Case StudiesWe've listed four case studies to show you how we can support people through
recruitment
or through
job retention.
Jonathan Coleman - Loot Enterprises
Jonathan joined Loot in February 1998. However, Jonathon's recruitment to Loot was not without its hitches as Christine Campbell explains "We refused him [a position] on his first interview because we had reservations regarding his concentration and ability to absorb large amounts of information - both pre-requisites for the job". Jonathon asked Loot for clarification, re-emphasising his skills and interest in the job as well as informing Loot that they could get support in employing Jonathan from Bury EST, a local authority Supported Employment service. Loot reconsidered their decision and offered Jonathon a job subject to a successful probationary period. The company assessed Jonathon's progress during this time. Since then Jonathon and Loot have not looked back. Christine describes his attendance record as "exemplary". This is not surprising, as Jonathon has not had a day's sickness since joining Loot. This reflects the attendance record of Loot's other disabled staff, which is well above the average for the Free-Ads department. Excellent attendance is not the only benefit Loot has gained from employing Jonathan. He is considered more motivated and committed than some of his non-disabled colleagues. This is reflected in his ability to achieve above average levels of productivity through consistency in his work standards, whilst other staff tend to peak and trough in their work performance. For Loot, it makes good business sense to employ people with disabilities. As Christine comments "I would enjoy having a team of people like Jonathon working in the department, he's a marvellous employee and a fantastic ambassador for Loot." Vicky Pierce - Millwood School
This seemed like an ideal opportunity to match up the needs of Millwood with those of one of Bury EST's clients. Vicky, who has a learning disability and is deaf, was just leaving school and wanted to sample work within a school environment. Working in partnership, Millwood and Bury EST created a part-time paid work placement to make this a reality. The partnership developed as Bury EST supported Millwood through the early stages of Vicky's placement. The emphasis was very much on fine-tuning her work routine so that Vicky could undertake her duties effectively and efficiently. The service provided on-site support to reinforce the training she had received from her supervisor. There were regular employer-led review meetings to discuss Vicky's progress. These were valuable, not only in enabling Vicky to become independent in her work, but also in identifying the potential for utilising the staff's existing sign language skills, so that Vicky could communicate more effectively with her colleagues. After three months, the Headmaster was convinced that he had found a solution to the school's domestic and laundry needs and also a competent worker. This was complimented by a supporting agency who understood his needs as an employer and who were able to work in partnership with him in implementing the Local Authority's Equal Opportunities policy. This reasoning provided the basis for offering Vicky paid employment as a Domestic Assistant. Vicky has now been employed for three years at Millwood School and the partnership established between Vicky, Millwood School and Bury EST continues. The emphasis has now changed, with Bury EST taking a back seat, enabling the school to get on with the job of managing their staff; one of which is Vicky. However, they are secure in the knowledge that support continues to be available if required. BrianOur Research and Evaluation Officer visited a local manufacturing company in order to conduct an employer survey on behalf of Bury EST. During this meeting, an employee was identified who could benefit from our intervention and an Employment Officer from Bury EST then contacted the company to discuss the situation. The employee, Brian, was in his late 40's and had worked for the company for 20 years as a Work Study Officer. Some 9 years ago he became ill with a severe depressive illness and was off work, at that time for 18 months. He had now become depressed again, to the extent that he had been hospitalised recently and on sick pay for the past 18 weeks. Both the company and Brian wished to retain his employment so a meeting was arranged between Bury EST, Brian and his wife. A further meeting was arranged between Brian, his employer, and Bury EST. We looked at the treatment Brian was receiving from mental health services. He was attending group therapy but had requested one to one counselling. It emerged during discussion that Brian wanted help with personal problems, which were adding to the work-related pressures. During further meetings, the following actions were agreed:
Brian has now been back in full-time employment for over one and a half years. PaulA local manufacturing company was concerned about an employee, Paul, who had been off sick with a mental health problem for two months and was showing no signs of returning to work in the immediate future. An Employment Officer visited the company to discuss the situation with the Senior Personnel Officer. Paul was telephoned at home and agreed to meet with the Employment Officer. Two issues emerged from this visit. The first concerned an alleged assault upon Paul whilst at work. This incident triggered previously hidden memories of childhood abuse for Paul; his father and other adult males within his family had sexually abused him over a long period of time. As a result of the incident at work, Paul found himself continually dwelling on these past events to the exclusion of everything else. He was getting very little sleep and his relationship with his family was deteriorating. Paul also mentioned that he was a carrier of an infectious disease, hepatitis. He had disclosed this to the Personnel Officer and a supervisor at a recent meeting. Paul felt that he could not return to work in case he was ostracised by other workers. Paul was also having paranoid thoughts and delusions. He believed his telephone to be bugged and that everyone was talking about him. He was very obsessed with life and death issues. The Employment Officer met with Paul's Personnel Officer who was, in fact, more concerned about Paul's medical condition than the state of his mental health. He was worried about the implications of employing anyone carrying hepatitis. A number of actions were negotiated with the employer. Referrals were made to other services and Paul was allowed additional sick leave. Both the company doctor and our own Occupational Health staff were approached for advice. This resulted in training for company staff about the standard precautions to be taken in preventing the spread of all communicable diseases. It was agreed that Paul had the right to be treated the same as anyone within the company and hepatitis should not be an issue in the future. The Employment Officer contacted a psychologist to help Paul with his mental health problems. She agreed to offer him counselling with regard to his past and present problems and investigated alternative therapies such as anxiety management. It was agreed with the company that:
Within a month of the first contact between the company and the Supported Employment service, Paul had returned to full time work. He still meets with the psychologist and is in contact with our service occasionally. |
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Jonathan Coleman is a Customer Services Advisor with Loot Enterprises Ltd. He is highly
valued by colleagues and management alike for his high work standards and commitment to Loot.
This has led to him being described as an "ideal ambassador for the company" by the Free-Ads
manager Christine Campbell.
An Employment Officer from Bury EST initially established contact with Millwood
primary school to see if Bury EST could support them in the recruitment and retention
of staff with disabilities. The Employment Officer's fact-find revealed that the staff
team was over-burdened with domestic and laundry duties within the school's infant section.
