The Supported Employment Model

The Supported Employment model is essentially about finding the right person to do the right job and supporting both employer and employee to make the match successful. The process involves detailing the skills and preferences of the potential worker and and building up a picture of the ideal job for that person.

Potential employers are canvassed to gain a profile of their needs. This includes looking at aspects of recuitment practice, productivity and quality requirements, workplace culture and conditions of service. Once a potential job has been identified, a detailed job analysis is prepared and a suitable employee sought.

We often organise short work trials to allow both employee and employer to get a feel for the match before agreeing terms. We carry out Health & Safety checks and can provide workplace training to supplement that of the employer. This 'job coaching' may sometimes be carried out by existing staff within the workplace but we will offer whatever support either party requires. Our objective is to enable the relationship between employer and employee to develop such that we can fade out our support but we keep in touch and are always available should the need arise.

We have increasingly been using working interviews with companies. This allows a jobseeker to show their workplace skills in a very practical way. Organisations know that traditional interviews are a poor way to judge whether someone is able to do the job well. Many people don't come across well at interviews or can get very anxious so working interviews allow them to show their skills to a potential employer. They also give people an opportunity to get an insight into the job before making the move off welfare benefits.