How employers can reduce unemployment and social exclusion

As the economic climate leads to fewer vacancies and more redundancies, we look at how some initiatives that help jobless people find work are also helping employers.

On this page:
Boosting employment
Welfare-to-work
Specialist third-party support
Helping people into work
Camden Working
Local Employment Partnerships
Travelodge uses LEPs to help realise its expansion plans
Creative recruitment at Coventry City Council
Staying in employment
A mutually beneficial recruitment strategy
Additional resources.

Key points

  • We look at the initiatives being taken to help jobless people find work and the ways in which employers can play their part.
  • One of the government’s key aims is to increase adults’ participation in the labour market. Its recent welfare reform proposals will see greater efforts being made to help claimants find jobs.
  • The emerging view is that, in the right circumstances, work can be good for people’s health.
  • Initiatives involving employers include work trials, Train to Gain and Local Employment Partnerships.
  • Employers’ involvement in assisting unemployed people to find jobs can: help them reduce skills shortages and other recruitment difficulties; increase the diversity of their workforces; reduce crime in their neighbourhoods; and fulfil their corporate social responsibility objectives.

The record number of people in work over the past few years has meant that the plight of those who are unemployed has not always been at the forefront of the country’s consciousness. But that is changing.

The number of jobless people has begun to rise again in the global economic crisis. The government is therefore paying increasing attention to the need to encourage economically inactive people into the labour market.

Its most recent initiative - a radical overhaul of the welfare state - aims to boost the number of people in work. The plans set out in the July 2008 green paper No One Written Off: Reforming Welfare to Reward Responsibility (external website) have implications for employers and the organisations that could provide practical support to help realise the government’s aims.

Boosting employment

Full employment is at the heart of the government’s welfare reform strategy: the long-term aim is to achieve an overall employment rate of 80%. The government believes that paid employment is the best route to independence, health and wellbeing for most individuals.

This view was echoed by the March 2008 government-backed review of the health of the working-age population (external website) led by National Director for Health and Work, Professor Dame Carol Black. Her report concluded that, in many circumstances, work can be good for people’s health.

That perspective is shared by Simon Small, manager at Camden NHS Job Shop. This job brokerage service was developed by Camden Primary Care Trust and helps create good, sustainable work for local people, at the same time as meeting the recruitment needs of seven large NHS trusts in the London boroughs of Camden and Islington. The NHS Job Shop has a presence on the high street, and encourages jobseekers to use its services to apply for jobs in health and social care.

The recruitment service supports many people who may have been out of work for a long time and who suffer from the loss of confidence that often accompanies periods of unemployment. According to Small, supporting local people to gain access to employment opportunities is one of the best ways to improve their lives because work brings a number of benefits. As well as financial gain, work can provide status, boost self-esteem and improve social life.

“The longer someone is unemployed and on benefits, the more and more unemployable a person becomes,” he says. “They then fall into the poverty trap, which it can be difficult to climb out of. Services like the NHS Job Shop, that work with people to help them find employment, enable those who have been out of work to understand the working environment. The NHS is a very good employer and its flexible nature lends itself to working with target groups like the long-term unemployed, who need additional support to enter the workforce.”

The support that the Job Shop provides for jobseekers includes pre-employment courses, one-to-one sessions with a job adviser, advice on filling in job applications and interview skills training.

Welfare-to-work

Hailed in some quarters as “more employer-focused”, the proposed new welfare-to-work system described in the green paper aims to simplify the benefits system and ensure that, for most people out of work, benefits are only temporary. “For those who are capable of working, there will be no right to a life on benefits," says the executive summary of the green paper (PDF format, 157K) (external website).

Other proposals include the requirement that most people on benefits will contribute actively in return for the state support they receive, such as by looking for work, taking part in training designed to help them find work and accepting suitable jobs. The intention is to help people find and retain work via support that is more personalised to individual need but, in return, those who are able will be expected to take a job if one is available.

