The European Commission Mutual Learning Programme for Public Employment Services. DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion PEER PES PAPER UK

Transcription

1 The European Commission Mutual Learning Programme for Public Employment Services DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion PEER PES PAPER UK Peer Review Effective Services for Employers Paris, January 2012 Jobcentre Plus (Date: December 2011)

2 This publication is commissioned by the European Community Programme for Employment and Social Solidarity ( ). This programme is implemented by the European Commission. It was established to financially support the implementation of the objectives of the European Union in the employment, social affairs and equal opportunities area, and thereby contribute to the achievement of the EU2020 goals in these fields. The seven-year programme targets all stakeholders who can help shape the development of appropriate and effective employment and social legislation and policies, across the EU-27, EFTA-EEA and EU candidate and pre-candidate countries. For more information see: The information contained in this publication does not necessarily reflect the position or opinion of the European Commission

3 CONTENTS 1. SERVICES FOR EMPLOYERS: OVERALL MISSION, STRATEGY AND PROFILE ORGANISATION OF THE SERVICES TO EMPLOYERS CONTACTING AND ENGAGING WITH EMPLOYERS WORKING WITH EMPLOYERS: RECRUITMENT AND FINDING JOB OPPORTUNITIES FOR DISADVANTAGED INDIVIDUALS MONITORING AND EVALUATION CONCLUSIONS Author: Jobcentre Plus In collaboration with GHK and Budapest Institute

4 1. SERVICES FOR EMPLOYERS: OVERALL MISSION, STRATEGY AND PROFILE 1.1. What is the PES s overall mission and strategy in relation to employers? We support employers by providing advice on the jobs market, recruitment services, and training, including diversity advice. We provide extra support for small and medium sized employers through our Small Business Recruitment Service. We find people with the right skills to apply for vacancies and help to prepare potential recruits through local partnerships offering flexible, tailored support. We provide support and advice on employing disabled people. We advertise jobs from across the UK and Europe for which potential applicants can search online and over the phone. We also work closely with partners to help employers manage redundancies. The priority for all interactions with employers is job outcomes for unemployed claimants. Through our relationships with businesses, we gain an understanding of the skills local recruiters are looking for, and work with skills bodies so they can design provision that equips claimants with the skills they need to compete in their local labour market. 1.2 How does the PES view its role via-à-vis employers? Role Importance of the role (scale 1 5, 1 is the least important, 5 is the most important) Labour market advisor 4 Job broker and filler of vacancies 5 Human resource consultant 3 Partner in addressing the needs of jobseekers (in other words, a means to PESservice delivery, rather than an explicit client group) 4 Other (please specify): 1.3. Which services are offered only on a chargeable basis? All services are free at the point of delivery. 1

5 1.4. Are all services offered in all regions/localities or is there local discretion on what to offer and what not to offer? All services are available in all regions/localities but district managers have autonomy to focus resources on relationships with those businesses that will deliver the best outcomes for their priority customers and their local community. 2

6 1.5 What services are currently offered to employers? Type of service Offered yes or no? Brief operational description of services Segmented or universal service? (If segmented, on what basis?) Service delivered by which PES staff? Collection and provision of labour market information Yes Advice to recruiters on the likelihood of filling vacancies in the local labour market and steps that might be taken to alleviate unemployment. Focused on businesses that will deliver the best outcomes for their priority customers and their local community. Employer advisers and other employer engagement staff in local Jobcentre Plus (JCP) districts. Focused on large multi sited companies who are willing to work with Jobcentre Plus to provide job opportunities for unemployed claimants. Central National Employer Services Team including around 35 senior employment managers Drafting and posting of vacancies Yes The Vacancy Advertising Service - employers simply advertise their jobs, through a virtual contact centre network or input directly to the internet job bank. Universal Contact centre staff operating as a virtual national network Recruitment services Yes The Recruitment Advisory Service - an enhanced service for employers who are willing to recruit from customers who need extra help to compete. Joined up recruitment and skills package - joint working with the Skills Funding Agency to connect workforce development programmes with recruitment support. We offer these services where the recruiter will deliver the best outcomes for priority customers and the local community. Local Jobcentre staff District employer engagement staff Human resource consultancy Yes The Small Business Recruitment Service - dedicated telephone helpline providing recruitment Focus on small businesses. Contact centre staff 3

