Human Capital for Industrial Innovation: Competence Development, Job Satisfaction and Entrepreneurship at a Mining Institute

The authors take advantage of their scientific and professional experience in the scope of project management and management policy at a research organization, presenting the results of KOMAG employees’ job satisfaction survey and of two projects conducted in 2022 and 2023 within the framework of the European Fund for Just Transformation. The survey results concerning the KOMAG employees’ job satisfaction revealed an urgent need of improving competences and qualifications. It was particularly interesting to investigate the employees’ level of engagement in trainings and courses and their impact on improving competences and developing professional careers. It lacks an analysis of the role of employees’ job satisfaction, competences and entrepreneurship in the management processes at research organizations. The results of two projects, carried out as components of continuing education and job crafting, can be treated as a sort of guidelines and recommendations for not only representatives of research organizations but also for industrial companies as they are of interdisciplinary, general character. The article’s objective is oriented onto getting knowledge about specific requirements and expectations of researchers employed at institutes. So far this aspect has not been investigated and presented in available literature. The results of two projects, described in the article, are in line with job crafting policy at the KOMAG Institute and they show explicitly that a development of entrepreneurship, competences and job satisfaction is an important component of managerial strategy.