Specialist third-party support

The new system paves the way for the increased intervention of third-party providers, such as specialist welfare-to-work organisations, to help long-term unemployed people find work. The state job placement agency Jobcentre Plus will remain at the heart of the back-to-work strategy, however. After a specific period on jobseeker’s allowance (external website), it is envisaged that jobseekers will be transferred to a private, public or voluntary sector provider that will be paid by results.

It is planned that these specialist providers will receive a significant amount of their fee once a jobseeker has been in work for six months, rather than when they start a job or after three months, as is the case now. The green paper also sets out the government’s proposal to test full-time work programmes with private and voluntary providers for those who have been out of work for at least two years. Contracts will cover both active jobseekers and those receiving incapacity benefits.

A4e (external website) is one such specialist welfare-to-work provider. The company works alongside Jobcentre Plus to deliver training and employment opportunities to more than 60,000 people every year. In 2008, A4e expects to help 15,000 unemployed people get a new job. Group commercial director Sara McKee says the government’s planned welfare reforms are what the organisation has been campaigning for, as they will introduce the flexibility necessary to help people who may not have worked for some time to secure a job.

She explains: “Unemployed people are not an homogeneous group and have different circumstances, experience and responsibilities. But many of those who have been out of work for some time may lack the confidence and the tools to apply for a job or attend an interview. The new proposals mean that specialist providers like A4e will not have a finite time in which to provide the additional help some people may need. We can personalise the support to suit individual need and so the success rate will be higher.”

Helping people into work

The government funds A4e to provide services such as advice and training for long-term unemployed people and others who are finding it particularly difficult to get a job.

McKee says much of the work the company does with unemployed people focuses on building up their confidence to enter, or re-enter, the job market. For example, a man who was a bus conductor in London for 25 years but was made redundant; having never had a job interview or had to write a CV, he needed additional help in identifying his transferable skills and applying for suitable work opportunities.

“This example counters the prejudice and misconceptions about unemployed people, that they are all the same and are lazy and don’t want to work,” McKee says. “A lot of people out of work do want a job and can range from women returners who have been out of the job market to more mature people who thought that they had a job for life.”

A4e was paid by the government to find long-term unemployed job candidates (on the Personnel Today website) for John Lewis Sheffield for its seasonal vacancies during the 2007 Christmas period. A4e provided individuals with role-specific training, which John Lewis built on with two weeks’ work experience before offering the most suitable candidates paid employment.

Camden Working

A job brokerage service formed of six main partners and funded primarily by the London Development Agency, Camden Working (external website) was set up in 2005 to help long-term unemployed Camden residents back into work. The service is free to businesses, and works with employers to match candidates to suitable vacancies. The organisation has links with a range of community and specialist bodies in order to provide the appropriate support for prospective job candidates.

“Many unemployed people in this potential talent pool do have the skills to work but may lack self-esteem and have no experience of an interview,” Maria Lopez, branch manager, says. “Some may be job-ready but if not we can provide the one-to-one support in areas such as interview skills.”

Camden Working's account managers work closely with local employers and Jobcentre Plus to find suitable vacancies and prospective applicants. People who have been out of work for some time can be quite isolated and “hard to reach”; it can also take time to build up their trust. But Lopez says that even one week’s training and advice can make a huge difference in boosting people’s self-esteem and readiness to take part in a selection process. She explains: “One of the main barriers that long-term unemployed people are likely to have is communication skills so that area is a big focus for the support and guidance we provide.”

According to Lopez, there are several benefits for employers in using Camden Working. Effectively, they receive a free screening service because client account managers assess people’s suitability and skills for each role. Employers can also take part in group interviews, where they have the opportunity to meet candidates and assess their attitude before making a selection decision. “Employers are sometimes very surprised at the quality of the candidates we put forward from the unemployed talent pool,” she adds.

Local Employment Partnerships

Launched by the government in April 2007, Local Employment Partnerships (LEPs) (external website) involve government and businesses collaborating to tackle the recruitment and skills challenges of the labour market. 

