The Market Edgea business guide to work placements and

recruiting from groups out-with the traditional labour market

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Contents

Page Subject

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Contents Introduction

456

Section 1 — Who? - the edge of the labour market People who are unemployed The agencies who support them

789

Section 2 — Why? - the potential benefits The business case The wider gain for society

10111213141516

Section 3 — What? - examples of business initiative Work placements Salaried posts Business case study I Business case study II Business case study III Business case study IV

171819202122

Section 4 — How ? - the key success factors Success factors at a glance Real Opportunities Leadership Support Partnerships

232425262728

Section 5 — How to get started Employability strategy checklist Work placement design checklist What to expect from a partner Sources of further support Quotes from experience for encouragement

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Introduction

The business community reaching out to sections of society not regarded as within the traditional labour market is now a recognised aspect of many recruitment, equal opportunity, diversity and corporate social responsibility initiatives.

People can find themselves out-with the traditional labour market for a variety of reasons. Often people become economically disadvantaged through past health problems, difficult social circumstances or through a lack of opportunities.

Businesses who have widened their potential labour market to include these groups have found this can lead to many benefits for their organisation and to the wider society within which they operate. This booklet uses their experiences to help build a model of best practice and to provide a practical `how to` guide.

The main areas covered by this guide are:

Layout:

On each page of this guide you’ll find background information on each topic, along with a case study to help illustrate each point, relevant statistical information and practical advice we’ve sourced from other businesses with experience of engaging in this agenda.

How to engage with a wider labour market and laying out the practical steps involved.

Why this could be relevant and beneficial for your business

The process of business connecting with people not currently in employment.

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The Market Edge

Section One: Who?People who are unemployed

and the agencies who support them

The aim of this section is to provide an insight into the people we are aiming to engage with by exploring the issues and background to people who find themselves classed as disadvantaged when it comes to the labour market.

Linked to this is reference to the employment support agencies who are engaged with this section of society and a look at the issues around these agencies building working links with business.

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People who are unemployed

Background:

The circumstances that lead to people becoming unemployed and falling out-with the traditional labour market are as varied and as multiple as the people themselves. Factors such as family background, traumatic experiences, social class, educational experiences as well as accidents and random life events can all contribute to missing out on employment opportunities.

With these life experiences may come on-going health and social problems such as homelessness, crime, mental or physical illness, drug or alcohol problems.

Once people find themselves within these groups they will typically experience a number of barriers to gaining employment. These might be personal barriers such as low self esteem and low motivation, practical barriers such as housing and transport problems or employability barriers such as poor interview skills, lack of relevant qualifications, lack of core skills.

This is when people find themselves stuck in a cycle of poor health, long-term unemployment, social problems and reduced opportunities.

Key point: 117,000 Scots with mental health problems want to work, and are unable to access jobs. (See me campaign: 2008)

From Experience: Paul

I was in my final year at University when I became ill and I was diagnosed as bi-polar. I was too ill to complete my studies and I spent the next few months in and out of hospital before being referred to an employment support service.

It took me another 3 years to really get my health back as well as my confi-dence and skills before anyone would have considered offering me a job. I felt ready to work again but after a number of setbacks from unsuccessful job in-terviews, I could see my self esteem and optimism beginning to drop again.

At this point I was offered a 4-week work placement with a food production company. The experience was exactly what I needed—the people were bril-liant, I had a reason to get up each day and the work I was doing all gave me a taste of what I’d been missing. A job came up with the company and I was given the place. I’m still here 2 years later and I still love it.

Key Tip:

The most successful way to reach disadvantaged groups is by forming a partnership with an employment support agency who already have a relationship established, can help the client address any barriers they face and support their transition into work.

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Employment support agencies

Background:

Employment support agencies exist to progress disadvantaged clients into the workplace.

There is a large number of different employment support agencies operating in Scotland. These range from large national organisations covering the whole of Scotland down to a myriad of local services which may serve a particular geographical area e.g. Fife or West Edinburgh or be drawn around a particular shared need such as mental health problems, refugees or ex-offenders etc.

The role of employment support agencies is to support each client to address and overcome the barriers that are preventing them accessing employment. A consistent block that agencies report is finding a way for their clients to gain the experience of actually being in a workplace. Without this real work experience it’s difficult for agencies to prepare clients with the skills and insights necessary to meet employers expectations or cover gaps on a C.V. with relevant in-work experience.