7 advice for small businesses and signposting to other business support available. Advice and support in employing disabled people National Employer Services Team working with large multi sited businesses to understand employers needs and helping to shape recruitment practices that support our key customer groups. Universal Large multi -sited companies with vacancies suitable for unemployed claimants. Disability employment advisers Senior employment relationship managers (SERMs) Information and advice on subsidies and ALMP No Support for the integration of disadvantaged groups and longterm unemployed before and/or after employment Yes A range of private, public and voluntary sector organisations are contracted on behalf of the PES to support the long-term unemployed or are at most risk of becoming so - into work through the Work Programme. These providers are given a great deal of flexibility in order to achieve sustainable job outcomes. This can include providing employment support working with the employer as well as pre employment support. Universal all employers are asked to support these measures. Local and district JCP staff There is also an Access to Work scheme which provides employers with advice and support with extra costs which may arise from the needs of people whose disability or health affects the way they can work (e.g. workplace adjustments or special travel requirements). Before claimants become eligible for the Work Programme, Jobcentre Plus works with employers to: provide work experience with employers 4

8 for young people to gain the experience they need to secure a job; support work clubs and provide mentors to share skills and experience with unemployed people; and set up sector-based work academies working with skills bodies to offer preemployment training that meets employers requirements, work placements, and a guaranteed job interview for unemployed people in sectors with high volumes of current local vacancies. Rapid response and redeployment for large-scale redundancies Yes The Rapid Response Service (RRS) - brings together agencies and local authorities to help redundancy situations. Support ranges from onsite visits providing advice on local jobs, benefits and tax, to skills assessments and short vocational training. No JCP district employer engagement staff Legal advice and support in relation to employment law No Other service(s) Yes Support to employers interested in working or recruiting elsewhere in Europe. A team of 12 advisers in the National Employer Service Team who are part of the European Employment Services network (EURES). 5

9 1.6 On average, how many employers does the PES work with per year? What share is this of the total number of employers in the country? employers place vacancies via Jobcentre Plus services each year. There are around 1.5 m businesses employing at least one person in the UK. 1.7 What is the profile of the employers that PES typically work with? Over 50 % of vacancies notified to Jobcentre Plus come from private sector recruitment agencies. There has not been any analysis of the businesses that advertise via recruitment agencies but anecdotal evidence suggest they are of a similar make up to those that advertise directly with Jobcentre Plus. When recruitment agencies are discounted, the major sectors using Jobcentre Plus services are retail, hospitality and care. The geographical pattern of use by employers reflects the relative population size of each region. There has not been any analysis of the size of business using the Jobcentre Plus Vacancy Advertising Service. 1.8 Are there some types of employers who are currently less likely to engage with PES and why? Businesses with vacancies for professional and managerial staff are less likely to use Jobcentre Plus to recruit. The reason for this is that these employers perceive Jobcentre Plus as only dealing with elementary and other unskilled vacancies. 1.9 What are the services most used by employers and why? Employers use Jobcentre Plus primarily to advertise vacancies and fill their jobs because the service is free at the point of delivery What financial resources are allocated to the services for employers compared to services for jobseekers? Jobcentre Plus district managers are given a pool of resources for various activities. They have the flexibility to use these resources as they see fit to meet local circumstances and priorities and achieve job outcomes. It is therefore not possible to give a breakdown of financial resources allocated to employer services compared to jobseeker services. 6

10 2. ORGANISATION OF THE SERVICES TO EMPLOYERS 2.1 Does the PES have specialist staff who provide services to employers? If so: How is their work organised? Employer advisers are based in each Jobcentre and they are responsible for identifying employers in the local area with suitable opportunities for claimants, making relevant contact, and then building relationships with the employer. A central National Employer Service Team (NEST) leads on engagement and delivery with national employers working with over 200 employers across a range of sectors including retail, hospitality, facilities management, logistics, and care. The team of around 35 senior employer relationship managers works with these businesses to create opportunities for our key customer groups. The focus is on understanding employers needs and helping to shape recruitment practices that support the recruitment of unemployed claimants. NEST also manages relationships with the main trade bodies e.g. British Retail Consortium, British Hospitality Association. Through these relationships, we have gained a better awareness of opportunities and careers in these sectors for Jobcentre Plus staff and jobseekers that often have poor perceptions of sectors and jobs within. The team also manages relationships with the UK's ten largest administrator companies, helping to support employers and their staff as they go through administration and any subsequent redundancies What training and skills development do the specialist staff receive and for how long? There is no formal initial training for employer advisers but they are expected to go through and understand the online toolkit which provides guidance and sets out what is expected of their role. Their performance is monitored using a Quality Assurance Framework (QAF) and any further training needs are identified. All current SERMs in NEST are qualified to BTEC Professional Certificate in Account Management Level 4. There is also an account manager and learning resource centre which includes an account management learning routeway and enables individuals to identify personal learning through a diagnostic tool which highlights available products. The products are a mix of e-learning, for example on industrial occupational knowledge, where as others are facilitated learning, for example, successful interactions with employers and presentation skills. The training is personal to an individual so it is not possible to say how long it takes. 7

