Don Toonen Head of Service, Shirlie Project

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Don Toonen Head of Service, Shirlie Project

• David Stewart Director, Highland Employer
  Coalition

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Don Toonen, Head of Service.
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SHIRLIE Project perspective

• Client-led
• Focus on sustainable outcomes
• Comprehensive information about individuals
  aspirations, skills, abilities, support needs

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Our service provides

• All levels of support from first contact to
  continued support whilst in employment

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Service includes Pre work

• Vocational Profiling
• Better-off calculations and debt counselling
• Job search
• Negotiating terms and conditions

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Service includesIn-work and aftercare

• Job analysis
• Risk assessment
• On-the-job training
• Advise on JC programmes, support with reasonable
  adjustments
• Advise on staff training and induction
• Monitoring and aftercare

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Benefit to employer of pre work support

• Screening and job matching
• Approached Highland Employer Coalition to present
  to outreach workers, job coaches and advisors

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• Highland Employer Coalition.
• David Stewart, Director

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Employer Coalitions

• Coalitions chaired by prominent local business
  leaders.
• Coalitions work with employers and strategic
  partners to deliver a joined-up approach to
  employment and skills issues.
• NEP provides an employer led, business
  perspective to the design and delivery of Welfare
  to Work strategy
• NEP chaired by Lord Sandy Leitch, Leitch Report
  to be submitted to Chancellor of the Exchequer on
  December 6th, 2006.
• www.nationalemploymentpanel.gov.uk

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The importance of employer engagement

• Understanding of employers needs
• Understanding of sector trends
• Skills gaps
• Skills matching
• Win/Win for employers and candidates

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Whats in it for the employer?

• Recruitment is costly.
• Labour market trends
• Level of information to support the application.
• Support for employer as well as the candidate.
• Corporate Social Responsibility
• In most cases employers will be charitable, but
  NOT charities.

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Whats the employer looking for?

• Good attitude
• Willingness
• Suitable behaviours
• Attendance
• Good basic skills
• Value for their investment real jobs for real
  pay

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Barriers to employer engagement

• Wide range of recruitment options available
• So many providers,
• training agencies, charitable bodies,
  practitioners
• whos who supporting whom?
• - even more schemes, projects, programmes,
  initiatives.
• Business priorities / constraints
• Bad experience / Prejudice
• Ability/suitability to support

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Barriers to employer engagement

• Wide range of recruitment options available
• So many providers,
• training agencies, charitable bodies,
  practitioners
• whos who supporting whom?
• - even more schemes, projects, programmes,
  initiatives.
• Business priorities / constraints
• Bad experience / Prejudice
• Ability/suitability to support

E-mail employability.framework_at_scotland.gsi.gov.
uk Website www.scotland.gov.uk/employabilityfram
ework
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Workforce Plus

• The offer to employers will be
• Common Assessment
• There will be a common assessment approach for
  potential employees, to help match clients to
  your needs.
• Aftercare and in-work support
• There will be aftercare and in-work support
  provided for people who need it, to help them
  adjust to their new employment, especially those
  who may not have worked for some time. This
  should help you to reduce the cost and effort of
  losing new employees within weeks of recruitment.
• Brokerage service
• There will be a trial/pilot of a brokerage
  service which will provide you with a clear
  access point to help you make an informed choice
  when and if you need help with recruiting or
  keeping people in work
• Good basic soft skills
• Employers can expect potential recruits to have
  good basic soft skills.

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Workforce Plus

• We need to offer employers simple, effective and
  appealing ways of benefiting from these potential
  new recruits, as well as access to the range of
  support available to help them reach out to
  unfamiliar sources of labour Scottish
  Executive
• 7 Target areas
• Inverclyde, Renfrewshire, West Dunbartonshire,
  Glasgow, North Lanarkshire, South Lanarkshire and
  Dundee
• Target
• Reduce the number of people dependant on welfare
  benefits by 66,000 by 2010

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Examples of employer engagement

• Prepare to Work
• Retail, Construction, Contact centre, Transport ,
  Care, Hospitality
• Get a Goal Ross County Lifeskills through
  Sport
• Support Employment
• Rangers, Celtic, St. Mirren, Falkirk,
• Hibernian, Hearts, Dundee, Dundee United
• Unlock Your Potential Shirlie Project
• City Strategy part of the Glasgow consortium.
• Industrial Occupational Knowledge.

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What employers can provide.

• Flexibility
• Hours of work, shifts, working patterns
• Application process
• Reason adjustment to job or people spec.
• Ring fence / guaranteed support
• Assist in design pre-recruitment training
• Workplace familiarisation for support advisors
• Workplace familiarisation, work experience, work
  trial
• Appropriate attention to induction
• Inclusion with supporters and providers.
• Mentoring

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How can we assure the best fit?

• Job role
• Job profile/description question detail
• Skills requirements
• Personal
• Vocational
• Social
• Skills matching
• Support requirement
• Physical
• Environmental
• Social
• Timed role and career aspirations/expectations

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How to bring the perspectives together

• Address skills gap by effective and efficient
  training
• Awareness of employers needs through job
  analysis
• Business proposition, not charity
• Look beyond the job description

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What can agencies/providers offer Employers

• The candidate with a full history
• Expertise in supported/hard to place employment
• Benefits and risks assessment
• Advice on process or equipment modification
• Advice on employment issues, DDA, HS, etc.
• A trusted reliable recruitment option
• A better understanding of the support/provider
  infrastructure.

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Added value to individual

• Job that matches aspirations
• Paid going rate
• Confidence in their job
• Sustainable results
• Transferable skills through focus on good working
  practices

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Added value to employer

• Advise regarding reasonable adjustments
• Risk assessment translated into good working
  practices
• Sustainable results

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Thank you