Key Point:

Employment support agencies typically receive their funding based on the numbers of people they get into employment. They are therefore highly moti-vated upon building strong links with employers.

Key Tip:

Finding the right employment support agency to build a partnership with is a fundamental part of a successful employability strategy. Once you find a potential partner it’s valuable to start building the relationship so you can practice working together before introducing placements.

Partnership building activities might include inviting clients of the agency to tour your business, use some of your facilities for their meetings, participate in internal training events, offering guidance workshops on C.V. preparation and interviews or delivering presentations on the nature of your industry.

Building a close partnership with one employment support agency is more effective than trying to liaise with a number of different agencies.

From Experience: Job Centre +

Job Centre + are the lead organisation in the country dedicated to supporting unemployed people back into the workforce. As a public sector service, they have a national remit to link unemployed groups with job vacancies and cover this with offices across Scotland. Each office combines support services for un-employed people with services designed to engage with employers. They therefore make ideal partners for business.

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Section Two: Why?The business case

and the wider gain for society

The aim of this section is look at why engaging in this agenda makes good business sense. Using examples of organisations who have already reaped benefits from reaching out to people who are out-with their traditional labour market, we detail the kind of return you can expect from following this lead.

Linked into this is a discussion of the positive spin off for society and our communities of business opening up their recruitment to reach disadvantaged job seekers.

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The business case

Background:

The motivations behind a business reaching out to people at the edge of the labour market tend to be both for business gain and altruistic.

The potential gains for economically inactive groups is clear but this is a win, win situation with considerable economic, work force relations, market and so-cial benefits to be had for business from engaging in such an initiative.

The experiences of businesses who have already embraced this policy is that they consistently report five main areas where they have benefited. These are—

1. access to a wider labour market to recruit from2. developing the skills and commitment of their existing workforce 3. reducing recruitment costs 4. achieving social responsibility goals 5. enhancing their brand image with customers

Key Point:

Generation Y (born after 1978) has now entered the workforce. They have identified an organisations commitment to social responsibility as a significant factor when deciding who to work for. (CIPD: 2006)

From Experience: Design Links

Design Links is a branding and public relations company who have successfully hit all 5 business gains through linking with the `Talking UP for a Change` ini-tiative to help business engage with young job seekers.

Through offering work experience placements, Design Links believe their busi-ness has benefited in every way. In particular they have utilised the fresh per-spective offered by the placements to be more aware of what their younger customers might respond to and to test out new product ideas for there sella-bility which has boosted the company bottom line. The PR value of engaging has enhanced the company's reputation and opened up access to influential people who associate their brand with `making things happen.` In the existing workforce there has been a boost in confidence with a strengthening in their sense of loyalty and pride resulting in a return from employee retention

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Key Tip:

Identify what your motivation is for engaging in this agenda. Looking at the potential business benefits on the facing page will help you decide why your business is engaging in this agenda what you hope to get out of the process. This will assist you in setting your expectations, communicating your idea in-ternally and also in measuring how successful the initiative has been.

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The gain for society

Background:

Long term unemployment is damaging for individuals but it also negatively impacts upon wider society. Research has linked long term unemployment to poverty, crime, homelessness as well as physical health, mental health, alcohol and drug problems.

The Scottish and Westminster governments have both highlighted their belief that business is an integral part of the solutions to many of the country's social ills. Business has actively responded to this by becoming heavily involved as partners and advisors in the regeneration of local communities.

One of the main impacts business can have on breaking the vicious cycle of social deprivation is through the provision of employment. Having access to a meaningful paid occupation is identified as a fundamental key to improving health and social conditions.

Key Point:

Through offering paid employment, business can contribute to— Economic growth Reducing public expenditure supporting community regeneration tackling social deprivation and contributing to social equality

The Market Edge

Key Tip:

Identify a local regeneration initiative that matches your business ethos. Offering budgeting skills from a financial services company, contributing to a healthy eating programme from a catering service or as above offering apprenticeships on a house building initiative from a construction company.

