Program Management

Employee Supports Program Structure: Delivery Model

Overview

As part of your employee supports program design process, you will want to think about the specific structural components that support and comprise the delivery of your employee supports program. These components should align with and support the key goals and strategies for your employee supports program.

In this learning guide, we cover one of the six components: delivery models and highlight four common models for delivering employee supports. Please note, these do not necessarily represent a comprehensive summary of options or implications. Trade-offs should be considered prior to finalizing your social enterprise’s delivery method(s).

 

Delivery Model: One-on-One

In a one-on-one delivery model, employee supports staff meet one-on-one with employees/alumni on a regular basis, typically to provide some combination of job coaching, counseling, case management, and/or job search/placement assistance.

 

Pros Cons
  • Staff are able to customize provision of employee supports to address employees’ unique situations
  • Employees likely to develop a trusting relationship with staff over time, increasing likelihood of sharing more information about real issues and barriers
  • Well suited to goal setting, barrier removal, and job coaching
  • Expense of providing one-on-one support, especially as SE expands in number of employees and/or by serving individuals at various stages of SE employment (pre, during, post)

 

Delivery Model: Group

In this model, employees or alumni participate in group sessions during which employee supports staff convey information and/or facilitate the sharing and troubleshooting of issues.

 

Pros Cons
  • Efficiency in providing ESP services
  • Some employees may feel accountable to peers for making progress against goals
  • SE can bring in subject matter experts to convey information on potentially wider array of topics
  • Group sessions can be used to practice or hone newly acquired skills
  • Can facilitate provision of peer support both during and in between group sessions
  • Often easier to enlist operational supervisors in reinforcing learnings conveyed during group delivery
  • Challenging to provide services via group delivery that “meet each person where they are at”
  • Some employees/ alumni may not be comfortable sharing personal information or experiences in front of peers

 

Delivery Model: Hybrid

Some social enterprises choose a hybrid model, in which social enterprise employees and alumni have regular or occasional one-on-one time with employee supports staff and also participate in regularly scheduled or occasional group sessions.

 

Pros Cons
  • Employees and alumni can benefit from both personalized support provided directly by ESP staff as well as from peer support resulting from group delivery
  • Individual and group services can reinforce one another
  • Staff members who are good at providing one-on-one services may not be equally skilled at group service delivery
  • Although typically at lower levels, SE incurs costs associated with both group and individualized service delivery

 

Delivery Model: Other

Employees may also be encouraged or incentivized to access skills training or other resources from external sources. This type of delivery model typically needs to be combined with one of the above models, as it is through these vehicles that employees are made aware of resources and any related incentives.

 

Pros Cons
  • Facilitates customization to employee/alumni needs
  • Leverages expertise of others in community
  • Potentially decreases costs for SE
  • SE likely needs to develop and maintain relationship with other provider for purposes of tracking/documentation, a function which itself may have associated costs
  • SE’s control over quality is diminished

 

Other Structural Components To Consider

You will want to think about the specific structural components that support and comprise the delivery of your employee supports program. These components should align with and support the key goals and strategies for your employee supports program. REDF has identified six core areas to consider:

 

Metrics to Track

Budget

Participation Model
  • Desired goals and outcomes
  • Data on SE employees hired/exited
  • Staffing
  • Employee supports
  • Equipment
  • Subcontracts
  • Compensated
  • Incentivized
  • Voluntary
  • Hybrid
  • Integrated

Read more about metrics >

Read more about budget >

Read more about participation model >

 

Delivery Method

Staffing

Reporting
  • One-on-one
  • Group
  • Hybrid
  • Other
  • Functions
  • Roles
  • Structure
  • Coordination
  • Access
  • Employee privacy

Read more about staffing >

Read more about reporting >

 

You will find links to resources for each of these considerations, walking you through the pros and cons and key considerations for each.

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2019-04-26 08:53:40

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