11 2.2 Does the PES have generalist staff to work with employers? If so: How is their work organised? Jobcentre Plus district managers have been given a pool of resources to work with employers and other partners to improve job outcomes. They have the flexibility to use this resource as they see fit to meet local circumstances and priorities and to focus resource on relationships that add value whether that is with employers, providers or other partners. It is therefore not possible to specify how their work is organised as it will differ between districts, neither are there any expectations of the time they are expected to dedicate to working with employers. In general, personal advisers work with claimants to ensure they meet the conditions for receiving benefit and support their job search, whilst employer advisers will work with businesses to understand their hiring requirements. Employer advisers will share their understanding of hiring requirements with personal advisers so that they are able to inform and where necessary challenge the job goals of claimants. Personal advisers are not expected to have any direct contact with employers. The knowledge of the hiring requirements will also be shared with staff responsible for working with the skills bodies to influence local training provision to bridge any gap between the hiring requirements of employers and the skills and attributes of claimants What training and skills development do the generalist staff receive and for how long? All staff have access to web-based labour market information through a knowledge hub. The extent of use will depend on the role and individual learning preferences. 2.3 What partnership arrangements does the PES have in place to deliver the service to employers? What type of partner organisations and with what purpose? Locally Jobcentre Plus fosters close working relationships with employers willing to consider recruiting unemployed jobseekers and with local providers, such as colleges, who are able to help prepare people to meet employers needs. Also Jobcentre Plus has close partnership arrangements with some 200 large national companies through the National Employer Service Team who provide advice on how best to work with these large employers to inform their local partnerships. 8

12 Partnerships have also been established with influential employer representative bodies such as the Federation of Small Business (FSB), the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) and the Recruitment and Employment Confederation. These partnerships have proved useful in engaging their members in government initiatives and helping develop policy. For example, FSB, CIPD, and BCC were instrumental in developing the Small Business Recruitment Service. 3. CONTACTING AND ENGAGING WITH EMPLOYERS 3.1 How does the PES identify, target and make initial contact with employers that could potentially benefit from the PES services? In local Jobcentres, employer advisers will scan all notified vacancies to identify employers most likely to recruit unemployed claimants based on the employer s specified hiring requirements and their knowledge of the local skills and attributes of the local claimants. They will also scan local papers, access employers websites and other channels to identify suitable vacancies. Through this, they develop an understanding of the local labour market to identify suitable job opportunities for local claimants. Another source of identifying suitable employers is through close working with local partners such as the local authority, providers (including work programme providers), and skills bodies. NEST identifies new employers in a number of ways which include: referrals from other parts of Jobcentre Plus, where they may have a local relationship, but the employer operates on a national basis and there could be benefits from a national relationship; new leads which result from ministerial/senior official meetings/communications; new leads from relationships with trade bodies. EURES advisers work with employers, who contact Jobcentre Plus to ask for help with hard to fill vacancies or jobs in skill shortage areas, to attract people from across Europe with the right skills to meet the needs of employers. 3.2 What tools, approaches and communication channels are used to develop a sustained contact and relationship with the employer and how effective are they? In particular, what is the most effective channel for initial contact? Vacancy notification is either via telephone through our virtual contact centre network (open 8am- 6pm Mon-Fri) or online via the UK Government website, Direct.gov. Where vacancies are identified by the local jobcentre as likely to be suitable for unemployed claimants, a follow up call will be made by the employer adviser to 9

13 discuss how we can help in filling the vacancy. Further contact with the employer will be through a variety of channels, but mainly telephone and with occasional face to face meetings. SERMs have an on-going relationship with the employers they work with and use a range of channels to keep in touch. These include telephone, and face to face and will depend on what the focus of the communication is, for example, more detailed discussion on how an employer could deliver work experience could be done face to face, where as an is used when sharing information or arranging dates for a meeting. The most cost effective channel is digital, including , followed by telephone, with the least cost effective being face to face. Our contact strategies with employers reflect this 4. WORKING WITH EMPLOYERS: RECRUITMENT AND FINDING JOB OPPORTUNITIES FOR DISADVANTAGED INDIVIDUALS 4.1 Is reporting of vacancies compulsory? No What types of vacancies are most reported? Elementary, low skill jobs are most likely to be notified to Jobcentre Plus What specific tools and systems do the staff use in their work with employers and which ones are particularly effective for recruitment and vacancy filling? Guidance is available on vacancy taking which covers: how to take a vacancy; types of vacancies that need special care and attention: o adult entertainment industry o vacancies that involve children or vulnerable adults o vacancies from employment agencies or businesses how to identify potential discrimination issues. Guidance is also available for Jobcentre staff on submitting jobseekers to vacancies. 10