From Experience:

CCG work on large construction projects commissioned by local housing associations which are often located in areas of high unemployment and social deprivation. The company responded to their clients expectations that they would recruit from the local labour market and offered positions to local unemployed young people on their apprenticeship programme.

This initiative has been beneficial to their business and to the communities within which they operate. Commercially it enables the business to tender for contracts which stipulate links to the community. They have also been able grow their own workforce without the costs incurred of ongoing recruitment. The workforce are also boosted by giving something back to the community. “It matters to them that they work for a company who cares about the long term standards in the construction industry as well as the local community.”

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Section Three: What?Examples of business initiative

and business case studies

The Market Edge

The aim of this section is to discuss the ultimate focus of any engagement strategy with disadvantaged job seekers which is offering work placements and salaried positions.

Four separate case studies are included here to help illustrate from examples of good practice how these two business initiatives can be successfully integrated into your working environment.

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Examples of business initiative

Work placements:

Work placements are an invaluable way for many people to build up their skills, confidence and awareness around the world of work. A placement is generally an unpaid position although participants will usually be reimbursed their travel and lunch expenses. All placements run for a short fixed period of time. The length of time a placement runs for varies according to business, examples range from 2 weeks to 6 months. Placements carry responsibilities as with any salaried post but the level of expectation may be lower depending upon the skills of the candidate. One area where expectations are not compromised however is adherence to start / finish times, breaks, dress code etc. Placements benefit more from experiencing real work conditions as this supports them to be aware of the competencies they will need to attain if paid work is to be a realistic goal.

Key Point:

The CBI have identified the core competencies required for any work role are: Positive attitude Communication, literacy and application of numeracy Problem solving Business and customer awareness Self management Team working Application of IT

Key Tip:

Successful work placements are underpinned by good workplace support. Mentoring and buddying schemes provide the most effective way to offer in-work support.

Buddying is a supportive working relationship which can informally help people negotiate the working environment. Training is available to help your staff develop these skills (see page 21).

Mentoring is a more formal way of an experienced member of your workforce providing guidance and direction to a less experienced colleague.

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From experience:

Royal Mail’s Edinburgh based managers have committed to providing work placements for clients with a learning disability. To support this venture, Royal Mail teamed up with ENABLE Scotland to act as the support agency. ENABLE prepared the Royal Mail workplace to help ensure that the environment and workforce were ready to accept these new colleagues. This work included risk assessments, identifying work tasks and the re-design of certain activities. Buddy training was then provided to team leaders in the existing work teams to help ensure that they felt comfortable with providing placement support.

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Examples of business initiative

Salaried contracts:

Some businesses aim to offer salaried and contracted positions to job seekers. This matches the goals of the candidates and their support agencies and also ties in to businesses who are primarily engaging in this initiative in order to support their recruitment policy.

Salaried posts can either be regular positions that need to be filled or may be positions designed in order to specifically target disadvantaged job seeks. This could involve offering fixed term contracts or designing the post around a candidates other life demands such as childcare or accessing external health support. This type of job design is no different from the policies you have to support existing members of staff such as part time hours, flexible working hours, term time contracts or any other policy your business currently employs to support the work life balance of your employees. Any specific adjustments required by a candidate can be negotiated with the individual and the supporting agency to help tailor solutions which also work for you.

Key Point:

Through their WorkStep programme, Job Centre Plus can partially subsidise a new employees salary according to the level of support the employee requires to fulfil the requirements of the post. WorkStep applies to anyone who’s been in receipt of incapacity benefit before sourcing permanent employment.

Key Tip:

Remember that most people who have been long-term unemployed may have financial barriers to accepting a short term contract and are being asked to gamble the security of benefits for an uncertain future. Financial and budgeting advice is therefore crucial.

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From experience:

Standard Life offer 6 month-long contracts to people with a history of homelessness. Potential beneficiaries are sourced via partnership links with employment support agencies who prepare the clients for the transition. Each post filled in this way is paid at the rate for the job and Standard Life have opened up opportunities across their business for such positions including customer service, administration and various facilities services roles. Beneficiaries of this scheme are regularly offered permanent positions once their 6-month contract ends.

The benefits to Standard Life have been in the recruitment of committed and able staff. Existing staff have benefit from training as buddies to support the new recruits. This in turn ties into a talent management programme through the development of staff aspiring to managerial positions. In addition the whole programme meets Standard Life's CSR commitment.

