Perceived impact of in-work support

Most respondents to the participant survey who had received in-work support did not feel it made a difference to their ability to retain work (69% at wave 1 and 73% at wave 2 - Table 6.4). The minority (28% at Wave 1, 24% at Wave 2) who felt that in- work support had had a positive effect, were asked to give more information about how the support had helped, and in both waves most of these valued it as a

motivational tool (Table 6.5). These perspectives appear reasonably consistent with the qualitative research reported above.

Table 6.4: Impact of in-work support on employment retention

Wave 1 Wave 2

Impact of in-work support on employment retention % %

Positive impact 28.3 23.9

Negative impact 1.7 2.5

Made no difference 68.5 73.2

Don't know 1.5 0.4

Total 100.0 100.0

Unweighted base: (All respondents who had in-work contact with WP advisers and who were currently still in employment)

411 385

Significance of difference between Wave 2 and Wave 1 (t-test): * p<0.05 ** p<0.01

Interviews in the qualitative research with individuals who had held down jobs for some time enabled the evaluation to explore the extent to which participants

perceived their provider as having had a role in helping them to stay in employment. There were two ways to assess retention in employment: either that an individual stayed in one particular job or that they changed jobs but stayed in employment. Among participants who had been employed for some time, there were instances in

Table 6.5: Nature of positive impacts of in-work support

Wave 1 Wave

2

Positive impacts of in-work support % %

Help keep you motivated 83.9 83.9

Help the employer understand some of the difficulties you faced and support you better at work

33.0 32.9 Help negotiate flexible working arrangements with your

employer

28.6 34.3 Help advocate on your behalf with your employer 28.0 25.3 Help you to secure training opportunities with the

employer

26.4 23.2* Helped you identify and obtain opportunities for

progression with your employer

26.2 --

Helped you increase your income 20.9 23.7

Helped you increase the number of hours you work 19.6 21.7 Help you to manage a health condition in the context of

work

19.0 23.0

Other 10.5 6.8

Don't know 6.8 5.3

Unweighted base: (All respondents who reported in- work support had a positive impact)

114 94

*Note that at Wave 2, a single question “help secure training opportunities for progression with your employer” was asked in place of the two separate questions about training and progression which were asked at Wave 1.

Note that responses sum to more than 100%,as respondents could give more than one response

Significance of difference between Wave 2 and Wave 1 (t-test): * p<0.05 ** p<0.01

sustain her business through a low patch in sales. Among those changing jobs, were participants who said that their provider had been helpful in identifying new work once a job had come to an end or proved unsuitable. One such participant believed that the provider was ‘keeping their side of the bargain’ while another described in more detail her positive experience of support once she returned for further help:

“As soon as I phoned up, they were there for me, straight away. “Come in

your appointment is- or just pop in”. Actually the first time I think I just popped

in and she saw me straight away ... She [adviser] said, “Right I’m sending you

off for this, this, this and this. I will see this client and then I’ll send them off”.”

(Female, 40s, JSA)

The decision to return to the provider for assistance when seeking new work appeared to be influenced by the quality of the participant-adviser relationship and the experience of support. Participants who pro-actively re-approached their provider when a job came to an end were those who had built a positive relationship with their adviser and who had found the provider useful in securing work the first time around. Conversely participants who said that if they were seeking new work they would not re-engage with the provider, indicated that this related to less positive experience with their adviser.

It was notable that, as with the survey findings, a majority of participants in the qualitative research who had been in work for some time believed that their provider had played no role in helping them sustain work. This may be suggestive of some ‘deadweight’ in the programme i.e. that some participants would have found and been retained in work in the absence of the provider. However, the importance of effective job matching in achieving retention in employment should not be under- stated. Providers and participants who had entered work by the time of the earlier research (Newton et al, 2012) emphasised that employment retention relied on the quality of the match between the participant and the job in the first place; as much as ongoing support. The qualitative research with participants in work for some time reinforced this: a number of participants cited a strong or partial role of the provider identifying and/or securing work that resulted in a good ‘job match’.