Glasgow City Council: Evaluating the Supported Employment Service

Because of our work, the Supported Employment Service used robust findings to develop its new strategy and to improve its services for clients and stakeholders. A more complete understanding of the benefits of supported employment helped to justify further funding.

Glasgow Supported Employment Services was developed to help people with learning disabilities into employment. The team worked to ensure that participants were ‘job-ready’, supported them through the application and interview processes and then, unusually, continued to support them in employment.

In 2010 -2011, Hall Aitken was asked to evaluate the impact of the Supported Employment Service; its strengths and areas for development; its impact on clients and their families; its partnerships and practices and; its services for employers.

Stage one: research. We gathered quantitative data from the service itself and conducted primary research to identify the impacts that Supported Employment had on its clients’ lives. This involved interviews, focus groups, workshops and telephone surveys with clients, their carers and families, employers, organisational partners. 

We developed case studies that illustrated the powerful impact that supported employment had on its clients’ lives.

Stage two: analysis. Our research identified the immense impacts that supported employment had on its clients’ employability and wellbeing. It also highlighted its broader benefits to friends, carers and employers.

We established the importance of partnership working and show the service’s strengths in this. We were also able to identify ways in which those relationships might be improved.

Using management theory and practice, we compared processes between team members to highlight good practices, barriers to progress and areas for improvement.

Stage three: dialogue. We delivered our evaluation report, adding further value by facilitating a workshop at which our findings were described, discussed and developed. This created an opportunity for the service and its stakeholders to discuss their views and experiences in a positive environment and to contribute the resulting strategy. It also helped partners and other stakeholders to understand the service, its processes and its outcomes.