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Business case studies I

The Market Edge

Background: Dunfermline Building Society offer 6-month long work placements to job seekers with a history of mental health problems. This initiative is a partnership with local voluntary agencies who provide on-going placement support through the `Transitions to Work` programme.

Workforce benefits: Dunfermline organised the supervision and mentoring of placements from existing staff teams which improved the communication skills, confidence and self-esteem of these employees. This further strengthened the morale boost listed above.

Business drivers: as a mutual organisation, Dunfermline’s members expect it to demonstrate a commitment to the community. In response, the company has a well-defined and active Corporate Social Responsibilitystrategy which now includes Transitions to Work

Business gains: Staff surveys consistently find that staff value the company’s approach to CSR and so there has been a clear benefit in terms of overall job satisfaction. Through this commitment Dunfermline report business benefits in improved staff performance.

Success factors: Support and on-going feedback from partner agencies, leadership of senior managers and buy-in from the shop floor were seen as essential.

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Business case studies II

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Background:Nairn's Oatcakes operates a factory in the Craigmillar area of Edinburgh which is one of Scotland’s most deprived neighbourhoods. Nairn’s have a partnership with Haven Products to offer work placements which can lead to salaried posts to people with learning disabilities

Workforce benefits: the staff involved in supporting placements highlighted increased personal and job satisfaction. Staff and managers reported a general `feel good factor` throughout the workplace as a result of the company's work in assisting disadvantaged job seekers.

Business drivers: the company's senior managers wanted to give some-thing back to the their local community which supplies many of the factory's existing workforce. The company also wanted to recruit from a wider pool of labour.

Business gains: Nairn's recruited highly committed, reliable staff members which their managers have expressed complete satisfaction with on their performance. The experience of Buddying has also enabled existing staff to develop their own leadership and communication skills

Success factors: providing real work placements with effective support, creating opportunities for participants to join the regular workforce, a strong partner and good placement preparation were all vital.

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Business case studies III

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Background: Wood Group Engineering linked with Aberdeen Foyer through Scottish Business in the Community’s `Ready for Work` programme to offer short work placements to people with a history of homelessness. Placements are matched with a buddy for onsite support.

Workforce benefits: the experience of supporting job seekers through offering support as buddies and mentors to the participants on placement allowed experienced staff to developed their managerial and professional skills to their own and the business’ gain.

Business drivers: some existing staff have family & friends with experience of periods of unemployment. The staff wanted the company to be involved in contributing to tackling unemployment and also recognised the important business reputation benefits to be had.

Business gains: involvement in Ready for Work is popular with existing staff and this has enhanced relations between the business and the workforce. In addition the business developed the skills of existing staff through the buddy training and also recruited some effective new workers.

Success factors: having the sound back-up provided by the Ready to Work programme, internal support for the participants via buddying and senior manager buy-in were all crucial

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Business case studies IV

Background:Scottish & Southern Energy link with Barnardos youth programme for hard to reach young people. The initiative combines in-work mentoring support on a work experience placement at SSE, with social skills training for the young participants from Barnardos which can lead to a fixed term contract.

Workforce benefits: The experience of being involved proved to be entirely positive for the existing staff. Those trained as mentors benefited from new coaching skills and diversifying their skills set. Staff also reported feeling a greater commitment to the organisation and an overall boost in workforce morale

Business drivers: As a company expecting to double its workforce by 2016 there is a need to maintain an ongoing pipeline of new recruits to meet recruitment needs. Linked to this is a business culture to `grow our own` workforce from entry level upwards.

Business gains: Scottish and Southern Energy found themselves tapping into a new recruitment resource pool which they had not previously considered. The business was also supporting the local community to access local jobs and so enhancing their business reputation.

Success factors: The considerable success of this programme is attributed by SSE to the attitude and behaviour of the new placements

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Section FourSuccess Factors

The Market Edge

Experience and research has shown that the success of any employability strategy is dependent upon 4 key factors.

The four key factors are: Real opportunities Leadership Support Partnership

Your level of adherence to these will often determine how successful your strategy will be.