An employer might, for example, offer job interviews, mentoring, on-the-job training or work trials to candidates. In return, Jobcentre Plus ensures that employers have access to job-ready candidates and skills training. It will also provide links to financial and practical support. Employers that sign up to an LEP have a dedicated account manager who will draw up a “tailored package” and work with the organisation to help meet its recruitment and skills needs.

More than 4,000 UK employers, including Marks & Spencer, B&Q, Sainsbury’s and Tesco, have recruited candidates through LEPs. The government’s target is for the scheme to place 250,000 long-term unemployed people into jobs by 2010.

Travelodge uses LEPs to help realise its expansion plans

Travelodge (external website) has taken full advantage of the opportunity to recruit unemployed people through LEPs. This budget hotel company intends to open 500 sites across the UK by 2020, which will  create 10,000 jobs.

Travelodge signed its LEP agreement in October 2007, and a quarter of new jobs in the hotel chain are set to go to long-term benefit claimants as part of its commitment to the scheme. Locations where the company has used these partnerships so far include London City Road, Heathrow Terminal 5, London Euston, Falkirk in Scotland, and Southwark in London, where 31 people were recruited through the scheme.

Chrissie Herbert, Travelodge’s director of HR and quality management, says: “We recognise that our biggest challenge is finding the right people to work for us and we decided to look outside the box for support. Jobcentre Plus provides us with screened candidates who are prepared for interview and are very enthused about the opportunity, simply on the basis of Travelodge guaranteeing them an interview.”

Jobcentre Plus works closely with Travelodge to establish the selection criteria for its roles, such as day receptionist. Potential candidates are screened by Jobcentre Plus against the specified criteria and those suitable are guaranteed a job interview with the hotel chain. As part of Travelodge’s LEP agreement, the company also offers open days and some work placements for jobless people.

“The scheme has literally handed us quality candidates via funded support while the only commitment is for us to offer a job interview,” Herbert comments. “LEPs are a cost-effective way for us to access potential new recruits. Candidates are also given a three-week training course, which we have vetted and signed off. We are proud to offer these people the opportunity to work.”

Employees who are recruited by Travelodge through its LEPs get further skills training through another government-funded scheme, Train to Gain (external website). Having helped these previously unemployed people find a job, Travelodge is able to offer them skills development opportunities so they can start to build a career.

“I think that UK businesses have a collective responsibility as employers to help the more disadvantaged people in our communities find work,” Herbert says. “LEPs are a crucial step toward achieving that goal and reducing unemployment across the country - I would encourage businesses to make use of the wealth and knowledge that LEPs offer.”

Creative recruitment at Coventry City Council

Coventry City Council (external website) is involved in a range of initiatives to provide employment. The council has a centralised shared service for recruitment, and part of its brief is to consider more innovative ways of finding recruits for its hard-to-fill vacancies.

As Carol Jones, senior HR manager, resourcing, says: “The team looks at our recruitment activities [generally] and identifies more forward-thinking and cost-effective ways of recruiting staff. This strategic approach lends itself to working with agencies, such as Jobcentre Plus and Remploy, to put into practice the council’s vision for Coventry to be a growing, accessible city where people choose to live, work and be educated, and where businesses choose to invest. Getting people into work is part of that vision.”

The council’s HR team has developed a strong partnership with Jobcentre Plus, which helps it target hard-to-reach groups including long-term unemployed people and those on incapacity benefit. As part of this strategy, the council has launched a number of recruitment initiatives. Some of these involve a volume recruitment exercise, such as an event in 2007 when Jobcentre Plus arranged for a large number of potential candidates to be screened by council managers for jobs in street cleansing, catering, cleaning and grounds maintenance.

