The Transfer Period
A member of a co-determination body learns a lot during their term about the ins and outs of their institution and co-determination, and thus only gets better at their job. A strong co-determination begins and ends with the people who work in the various councils and committees. Still, every term ends at some point; often there are new elections every year, at which point a whole new batch takes over. They bring new enthusiasm and new perspectives, but if you’re not careful, you may simultaneously lose a lot of knowledge, experience and contacts. A good transfer is crucial for the preservation of knowledge, and the possibility for a council to check multi-year projects.
There are quite a few things involved with a good transfer: it is the moment to give new members both the procedural know-how as well as the knowledge about the content they need to take their role within the institution. Councilmembers also often meet many key people within (and outside) the institution during the transfer period.
This page will discuss many of the possible topics to cover during a transfer. We will try to give you tools to think about which parts are relevant to your institution, and how to frame those parts.
This page is not about writing a training document (such a document is often used to convey a lot of information to prospective councillors), for which we have a separate page. A good archive is also crucial for a strong council.
Practical matters
First of all, it is important to agree on who handles the handover. Sometimes this is the incumbent council, sometimes it is the parties running for election, sometimes the institution itself plays a role, sometimes it is a varying combination of all three. In any case, what everyone should agree on is that there should be a good handover.
The preparation for such a good handover really starts at the beginning of the term. Divide responsibilities regarding the transfer in advance and keep good records throughout the year. Also remember that transfer meetings (some institutions even have whole weekends) need to be planned (and booked!) far in advance to guarantee attendance. Also, if you want to use trainers for transfer sessions, you need to make arrangements with them well in advance. More about training sessions can be found here.
Think in advance about the timing of your handover. Most of the transfer will be in the period between the announcement of the election results and the new council term. If your institution has late elections, sometimes the handover has to take place (partly) during the summer holidays. It is then useful to communicate this in advance with all election candidates.
The content
The content of the handover obviously varies from one institution to another. We will discuss some commonly covered topics. We will do this very roughly in the order that these topics are often covered.
Rights and obligations of co-determination
It is important for co-determination officers to know what legislation their rights and obligations derive from. A good starting point might be our page on the rights and obligations of co-determination.
Meeting cycles and consultation meetings
Co-determination work is fundamentally about consultation with the director/executive, which happens at consultation meetings. These meetings are often part of meeting cycles that also include, for example, internal meetings and meetings with the constituency. How exactly this works at your institution is important to explain during the transfer period. We have a page on consultation meetings to get you started.
Internal structure of the council
Besides knowing what the council does, it is also important to know how it is organised internally. Here, you might discuss how the council divides its work among committees and portfolios, based on internal regulations. It also explains the role of the chairman, vice-chairman, secretary, treasurer and any other positions.
Distributing internal positions
Sometimes positions are distributed immediately after the elections. At many institutions, however, these positions are not distributed until the new councillors have more substantive knowledge about participation and the internal organisation of the council. When distributing positions, it is important that real time is taken, and the vote is closed. It is also desirable to have the process supervised by someone with knowledge about the council and its functioning, but no current relationship with the council. A former councillor on whom all parties agree is often a good option.
Substantive, portfolio/postion-specific transfers
After the roles are divided, new councillors often engage with their predecessors to do a portfolio- and/or position-specific handover. For the chairperson, this includes, for example, how to chair meetings and how contact with the director/executive usually takes place. It is also desirable to meet together with relevant key people inside and outside the institution. For example, an education quality portfolio holder can meet with the education quality policy officer.
Key persons inside the institution
There will be a number of key people relevant for the whole council to meet. The director/executive at least fits into this list, but heads of certain departments, important, senior officials could also be relevant here. Sometimes this round is done only in the new term of office. Further, also consider who else it would be useful to meet.
Current dossiers
It often happens that a council starts a dossier, which its successors have to finish. You come across this in any case with the ‘kadernota’/‘kaderbrief’ in the spring and the budget in the autumn, but selection procedures for Numerus Fixus programmes also often run over the summer recess. It is very important to make good agreements with your director about this. Co-determination is on average weaker at the beginning of the council term, so delaying is a well-known strategy of directors/executives to push through a dossier.
A good archive plays a big role in managing these ongoing files, but a session with relevant councillors to dive into the material is often also very effective.
The transfer
Make it clear during the handover how important it is to ensure a strong transfer next year as well. Explain that preparations for this start very early on and leave a manual about this in the archives as well.
Atmosphere and cooperation
Councillors who know how to provide each other with good feedback, who take into account each other’s strengths and weaknesses and get along well with each other will get more out of their council year. A good atmosphere prevents a council from falling into a negative spiral that may cause people to drop out early, besides making a council year naturally more fun and effective! Alot some time during the transfer period for councillors to get to know each other, and make agreements on atmosphere and cooperation. We have a seperate guide on this subject.
Prioritisation
It is often the case that during the onboarding process, you have to make choices as to which topics you do and do not cover extensively. Apart from time constraints, you also have to take into account your successors’ ability to concentrate. If you convey too much information in too short a time, chances are that not everything will stick. It is important to be aware of the choices you make on this. When making these choices, keep at least the following three points in mind:
- How important is this topic?
- How soon are they going to need this knowledge? If the council only needs something to do with this topic in six months’ time, they are more likely to have forgotten things by then.
- Do they need the presence of the old council to gain this knowledge? If not, consider doing these topics only in the new year through training sessions, an archive, or the familiarisation document.
As we said earlier, the strength of a participation council lies very much in the people who are on it at the time. That there will always be stronger, and weaker years is a fact, but a good transfer can work wonders. A good transfer allows the new council to get off to a flying start, without having to learn and discover a lot of basic things first. Furthermore, it can already help enormously if former councillors remain available for questions and advice.
In shaping a transfer, it is important at all times to keep your institution in mind. What is very relevant to discuss elsewhere may not be so at your institution, and vice versa. Where at one institution there are months between the elections and the summer recess, at another it is only a few weeks. Adjust your transfer accordingly!