The following section lays out a map of the success factors before going on to define these terms, gives advice on how to meet these factors and demonstrates examples from other businesses to highlight how important each factor is and how they can be been implemented

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Success factors

Tips to achieve this:

Pull together job descriptions: It’s vital that someone joining your business even if only on a short term placement, has a clear job description. This can follow your standard job descriptions but is crucial if the placement is to feel like an integral part of your organisation and will give something to measure performance from.

Select the right candidates: It’s vital that the candidate aspiring to join your business even for a short period matches your business culture. Work with your partner to identify suitable candidates based on the job descriptions and their knowledge of their clients.

Arrange interviews: Interviews are an important part of the learning experience for anyone who’s been out off work for a significant period of time. Providing a structured interview is a unique way for candidates to practice and develop these skills.

1) Real opportunities:

A placement must be a real and meaningful position within your workplace and ideally will lead to one of two possible outcomes. Either it will lead to a salaried post with your business, or it will develop the skills of the participant to apply for paid work elsewhere.

Key Tip:

To select and interview candidates for a placement try to strike a balance between making the process real and genuine while also making it a positive and learning experience for each candidate.

The criteria for selection will be different from those for a salaried post. Because the applicants will have had a significant period of unemployment, focus more on qualities of attitude and self management. While these core skills may need some development, without a basic strength in these areas it will be difficult to build up the additional skills needed to work successfully in business. The other core skills like team working, customer awareness, problem solving, I.T. and communication are likely to be skills the candidates are looking to develop rather than already have.

Work with your partner agency to set the qualities you will be looking for in an applicant. This will allow them to work with their clients to build these attributes and also to put forward suitable applicants.

Remember the selection process is trying to avoid rejection and to build confidence in interviews so it’s important your partner can put forward applicants who will benefit from the experience and fit into your culture.

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Success factors

2) Leadership:

Strong leadership from senior managers in strategic and operational roles is a pre-requisite, with operational managers empowered to drive forward activities at shop floor level. Clear leadership from you as the instigator will also be key especially in the early stages of introducing an employability strategy.

Tips to achieve this:

From the top down: all successful strategies have senior level buy in so start with discussions to involve your senior staff and ensure your CEO is committed to this initiative. Use the business benefits and case studies listed throughout this guide to help form your case.

Get help: pull together a working group of colleagues to help take the process forward. Keep it small with perhaps 3 or 4 members. Try to include a union and H.R. representative if possible plus an SBC advisor. This group can identify areas within your business for introducing appropriate opportunities.

Spread the word: it will be crucial that the wider organisation believe in this initiative so communicate why you’re promoting this agenda and how it will enhance your business. Again the benefits listed throughout this booklet plus the workforce benefits from the case studies can inform your message.

Key Tip:

The most important skill required in this area is the ability to communicate successfully with a range of colleagues.

To support you in this you should put together an employability strategy document. This document should be no more than one page in length and it’s aim is to briefly detail your ideas on introducing and implementing a programme for your business to engage with disadvantaged job seekers.

Cover who you propose to engage with (e.g. people who have been long term unemployed), then detail what you propose to offer (e.g. short term work experience placements) describe why this is a good idea for your business (e.g. using the benefits detailed on page 11 and page 13 of this guide) be clear on how this strategy will tie into your existing business goals (e.g. your recruitment policy or Corporate Social Responsibility). From this base line describe what you need from the wider organisation (e.g. using the success factors detailed in this section including commitment from senior managers and support from your colleagues as well as placements within the existing staff teams and people who will act as buddies to support a placement.)

This document can then be used to inform all your internal communication.

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Success factors

3) Support:

The placement must be fully supported in their new role if it is to be a positive experience. Individual supportive relationships between your existing work-force and the participant are a fundamental part of the support package with buddying and mentoring schemes provide the blueprint for in-work support.

Tips to achieve this:

Find your champions: existing members of your workforce will see this as an opportunity to express skills they’re not currently using or to develop new ones - these are your champions and they are the key to success. Using information from appraisals / development plans can help here.

Organise buddy training: To equip your staff with the skills and insights they’ll need in order to act as buddies, tailored training is available. Buddy training develops staff competence to ensure they are fully confident about their role in providing the placement support. Access this free training via SBC using the contact on page 27 of this booklet.

