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: staffing. We cover common staffing functions and models for delivering employee supports. Please note, these do not necessarily represent a comprehensive summary of options or implications.

 

Staffing Employee Supports

Staffing refers to the functions, responsibilities, number, and organization of employee supports staff. Key considerations when thinking about staffing an employee supports program include:

• Target population
• Focus of employee support services
• Duration of employee support services
• Expertise of existing staff
• Ability to leverage existing infrastructure in providing supports to SE employees
• # of SE employees
• % of SE employees accessing various employee supports
• Desired staff to employee ratios
• Hours of service provision
• Degree of dependence upon partners or other leveraged resources
• Financial resources available

A social enterprise should first identify ideal employee support staffing and cost based on considerations above. It should then roll out within the constraint of its budget, while simultaneously seeking resources necessary to grow to desired levels.

 

Staffing Functions

Effective employee support provision typically requires at least two employee supports staff roles – one focused on the job development function and one focused on employee development.

 

Job Development		Employee Development
Primarily external-facing Focus on building employer relationships to secure employment opportunities for transitional employees		Primarily internal-facing Focus on supporting employees’ professional development in one or more of the following ways: While at the SE (job coaching) In identifying and developing professional goals and barriers (vocational case management) In addressing work or personal issues that may inhibit ability to sustain employment (retention)

 

The employee development function is typically staffed by 1 to 3 roles. Organizations that split the employee development function into multiple staff roles might have a Job Coach, Vocational Case Manager and Retention Specialist. Often the job coaching and vocational case management pieces are combined into an Employee Supports Specialist role. The number of employee development staff roles depends on organizational attributes such as target population, financial resources available, employee supports focus/orientation, etc.

It is not uncommon for employment development responsibilities to be combined into fewer staff roles. In these cases, however, it is important to take into consideration differences in required skills, experience, and other job requirements.

The below chart highlights a few key examples. Please note, it does not represent a comprehensive summary of options or implications.

 

Key Function	Staff Title/Role	Responsibilities	Typical Requirements
Job development	Job developer	•Typically an external facing role •Focus is on building employer relationships to secure employment opportunities for transitional employees •May also support retention efforts through regular follow up with employers •Often works closely with other staff roles around job matching, interview preparation and job retention	•Prior work experience often includes sales •Compensation may include commission
Employee development	Job coach	•Typically an internal facing role •Supports employee’s professional development while at SE •Assists employees in constructively responding to performance feedback provided by supervisors •May assist transitional employees with job search strategies, developing application materials and interview preparation	•Prior work ideally includes some private sector experience
Employee development	Vocational Case Manager / Employment Specialist	Combination of internal (employees) and external (social service partners) facing role Supports employees in identifying and developing plans for addressing professional goals and barriers Helps employees navigate services Builds/maintains relationships with other service providers May assist transitional employees with job search strategies, developing application materials and interview preparation	Prior experience often includes work with similar target populations
Employee development	Retention Specialist	Requires work with transitioning employees; may also require interfacing directly with employers Follows up with employees and supports them in addressing work or personal issues that may inhibit their ability to sustain employment May work with employees one-on-one or in group settings May follow up with employers to inquire about, and troubleshoot, issues arising in the workplace	Prior work ideally includes combination of social service provision and private sector experience Often requires working non-traditional hours and/or traveling to work sites

 

Some of these functions can also be staffed externally through contractors or partners, in which case responsibilities and expectations should be detailed in a contract or MOU.

Staffing Structures

There are three types of structures typically used to staff employee support functions:

1. Social enterprise specific
2. Agency-based
3. Partners and vendors

Each employee supports staffing structure has its own set of pros and cons, which we outline below. Again, this does not necessarily represent a comprehensive summary of options or implications.

 

Staffing Model: Social Enterprise Specific

In this model, a team of employee supports staff provides direct services exclusively to social enterprise employees and alumni (not to other agency clients). Staff are charged with providing employee supports to social enterprise employees and are housed within the social enterprise and report to social enterprise director. These staff only provide direct services to social enterprise employees, alumni, and sometimes potential hires; not to other agency clients.

 

Pros	Cons
Employee supports more likely to be fully integrated into the SE ES staff and supervisors share the same organizational culture	ES staff may not be fully aware of or tapping into the often wider array of agency services for SE employees More effort required to limit inappropriate information sharing

 

Staffing Model: Agency-Based

In this model, staff from other programs or divisions within the agency are leveraged to provide employee support services to social enterprise employees. Employment services may already have job developers, vocational case managers and retention specialists on staff. Similarly, client services may have case managers on staff and human resources may provide job coaching.

The staff charged with providing employee supports to social enterprise employees are part of a client services team and report to the Director of Client Services, or similar position within the nonprofit. They may or may not also be providing services to other agency clients.

 

Pros	Cons
Usually able to leverage array of agency resources for SE employees Distinct reporting lines may make it easier to limit information sharing with SE supervisors	Employee supports may not be as well integrated into the SE May be less coordination with supervisors

 

Staffing Model: Partners and Vendors

In this model, an external entity provides some or all of employee support services for social enterprise employees. This may be done alone or in combination with social enterprise or agency provided employee supports. The social enterprise or client services staff member may need to allocate portion of time to coordinating.

 

Pros	Cons
Utilizes subject matter experts to provide employee supports Saves the SE or agency from needing to develop internal capacity	Requires partnership and vendor management May still require some SE or agency staff time for coordination SE and agency may have less access to information about SE employees than desired

 

Additional Considerations

Additional questions for consideration during planning:

• What is the target staff to employee ratio at each stage (e.g., SE employment, job placement, retention)
• Is there a standalone retention function, or will the vocational case manager or job coach stick with an employee as he/she progresses from SE to competitive employment?
• What is the plan for scaling employee supports as the number of SE employees and graduates grows?
• What systems (e.g., databases) and processes will employee support staff use to document employee information, interactions, and progress?
• What employee follow-up is required (e.g., beyond the conclusion of service provision? For individuals who have been terminated from SE employment?), and who is responsible for doing it?
• How will compensation for employee support staff be structured so as to incentivize outcomes (e.g., 6 month employment retention)

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 delivery method >				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.