop the skills necessary to use their proposals.

The third objective relates to the competence in building psychological well-being. Resources for this can be found within oneself or in one's immediate environment. When working with people experiencing difficulties on the labour market, it is often necessary to help them rebuild a sense of resilience, agency, and capability. This sometimes requires psychological or psychotherapeutic help.

It is important to look at the subject of labour market exclusion from two perspectives. The first is systemic. This is where policies, offers of institutions, programmes and aid projects are analysed. The second is the individual perspective. My counselling practice shows that without individual assets in proactivity, even minimal ones, it is difficult to take advantage of opportunities and possibilities offered by systemic solutions. Sometimes it is worth waiting with narrowly understood activation on the labour market to increase the inner strength of a person and his/her need for action and change.

dr hab. Małgorzata Rosalska – pedagogue, careers counsellor, assistant professor in the Department of Lifelong Learning and Vocational Counselling at the Faculty of Educational Studies of Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań. She specialises in issues related to educational and vocational counselling, labour market policy, adult education, and educational policy. She is also an EPALE Ambassador.