Organise an induction: As you would for any new employee, ensure that the new recruit or placement is given a full induction. This helps them know what’s expected of them, covers your health and safety standards as well as helping them feel more comfortable about this large change in their lives.

Key Tip:

To ensure the individual support offered can be fully effective it must be centred within a well constructed placement. Ideally the skills, qualifications and attributes of the participant will match the requirements of the post. The main difference between an unpaid placement and a salaried post is that there is less emphasis on the candidate having past experience and there is more recognition that the candidate is aspiring to develop their skills by being in the post rather than bringing these within them from a previous position. There must also be an acceptance that candidates will possibly lack formal qualifications or that their qualifications may be out of date but this is not necessarily the case in all circumstances.

Take these points into consideration when designing the practical aspects of the placement. The most effective way to achieve this is by constructing the post around a discrete piece of work or stand alone project that could be completed in the time span of the placement, will be of value to the business and will challenge the candidate appropriately but not to the point of risking failure or causing stress. Please refer to the checklist on page ? of this guide for a full list of practical considerations in designing a supportive placement.

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Success factors

4) Partnership:

Building a mutually beneficial relationship with an external support agency that can match your expectations is crucial. The right partner can become an extension of your core business. Include internal relationships as part of this process to ensure your existing workforce teams are part of this partnership.

Tips to achieve this:

Find a partner: identify a target group, local regeneration project or employment support agency your organisation would like to work with. Ideally the aims of your partner should match your own in terms of their motivation to link up with business. The skills of their clients must also match your opportunities

Involve your line mangers: Line managers will inevitably have a major role in the placement of a new recruit. Involve managers in discussions about what they’ll expected out of this partnership and what support is available to them.

Set expectations: deciding what you’re aiming to achieve will keep a focus and help your relationship with the target group you’re linking with. Is this part of a recruitment or social responsibility policy and do the aspirations of the target group match your own?

Key Tip:

A useful idea is to ask for suggestions from your existing workforce on a client group or employment support agency who they believe would make a good partner for your business. A personal recommendation such as this can be extremely valuable as it supports your staffs’ involvement and connection to the whole project. The alternative to this is to source a partner yourself and `cold call`. Approaching a service discussed in the case studies with this book-let will give you some reassurance that your prospective partner has a track record in linking with business. Services operating in your local area are often listed on web directories and we’ve included some links to these on page ?

Different employment support agencies operate to different standards and approaches to job seeking. When you first meet your prospective partner use your personal experience of negotiating with them to judge how organised and experienced they are in this field and how compatible they seem to your way of working. Ask questions about which other businesses they link with, what they would expect from you, what the issues are facing their clients, describe your working environment and ask if this would be suitable for their clients. You may need to meet more than 1 service before you find a suitable partner.

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Section Five:How to get started

The Market Edge

The aim of this section is to lay out with clarity the steps you should expect to take in order to successfully introduce and co-ordinate an employability strategy into your business.

The first page contains a step by step list of actions required to implement a strategy which you can use as a checklist to feel confident that you’re covering all the bases that need to be covered.

The next page details all the points you’ll need to address in order to establish a work placement.

A list of all the actions you should expect from an employment support agency is also included to help set your expectations of your partner.

Towards the end of this section you’ll find references to sources of support that you can utilise to help you implement your strategy.

Finally we’ve included quotes from business with a proven track record in employability which provide key advice from their experiences.

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Implementing an employability strategy

Action Required Done

Write up a brief proposal laying out your employability plan. (see page 18)

Discuss your proposal with your CEO and senior managers.Request their full support and buy-in to the project. (see page 20)

Pull together a small project group to help implement this proposal. (see page 20)

Communicate the proposal with the line management. Ask for their support and to volunteer their teams to provide a placement position. (see page 22)

Communicate the proposal with the existing workforce. Ask for their feedback. (see page 20)

Contact a potential partner and discuss their willingness to form an employability partnership. Arrange to meet and discuss possible areas of joint working. (see page 22)

Initiate relationship building activities with partner. (see page 6)

Cover the points on the pre-placement checklist (see page 25)

Source volunteers from existing work teams to train as buddies to provide the placement support. (see page 21)

Organise buddy training (see page 11)

Interview and select candidates for placements. (see page 19)

Agree start date with managers, candidates and buddies and organise induction for first day of placement. (see page 21)

Review placement at end with buddy, manager, participant and partner.

