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All about Supported Employment
Supported employment is widely recognised as a model for successfully
integrating people with disabilities into the labour market. Mentoring
and peer support can support the transition into employment and enable
the new employee to maintain their employment and develop at work.
Our projects use this model to support our clients into employment.
Most service providers use the following 5-stage supported employment
model to enable a person with a disability to find and maintain a job:
Job Readiness
The person with disabilities is eager to find work and engage with
an organisation to support them with this process.
Vocational Profile
The tool used by supported employment agencies to get to know the
client, develop trust, establish skills, abilities, support/development
needs, aspirations and goals.
Job Search/Job Development
The agency works with the client to search for jobs in the open employment
market or to directly market their clients to employers - matching skills
to employers' needs.
Employer engagement
Introduce client to employer, break down barriers, job analysis, negotiate
job description, disability awareness to managers and co-workers, enter
a contract with the employer about what support/job coaching will be
provided.
On/off the job support
Job coaching, support, monitoring visits, phone calls, peer support.
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Supported employment works best when the person with disabilities
is matched to the right job. But what makes a job the right job? The
following is a list of key factors:
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Match duties to skills
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Job location, travel to work, days and times of
work - travelling distance, geographical location can be crucial
to success.
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Match the job to client goals, aspirations, abilities
and interests.
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Financial issues - wages, benefits incentives crucial.
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Workplace culture - this is a huge area and includes
formal and informal organisational structures, dress code/appearances,
the formal and informal "rules", internal communication,
hierarchy etc. Supporting the client to understand the work culture
is critical to successful job matching and peer support plays an
important role in developing awareness of workplace culture.
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Support within the workplace - managers, co-worker
support
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Support out-with workplace - home-life, support
and encouragement from family and friends.
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Health and disability - includes client awareness
of their disability and support needs plus employer and co-worker
disability awareness.
What is peer support?
Peer support involves establishing natural supports in
the workplace, where a co-worker takes on a mentoring role to support
the new employee at work. This can help eliminate any difficulties that
people with disabilities face at work, while freeing-up managerial time
and supporting the new employee to become more independent at work.
Note, the supported employment organisation continues to support the
client and employer but will hand over the day-to-day, routine support
to the employer to be managed through peer support.
Good peer support is made up of the following elements:
Disability Awareness
The employer, co-workers and the mentor has a clear understanding of
the client's disabilities, their difficulties and support needs.
Communication
The service provider will work with the employer to identify effective
communication appropriate to the client's level of understanding, and
will help to develop checklists, timetables, work prompts and training
etc. They will put in place arrangements to encourage regular review
and feedback between client, employer, mentor and co-workers. Communications
should also include a change management strategy, to prevent any changes
at work escalating into a crisis situation.
Peer Support
It is essential the co-worker nominated as the mentor has been consulted,
given a choice and is willing to provide the peer support. Providing
peer support and mentoring to individuals can be stressful, particularly
when clients have "hidden" disabilities, e.g. mental health
difficulties. Therefore it is essential that the mentor is given proper
training and support to carry out their role. The mentor's workloads
and targets should also be reviewed to eliminate stress. Employers can
be compensated for the provision of support through Access To Work or
Workstep.
Employers' Needs
An understanding of the employers' needs is also crucial to good peer
support. It can be useful to outline what support will be provided and
by whom, to define and agree the review process, monitoring meetings,
withdrawal and aftercare provision.
Influencing Factors - Maintaining Employment
The influencing factors in successfully sustaining employment are the
elements that make a job the right job, e.g. duties, location, hours
of work, travel, pay, support etc. A successful job match can fall apart
almost overnight if anything occurs to upset any one of these key factors.
Good peer support and provision of aftercare can prevent any changes
from escalating out of control. The planning process should take account
of any potential barriers to make the job match a success. The service
provider should clearly inform the client, the mentor and the employer
that they are available for mediation or to advise on any problems that
arise in the future.
Peer Support and Work Placements
It is also possible to provide peer support for work placements. The
same process as for placing people into employment can be followed.
However, if placing two or more clients into the same organisation at
the same time, it is advisable to negotiate separate peer support and
mentoring arrangements. To meet the needs of individual clients, supported
employment has to be individually packaged and joint mentoring arrangements
will not necessarily meet the needs of either client.
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