5 Benefits
for employers and communities
Employers' experiences of the
programme
60. Evidence from employers indicates that they
were, for the most part, impressed with the motivation and skills
offered by FJF workers, provided that they had been through an
appropriate selection process. There is also some strong evidence
that employer recruitment processes and selection behaviours have
been significantly changed as a result of experiences gained through
the FJF. There is now a greater recognition of the contribution
that young, formerly unemployed people can make to workforce diversity
in many organisations involved in the FJF. There is also an awareness
of the barriers posed by onerous application processes to younger,
less experienced and more disadvantaged applicants for jobs. Liverpool
City Region wrote:
People's perception of the long term unemployed as
being lazy and not wanting to work have changed; employers are
also reviewing recruitment processes for entry level jobs to have
less complex application forms and clearer job descriptions.[65]
The Association of Greater Manchester Authorities
shared this view:
Employers are reviewing their recruitment practices
as they can see they can exclude the very people they want to
attract, and that they are missing out on talent pool in their
local communities. This is beginning to be seen as a huge legacy
of FJF and one that partners are now very committed to capitalising
on for the future. This is being shared as best practice across
Greater Manchester.[66]
61. The opportunity to recruit new staff funded
by the FJF programme also brought a benefit for employers in terms
of expanding the capacity of the organisation. Employers such
as North Tyneside Council found that FJF workers helped employers
respond better to customer needs, improve training and market
their services to new clients and funders. The new staff also
helped existing staff focus on more strategic work, helping the
employer organisation become more sustainable.[67]
Kirklees Council also highlighted some of the positive experiences
an employer gained from the programme:
The Future Jobs Fund has provided KAL [Kirklees Active
Leisure] with a group of enthusiastic young staff members, who
have taken to the range of tasks asked of them with energy and
commitment. Staff across the organisation have been pleasantly
surprised at the impact made by these young people and the positive
way in which they have completed the work set for them. Indeed,
many staff have found it hard to believe that the people appointed
have been unemployed for so long, such is their ability and approach.[68]
62. The FJF enabled employers to train young
people to a point where they could apply for permanent posts.
For example, Barnardo's indicated that the training and experience
young people gained during their six-month FJF post put them in
a position to apply for standard positions within Barnardo's and
other social care organisations.[69]
The National Skills Academy for Sport & Active Leisure told
us: "Because the FJF programme allows employers to employ,
train and develop new employees to the point where they make a
net contribution to the business, new jobs are being created which
would not exist without this programme."[70]
63. Groundwork UK found that employers had "both
positive and negative experiences", stating that some employees
were highly motivated, but others found themselves in the wrong
job.[71] We
discuss some of the initial difficulties faced by Jobcentre Plus
in allocating individuals to FJF posts in Chapter 7. It is also
important to note that the positive experiences for employers
were overwhelmingly experienced in major public sector organisations
such as local government and the NHS. Chapter 6 examines the issues
the programme faced in creating opportunities in the private sector.
64. Overall, employers were
impressed by the young people they recruited through the FJF and
believed that they had benefited significantly from the contributions
made by these individuals. As a result of the programme, recruitment
methods in some organisations have already been altered to make
it easier for employers to recruit young people who lack experience.
The Government, working through Jobcentre Plus and its Work Programme,
should consider how it can encourage more employers to open up
their recruitment processes to young people who lack experience
but who have the capacity to make a valuable contribution.
Positive outcomes for communities
65. A strong theme throughout the evidence was
that the FJF programme significantly increased the resources available
to the voluntary and community sector. Glasgow Works, for example,
highlighted these advantages of the programme, particularly to
smaller organisations who appreciated the enthusiasm and new ideas
of their FJF employees.[72]
Warwickshire County Council's evidence described the range
of benefits that voluntary and community organisations experienced
from the programme, including:
- fulfilling roles that organisations
had found it difficult to attract funding for or were unable to
afford;
- building organisational capacity;
- extending organisational reach—for example,
enabling an organisation to deliver services to a larger client
group or to provide a wider range of services; and
- freeing up other staff to take on more strategic
level work.[73]
66. The Scottish Council of Voluntary Organisations
told us:
The variety and scope of community benefit that has
been generated by FJF [includes] regeneration projects, improved
environments, increased access to advice, guidance and leisure
services, and local anti-poverty initiatives. [...] The existence
of FJF employees has offered some third sector organisations the
opportunity to develop and create permanent jobs which would not
have been affordable without the supported increase in capacity.
[74]
Sandwell Metropolitan Borough echoed these views:
The programme has been hugely beneficial for the
host organisations. They have been able to undertake areas of
work that may not have been possible otherwise. The programme
has also enabled young people to become involved in local community
organisations and take an interest in the issues which they aim
to address.[75]
67. It is clear that communities
and community organisations benefited significantly through their
employment of FJF workers. The programme had a positive impact
across the country in terms of enhancing the scale and the quality
of services in the voluntary and community sector. We welcome
these positive outcomes and regard it as unfortunate that the
benefits may be lost with the withdrawal of the FJF. However,
the community benefits must be considered in the context of the
overall cost of the programme. Moreover, it should be borne in
mind that the Future Jobs Fund was designed to be a temporary
measure and these benefits were only ever intended to be experienced
over a short period.
65 Ev w151 Back
66
Ev w218 Back
67
Ev w165 Back
68
Alasdair Brown, Chief Executive of Kirklees Active Leisure, as
quoted by Kirklees Council, Ev w196 Back
69
Ev w186 Back
70
Ev w190 Back
71
Ev 57 Back
72
Ev 55 Back
73
Ev w5 Back
74
Ev w44 Back
75
Ev w59 Back
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