Portfolio and consultancy
The CARMIDES research group is committed to transfer scientific knowledge to organizations and society. We have worked with several organizations, public administration, and trade unions, both applying our research and serving as consultants.
Training in social skills in traditional and virtual environments: communication, persuasion, negotiation and conflict management.
We have completed several training programs and courses throughout Spain, France, Portugal, Italy, Mexico, and Brazil. In particular, we offer training in social skills, assertive communication, persuasive communication, negotiation and sales techniques, and conflict management at work. In recent years, in collaboration with the Audiovisual Resources Service of the University of Seville (SAV), we have developed applications in virtual environments to facilitate these trainings and courses. We highlight the training programs carried out for healthcare workers and administrative staff at the Andalusian Health Service (SAS) or for police officers, firefighters, and civil protection workers at the Andalusian School of Public Safety (ESPA).
Psychosocial risk assessment and health promotion in the workplace.
In our research group, there are members accredited to conduct risks assessments at work (occupational health and safety technicians) that also have an extensive experience in the evaluation, training and implementation of measures aimed at improving job designs and promoting health and well-being at work (including developing employee assistance programs -EAP, flexible work and work-private balance policies, or health and wellness interventions). Some organizations that have contracted our services are VEIASA (vehicle inspection company), AFOBAN Training Center, or the Nursing Development Foundation -FUDEN.
Mediation, conflict management and non-discrimination protocols.
In this area we have staff certified by the Internal Affairs Department (Ministerio del Interior) of the Spanish Government. Our experience has led us to intervene in labor mediations both at the intra (e.g., work-family conflicts, bullying and destructive conflicts) and inter-organizational level. For example, we have provided this service to the Port Authority of the Bay of Algeciras (APBA, in charge of the management of the river ports of the Strait of Gibraltar).
Personnel selection, performance assessment and job design.
In this field, we have collaborated with public organizations and private companies to conduct attraction and selection processes for different job positions; evaluate and analyze job motivational profiles; and implement competence-based management systems. We can highlight in this section the contracts signed with TUSSAM (the Public Transport Company in Sevilla), Siderúrgica Sevillana S.A. (steel maker company), and Rendelsur S.A. (bottling and caning company).
Design, implementation, and evaluation of social and community intervention programs.
In the social and community field, our group stands out for its capacity to design, implement and evaluate programs aimed at promoting equality, citizen participation, health, and quality of life. In recent years, we have signed an agreement with the Equality Department of the Seville City Council to raise the visibility of outstanding women in their professions and social activism; a contract with the Department of Equality, Health and Social Policy of the Andalusian Regional Government to carry out a social media campaign to raise awareness about the problems of the elderly; a grant from the Department of Health and Families of the Andalusian Regional Government to implement and evaluate a psychosocial intervention to support the adaptation to breast cancer and improve patients’ quality of life; two collaboration agreements with the Department of Social Affairs of the Andalusian Regional Government to evaluate both the Intervention Plan in Districts and the network of Andalusian Social Organizations; an agreement with the Spanish Blind Association (ONCE) to train the facial expression of blind children by using electromyographic feedback; or the agreement with the Commissioner for Drugs of the Department of Health of the Andalusian Regional Government to evaluate the preventive campaign on alcohol consumption: "Test your freedom".
Counselling and implementation of the psychoeducational program "Golden" and evaluation of the educational context in children's settings.
The Golden psychoeducational program, aimed at improving students’ wellbeing through the implementation of (more) effective teaching practices, is endorsed and has been awarded by the European Commission (2009). This program has been implemented in many educational facilities and schools through contracts with the Research Foundation of the University of Seville (FIUS) and collaboration agreements with the Education Departments of different autonomous regions in Spain. In addition, in pre-school settings, we carry out the evaluation, assessment and improvement of the quality of the context and interactions using internationally validated instruments (ECERS and CLASS). To do this, we have officially certified staff to use such instruments.
Content design and consultancy for broadcasting and audiovisual production companies.
Our group has always shown a great interest in scientific dissemination to the public and the use of audiovisual media to develop intervention programs. In this sense, we have collaborated with both the Spanish (RTVE) and the Andalusian (RTVA) broadcasting corporations in the scientific direction of productions with psychosocial content. In RTVE, we provided content to the TV program “Yo mono” broadcasted on La2 (e.g., design and execution of classic and innovative psychosocial experiments; advise and provide content for scripts). In RTVA, we developed the content of a section in the TV program “De Tarde en Tarde” broadcasted on CanalSur (e.g., interviews and demonstrations aimed at modifying certain negative attitudes towards elderly and minority groups at social exclusion risk).
Consultancy and coaching in group and team management
Our staff is certified in Organizational and Sports Coaching. Our interventions, in several organizations and in sports clubs and associations, have focused on evaluating the different aspects related to group effectiveness to propose improvement actions.