In answer to the economic difficulties Bulgaria faces and to the “brain-drain” of young people to the West, Marc de Turck and his staff, decided to open a Hubbard College of Administration in Sofia, Bulgaria.

The ribbon was cut in the premises of the Hubbard Press Office in Lozenets Bulgaria, by Mr Georgy Naydenov, Journalist, writer and President of the School for Administration and Diplomacy.

After an introduction by Marc J. de Turck, president of the Hubbard College of Administration Bulgaria, who stressed the importance of correct education to create a new impulse in the Bulgarian economy. Mr Imre Toth, President WISE Central Europe proudly announced the publication of  3 of the 25 workshops which can be studied at home or in a course room. The other 22 are in the pipe-line to be translated for the end of 2014.

Mr Imre Toth also stressed the important of following the MAKH book and to become a WISE member.

Mr Georgi Naydenov held a moving speech on the importance and freedom of knowledge for Mankind.

The same evening Mr Kalojan Velinov decided to translate the 2 books of the MAKH and to become a WISE member.
Bulgaria counts now 4 WISE members.

And Mr Kalojan Vilenov will be our first student.

More news on the HCA will follow.

Marc J. de Turck

Sofia, Bulgaria. V M company – for me the best accounting company there is in Sofia – addressed its communication skills today 23th of November via a communication skills seminar.

The team was super motivated considering the fact that they all came especially on Sunday

Success to Ivan and Decho, the owners of V M.

More on communication skills seminar at www.marcdeturck.com

Skopje, Macedonia. November 22nd.  GEMAK – Traders of coffee, alcohol and cigarettes in Macedonia hold a sales training delivered by Marc de Turck and Verica Mazevska in the splendid Hotel Stone Bridge, in the middle of the historical old town of Skopje.

40 up-tone traders now know the tools to convince themselves, know the emotions and some very strong techniques in sales.

It was a big success thanks to Verica Mazevska, the Macedonian Partner of IDEAS FreeBoss.

A lot of company owners and managers whom I met, face this attitude today of : “Just pay me because I am” and try to survive – or not to succumb – in an extremely competitive market.  

Motivation seminars, positive thinking seminars, productivity seminars and other management seminars are trying every day to answer this challenge, but the results of them – as I observed – are only partial.

Managers have to face the real reason of no motivation. According to me on of the real reasons of this is that youngsters do not know anymore what is good and bad.  Hence the necessity of educating youngsters in a basic moral code.

But since most of the university students I met or recruited in the last 10 years have difficulties to understand what they read, the education has to be done differently than 20 years ago.  The necessity of video and real life examples as materials in education are today more than ever needed,

So the solution to low motivation, immoral behavior in a company, according to me starts with :

1. Creating a basic moral code adapted for the company in video format with very clear examples and definition of the terms motivation, pro-activity, responsibility, good behavior etc.
2. Determining a justice system – without neglecting the local Country Laws- tailor made for the company when someone does not follow this code.
3. Educating all personnel in the code and the justice system via video materials and lots of examples.
4. Asking all personnel to sign this code and its justice system,.
5. Applying the justice system uniformly.

We implement this steps in different companies in Eastern Europe.

Marc J. de Turck

Sofia, Hotel Earth and People. Monday November 10th.
The second team of Bobo Zander gets injected with information on conviction, emotions and behavior in sales. A seminar delivered by Marc de Turck and Emmy Stoyanova,

Wednesday part 3 in Russe.

Sofia,  hotel Earth and People in Sofia was host of a sales team of Ariston-S- know under the brand BOBO Zander.

The boss decided to inject some sales energy into the whole sales team.

The first team was trained today.   Tomorrow and Wednesday the 2nd and the 3th team. Success to Bobo Zander,

Marc de Turck and his deputy Emmy Stoyanova sit together with the first team of Bobo Zander.

Will our kids ever earn enough money to pay our pensions?

A possible solution against the negative demographic effect on the welfare state.

Just came back from a conference on future planning of big economic players in Sofia, Bulgaria. … Thinking about what was said…..

If one looks today at the pension fund prognoses of most western European countries for the future financing of the funds, one has serious reasons to fear the future loss of income and the total debacle of the western welfare state system.

One European pension fund expert, while having a coffee with me 7 years ago, even stated that his country does not have the funds to pay pensions anymore in the near future. And this was before the financial crisis.

Financial prognoses in most western European countries clearly show on the one hand the increase in the number of elderly, inactive people and the decrease in the number of active young people contributing to the social welfare system. This of course creates a negative saldo in the pension funds financing over the long term.

On the other hand, in most western European countries, there is an increase in the years of inactivity of people due to different factors which increase the lifetime expectation of the elderly people. There is at the same time a decrease in the time of activity of young people due to different factors allowing young people not to work and to study longer and to stay out of the labor market for a longer time.  This again creates a shortage in the pension fund financing over the long term.

Yes a solution, be it partial, might be to increase the working years of the labor market and to set the minimum retirement age 5 years later. But this resolves the problem only partially.

Students – via a deficient school system – are more and more misguided to “study longer” on the university chairs, making them less practical and less ready for action, if not totally inactive on the labor market. Especially with the level of education today in most European countries leading to students to become “parrots” or worse….

If any solution – different from increasing the minimum age of retirement as proposed in most western European countries – can be foreseen, I plead for an extra solution.

Let the students work in the industry from the age of 16 while studying at the same time in the evenings or afternoons. Provide the industrial world with financial tools for this. And help the students who adapt this solution. The financial investment towards this solution in the social welfare model might very well give a positive return on investment and stop the pension fund gap over the long term.

At the same time, due to more practically educated labor market the efficiency of the nation’s industry might be increased giving it a competitive advantage.

I challenge the western European countries to do so.

Marc J. de Turck