14 4.4. What tools and approaches are used to incentivise employers to take on disadvantaged individuals and the long-term unemployed and which ones are most effective? Jobcentre Plus does not offer follow up support after placement, but Work Programme providers have the flexibility to do so as their funding is based on finding sustained employment for the unemployed. The Government has recently announced that from April 2012 the new youth contract will provide up to wage incentives worth up to GBP ( EUR 2500) each for employers who recruit an 18 to 24 year old from the Work Programme. 5. MONITORING AND EVALUATION 5.1 What systems are in place for performance measurement and evaluation? There are two performance measures for the UK PES: a) Benefit off-flow rates into employment off-flow rates measure the percentage of customers leaving JSA, ESA and IS after a number of weeks; and into employment measures the proportion of people leaving benefit that move to recorded employment. b) Monetary value of fraud and error (MVFE) This is a measure of the percentage of benefit paid incorrectly (both over and under paid) because of fraud or error. It covers Jobseeker s Allowance and Income Support claims only. All initiatives and programmes are evaluated fully by independent research organisations. 5.2 What are the main indicators used in evaluating the effectiveness and efficiency of the services to employers? Aside from measuring the number or duration of vacancies filled, what other indicators are used? What have been the main evaluation results in recent years? Neither of the above targets directly measures employer service, however an intermittent independent survey of employer satisfaction is also carried out. The last of these surveys was in October 2008; a further survey is planned for the first quarter of

15 5.3 What have been the satisfaction levels and feedback of employers to the services offered? In the 2008 survey, general satisfaction with Jobcentre Plus was 74 % ( very satisfied 33 %). There had been improvements of 11 % in both the speed of response and quality of candidates whilst satisfaction with the ease of using our services had dropped by 2 %. The survey also noted that employers were increasingly using a mix of channels to fill their vacancies with increased use of web based systems Is there a system in place to feed evaluation results into service development? The lessons learned from evaluation and employer surveys are taken into account in policy and service development. In particular, in response to the wider use of the web, plans are in place to move all our job broking services, including vacancy notification, CVs and matching, to a digital platform with the first phase of this process beginning mid As a tactical solution prior to the movement of all job broking services to a new digital platform, employers are able to notify vacancies online and by . Arrangements have also been put in place for some large employers to bulk upload vacancies to our job bank from their own systems. We have also acted on feedback about the disjointed employment and skills offer to employers by taking steps to work closely with the Skills Funding Agency and the devolved administrations so that there is no wrong door for employers and all bodies are able to signpost and provide warm handovers to the appropriate body. This is reflected in our response to redundancy situations where Jobcentre Plus coordinates the support to the employer from skills bodies, local authorities, etc. 6 CONCLUSIONS 6.1. What do you see as the main challenges in relation to delivering effective services to employers? obtaining good employer insight and acting on it; making best use of digital platforms and using different channels to engage with employers; stimulating employer commitment to the Government agenda including placing the hardest to help claimants; 12

16 changing the culture of the organisation away from vacancy management to understanding employer requirements and working with partners to prepare the hardest claimants to help to meet them What are your conclusions on what works best in relation to the delivery of effective services to employers? local delivery and understanding the local labour market; face to face at the point of delivery; flexibility in meeting employer requirements; excellent partnership working with other agencies to meet employer requirements; a common understanding of the service being provided, the employer and what is being asked in return In the Peer Review discussions, on which of the following issues would you most like to focus and what three things would you most like to learn from others? Role Importance of the focus (scale 1 5, 1 is the least important and 5 is the most) What would you most like to learn from others in the area(s) you are most interested in? PES organisation and staffing Contacting and engaging with employers 4 Culture change 5 Maintaining relationships in a digital environment Recruitment and finding job opportunities for disadvantaged individuals Monitoring and evaluation 4 4 How do you make the business case for recruiting long term unemployed? How is the effectiveness of services to employers measured? 13