The recruitment team has also done a great deal of work investigating the barriers that long-term unemployed people may experience when looking and applying for a job. For example, many jobless people felt it was difficult to get work with the city council and that the recruitment process was too long. As a result, the council is prepared to vary its recruitment and application processes to be more accessible as an employer. Jones explains: “We are now much more community focused in our recruitment approach, for example, and don’t necessarily demand that an application form be completed as a first step. We may use a telephone interview or a practical test instead to sift candidates.”

As part of its recruitment strategy, the recruitment team meets regularly with Jobcentre Plus, together with representatives of the council’s regeneration team, who can sometimes obtain funding to help people into work. For example, the local authority has recently taken on a number of people to work in grounds maintenance who received a grant to buy work boots.

Coventry City Council has embraced LEPs and, between March and June 2008, hired 65 unemployed people to work in grounds maintenance, refuse collection, clerical work and as neighbourhood wardens. The council used work trials (external website) as a recruitment approach, which has been embraced by managers. “Work trials are like a working interview and provide managers and prospective recruits with an opportunity to try each other out,” Jones says. “This approach also helps break down prejudice about unemployed people not wanting to work.”

She says that recruiting from the unemployed section of the labour market has paid dividends for Coventry City Council. Many of the appointments have involved hard-to-fill vacancies and the council has been able to reduce its reliance on temporary labour as well as cutting the cost of using employment agencies. Recruiting a permanent workforce also provides greater stability and encourages higher levels of commitment than might be the case where temporary workers are heavily used. At the same time, the council is able to fulfil its corporate social responsibility aims.

Staying in employment

Requirements that many employees take for granted, such as arriving on time each day and fitting in with their employer’s working culture, could be more problematic for people entering, or re-entering, the world of work. Camden Working’s “In-work support team” stays in touch for up to a year with employees whom they have helped place, providing continuing advice and counselling to assist people in adapting to employment.

According to Lopez, it is important that employers are also aware of the induction needs of people who may not have worked for a long time. She says: “During the three-month probationary period, instead of placing huge demands on people it is important to provide the proper training to enable them to fulfil their role. Some employers are willing to take people on without any experience, for example, and welcome the opportunity to train [them] according to the organisation’s own way of doing things.”

A4e’s McKee says that the benefit of employers making use of specialist welfare-to-work organisations such as A4e is that candidates are job-ready, and A4e will match individuals to roles. The up-front investment that has been made in preparing people for employment also helps to secure sustainable new jobs. This also aids staff retention.

“A two-week placement also gives the employer the chance to assess a potential employee so it is effectively like a two-week long interview,” she says. “Most employers want to hire on attitude so this is the ideal opportunity to assess that. It also allows the individual to decide if they want to make a long-term commitment to the organisation, because this is a two-way process.”

A mutually beneficial recruitment strategy

So what do employers gain from the initiatives to find jobs for unemployed people? On a pragmatic level, they will fill their vacancies. Rising unemployment exists side by side with unfilled vacancies and skills shortages, and intervention by experienced job-placement advisers can help remedy these mismatches.

Candidates that are put forward by such advisers may be from diverse backgrounds, which helps an employer to broaden its recruitment. A broader range of skills, experience and outlooks can help to improve an organisation’s effectiveness and to more closely reflect the community and customers it serves.

Employers' workplaces are also rooted in local communities, just as much as local schools, hospitals and residential neighbourhoods. A community that has a larger proportion of its adult population in work is likely to be more prosperous, socially inclusive and secure. Given the links between crime and social exclusion, employers help to improve the security of their own premises and the psychological health of their communities if they hire locally from hard-to-recruit groups.

Finally, being willing to make efforts to work with job-placement advisers, to be more flexible about recruitment procedures and more open-minded means that an employer can demonstrate its commitment to corporate social responsibility goals and social regeneration.

The increasing role of specialist welfare-to-work providers and services means that employers should find it easier than ever to obtain support for a policy of helping unemployed people find an entry into the world of work.

This article was written by Rachel Suff, a freelance employment researcher and writer.

Additional resources