Write up a small evaluation and share with senior staff, line managers and workforce on progress of employability strategy.

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Your checklist for designing a work placement

Pre-placement Action Required Done

Check your business insurance will cover someone on placement

Negotiate with the manager of the staff team hosting the placement an area of their work schedule that could be completed by a placement. (see page 21)

Put together a job description for this piece of work (see page 19)

Write up a 1 day induction plan with details of any necessary induction training. (see page 21)

Arrange the amount of money you’ll reimburse the placement. (see page 11)

Identify the existing staff member who’ll act as the placements buddy. (see page 21)

Give a copy of all the above information to your partner agency to add into their placement agreement with you. (see page 26)

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Post Placement Action Required Done

Organise an end of placement appraisal for the participant detailing their strengths and areas requiring further development. (see page 19)

Complete a reference and certificate of achievement to thank the participant and to recognise their contribution to the business.

Suggest an informal social event for the participant with the staff team who hosted the placement.

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What you should expect from your employability partner.

Action Required Done

Identify the core competencies for the post. Break these down into examples of how each competency would be interpreted in the post. Identify which competencies the client is hoping to develop through the placement and how they will be assessed against these areas at the end.

Carry out a workplace health and safety risk assessment for the post.

Write up a placement agreement detailing the length and terms of the placement, the details of the business providing the placement, the location, hours of work, who’ll be supporting the placement, the other responsible people with their contact details, the purpose of the placement, the expected outcome. Add the placement details provided by the business including payments, job description, induction training etc.

Set up access to appropriate back-up support for the business and personal support for the client.

Advise the business on the design of the placement including any adjustments that may be necessary to accommodate specific clients needs.

If necessary and appropriate, provide information to the staff team which will accommodate the placement on points they may need to be aware off such us impairments, medical conditions or behaviours of the clients joining their team.

Prepare and train clients in the skills and employers expectations for the placement based upon the job description and if possible through visiting the business.

Identify suitable clients who would benefit from the placement and who could make a contribution to the business. Prepare these clients for interview and support them through selection.

Contribute to the end of placement appraisal and the businesses own placement review.

The Market Edge

Key Tip:

A very useful link with some relevant guidance for Employment Support Agencies to manage work placements is available on the following web site:

www.ndt.org.uk/docsN/UWE(R).pdf

27

Sources of further support

In Scotland, support for business to engage in the employability agenda comes from two sources:

The Scottish Centre for Healthy Working Lives (SCFHWL) support a range of services to promote the health, safety and wellbeing of the Scottish workforce. Through the Healthy Working Lives Award programme, employers can access information and advice on all aspects of health and safety promotion as well as gaining recognition for the activities they undertake. Employability is an important component of the award programme. Advisors from the centre work with your organisation to take you through the award and to design initiatives relevant for your business.

Scottish Business in the Community (SBC) work with employers to help develop their corporate social responsibility agenda. As a key part of this agenda, SBC promote employability and provide advisors to help employers establish an employability strategy.

SCFHWL Scottish Business in the CommunityPrinces Gate, 3rd Floor Livingston HouseCastle Street 43a Discovery TerraceHamilton, Heriot Watt Research Park Lanarkshire ML3 6BU Edinburgh EH14 4AP0141... ... 0131 451 1112www.scfhwl.com www.sdcscot.com

A few publications exist which contain more detailed information on different aspects of engaging in an employability agenda. The follow list includes those used in compiling this guide and are available from SBC or via the internet.

Lindsay, C. & McQuaid, R. 2008, Helping People Back To Work—The Role of Employers, Report to Scottish Business in the Community—Employability Leadership Group. Employment Research Institute, Napier University Business School, Edinburgh.

Employability and Work Experience—A Quick Guide for Employers and Students, CBI: www.cbi.co.uk

Maley, S. Narey, J. O`Sullivan, J. Williams, E., 2007, Getting Out To Work, Business in the Community / Barrow Cadbury Trust.

Web Sites listing employability services:

National—www.jobcentreplus.co.uk Edinburgh—www.Glasgow—www. Grampian—www.

The Market Edge

28

The

Mar

ket

Edge

Key

poi

nts

of ad

vice

`findin

g t

he

right

par

tner

agen

cy a

nd m

odel

for

action

can lea

d t

o b

enef

its

for

both

indiv

iduals

and b

usi

nes

s`

(S

odex

ho)

`Cal

l SBC t

oday

and s

pea

k w

ith o

ne

of

thei

r ac

count

man

ager

s w

ho c

an h

elp s

et u

p a

lin

k to

a s

econdar

y sc

hool in

your

com

munity`

(

John L

ewis

Par

tner

ship

)

`Conta

ct a

n S

BC a

ccount

manag

er a

nd t

hey

can

put

you in t

ouch

with B

arnar

do`s

Youth

build

. H

ere

at S

SE

we

are

hap

py

to s

har

e our

work

exp

erie

nce

rec

ipe

for

succ

ess

in m

ore

det

ail`

(Sco

ttis

h S

outh

ern E

ner

gy)

`Em

plo

yers

nee

d t

o w

ork

with t

he

right

par

tner

ag

enci

es,

who a

re a

ble

to u

nder

stan

d t

he

nee

ds

of th

e busi

nes

s and h

elp t

o fit a

ppro

priat

e people

to

opport

unitie

s. B

ut

inte

rnal

par

tner

ship

s—th

e co

mm

itm

ent,

cre

dib

ility

and c

onnec

tions

of th

ose

le

adin

g t

he

pro

ject

—an

d t

he

support

of both

sen

ior

and

line

manag

ers

is a

lso im

port

ant`

(S

tandar

d L

ife)

`em

plo

yers

can

pro

vide

opport

unitie

s fo

r dis

able

d

peo

ple

(w

ith b

enef

its

for

indiv

idual

s and b

usi

nes

s) b

y dev

elopin

g a

ppro

pri

ate

par

tner

ship

s an

d inte

rnal

support

and lea

der

ship

str

uct

ure

s` (

IKEA)

`You n

eed b

uy

in fro

m t

he

top m

anag

em

ent

bec

ause

th

is t

ype

of pro

ject

req

uires

a fin

anci

al c

om

mitm

ent

whic

h w

ill p

ay o

ff o

ver

tim

e` (C

CG

)

`w

e nee

d t

o u

nder

stan

d t

hat

support

ing p

eople

th

rough e

mplo

yabili

ty initia

tive

s ta

kes

tim

e, a

nd t

hat

even

pro

vidin

g o

pport

unitie

s fo

r a

smal

l num

ber

of

peo

ple

is

wort

hw

hile

` (

Red

eem

)

`findin

g a

n e

ffec

tive

par

tner

in S

BC h

as

hel

ped

to

pro

vide

a st

ruct

ure

to c

orp

ora

te s

oci

al r

esponsi

bili

ty

activi

ties

, an

d a

llow

ed t

he

com

pan

y to

dev

elop a

co

nsi

sten

t ap

pro

ach t

o g

etting invo

lved

in t

he

emplo

yabili

ty a

gen

da`

(A

ram

ark

)

`th

ere

can b

e ben

efits

for

busi

nes

s and loca

l co

mm

unitie

s w

hen

em

plo

yers

work

with p

artn

ers

who

can r

ecru

it,

support

and p

repar

e a

subst

antial

num

ber

of dis

adva

nta

ged

job s

eeke

rs`

(M

arks

& S

pen

cer)

`W

ork

ing o

n t

he

emplo

yabili

ty a

gen

da is

a le

arnin

g

exper

ience

for

all in

volv

ed.

People

will

mak

e m

ista

kes,

but

the

import

ant

thin

g is

to lea

rn fro

m e

ach

indiv

idual

s ex

per

ience

and u

se t

hat

know

ledge

toco

ntinuousl

y im

pro

ve a

nd d

evel

op p

ract

ice`

(D

unfe

rmlin

e Build

ing S

oci

ety)

29

`Despite historically high employment rates, there remains considerable untapped potential among Scotland’s unemployed and economically inactive groups. Employers have a key role to play in tapping the skills and talents of these people.`

(Lindsay and McQuaid: 2008)

`Personally—I wouldn’t touch them with a barge pole.`

(Maree Drury, Employability Manager)

Produced by Scottish Business in the CommunityCompiled by Maree Drury & Chris Scott, September 2008