Challenging times: Professional resilience for

career guidance practitioners working in

Ireland’s PES 

Professor Jenny BimroseInstitute for Employment Research

University of Warwick

   

ContextPolicy Response

Practice

Overview

CONTEXT

• Transitional labour markets• Policy: EU 2020 strategy

RESPONSE

• ‘Building bridges’• ‘Conducting functions’

PRACTICE

• Flexibility, responsiveness & creativity

• Empowering staff with training & tools

Transitional Labour Markets (TLM)

In the context of Public Employment Services?

Transitional Labour Markets (TLM)

Interconnection & compatibility of:Life & citizenship activitiesNon-market useful social activitiesTraditional, full-time jobs

Social risk <-> UncertaintyReference: Gazier, B. & Gautie, J. (2011). The “Transitional Labour Markets” Approach: Theory, History and Future Research Agenda. Journal of Economic & Social Policy. 14. 1. Available online: http://epubs.scu.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1136&context=jesp

Five key decisions (especially women)

Occupation

Job

House

Children

Mate

PES: changing environments

Moving beyond Globalisation………

Greying

ICT

Vulnerable groupsMismatch

Greening

Implications for PES?

Within the broader European policy context?

Changing world of work‘more people need to work longer & differently’

PES face a number of immediate tasks (related to the execution of the European Employment Guidelines):

Lifting the employment rateReducing the number of bottle neck vacanciesInvesting in a strong & sustainable active mediation

European PES: common future strategy‘For European Public Employment Services business will never be ‘business as usual’ anymore…..The social function of PES is

transforming. Today, they have to transform into ‘work focused gateways to welfare systems’….Confronted with various uncertainties and opportunities, as well as with explicit

responsibilities and expectations, PES are in need of a clear and stable view on the necessary developments they have to

succeed in to stay relevant and effective.’

Ref: EU (2013) Public Employment Services’ Contribution to EU 2020. PES 2020 Strategy Output Paper. Available at: file:///C:/Users/Jenny/Downloads/PES%20strategy%20EU%202020_EN.pdf

Applying a career/life course approach:……. new clients, new approaches?

Wor

kers

Employers Inactive

groups

Role of Labour Market Information?

Demand orientated service

Profound understanding of labour demand

Qualitative assistance for employers

PES: addressing the 2020 agenda?

Building

bridges

Conductin

g

PES: building bridges

PES: building bridges

‘A more holistic approach to work…entails a shift from functioning (only) as service providers

towards functioning (also) as service seekers, that compose scenarios for the most qualitative, effective & efficient constellation of services to

meet the needs of the citizens & companies more flexibly & accurately…..cooperation of

public, private, commercial & non-commercial agents is facilitated…’

PES: conducting functionsA customer-orientated

view of the ways services to employers could be optimised by ‘conducting’

Building bridges with other actors or providing the necessary service in-house

Shift from reactive to proactive modus operandi

PES: building bridges key principles

Value drivenCustomisation &

differentiation

DigitisationInclusiveness

LevelismSocial

innovationIntegration &

interoperabilityEvidence based

PES: conducting

PES services give access to career guidance services, especially for NEET YP

Direct towards specific career guidance services to facilitate LM transitionsEmployment counsellingCareer development counsellingRehabilitation counsellingCareer & LM information dissemination

PES: Youth Guarantee

Adopted by Council in April 2013:

Calls on Member States to ensure that all young people under 25 receive a good quality offer of

employment, continued education, an apprenticeship or a traineeship within four

months of leaving formal education or becoming unemployed.

PES capacities: Youth Guarantee

‘PES overall capacities for the implementation of the Youth Guarantee in Europe are reasonable, leaving considerable room

for improvement.’

‘PES show significant capacity to ensure transparency, to offer multi-channelled services to all young jobseekers.’

‘Further investment is however required in preventative services including youth at risk, in promotion of training and cooperation

with relevant labour market actors.’

Ref: EU (2013). HoPES Assessment Report on PES capacities to implement the Youth Guarantee. Available at:file:///C:/Users/Jenny/Downloads/PES%20strategy%20EU%202020_EN.pdf

PES: managing the change process?

Empower PES’s own staff by offering adequate training facilities & sufficient career

development tools.

Ref: Public Employment Services’ Contribution to EU 2020. PES 2020 Strategy Output Paper. Available at: file:///C:/Users/Jenny/Downloads/PES%20strategy%20EU%202020_EN.pdf

PES practitioners:

Multiple demands

Professional Identity

Transformation

EmployIDFunded by the EU (FP7)Focus: support for PES practitionersFour years: 2014 – 2018User engagement – key component

Scalable and cost-effective facilitation of professional identity transformation in

Public Employment Services

www.employid.eu

Objectives

• to deliver comprehensive, sustainable, and cost-effective support for the facilitation of professional identity transformation

• to use a holistic tool suite that combines and linkseCoaching, reflection, MOOCs, networking, analytical and learning support tools

Facilitation as a key

concept

www.employid.eu

Professional Identity Transformation

www.employid.eu

Consortium: 10 partners (with 2 PES)

www.employid.eu

Associate Partner Network

Flexibility,

stake holder

engagement,

and

exploitation

opportunitie

s

EMPLOYId: PES practitioners

All about creative solutions for supporting PES:

Using new & emerging theoretical career concepts – making these accessible to

practitioners

HOW?

PES: 3-fold renewal?

Active Securities

Anticipatory Role

Shift in approach

• Human capital• Sustainable

employment

• Support ‘work careers’ – give voice

• Enable change• Facilitating,

coaching & ‘conducting’

• Exploit ICT

Career adapt-ability: what is it?

‘The capability of an individual to make a series of successful transitions where the labour market, organisation of work and underlying occupational

and organisational knowledge bases may be subject to

considerable change’

Ref: Bimrose, J., Barnes, S-A., Brown, A. and Hughes, D. (2011) 'The role of career adaptability in skills supply',  Wath-upon-Dearne: UK Commission for Employment & Skills

Career adapt-abilities: inter-relatedness

CAREER

ADAPT-

ABILITY

RESILIENCE

EXPLORATION

CAREERDECISIVEN

ESS

Career adapt-ability competencies (2012)

Concern Control

Curiosity Confidence

Career Adaptable Competencies (2009) CONTROL: exerting a degree of influence on their

situations CURIOSITY: broadening horizons by exploring social

opportunities & possibilities CONFIDENCE: believing in yourself & ability to achieve

your goal CONCERN: developing a positive optimistic attitude

to the future

Reference: Savickas et al. (2009). Life designing: A paradigm for career construction in the 21st Century. In Journal of Vocational Behavior, 75, 3, pp.239-250.

24 item inventory: 4 core constructs

Please rate how strongly you feel you have developed each of the following abilities using the 5 point scale below.

Strongest Very strong Strong Somewhat strong Not strong

Taking responsibility for my actionsActing in line with my values and principlesRelying on myselfObserving different ways of doing things

CAAI (UK): Sample statements

Thank you

Adaptability dimension

Career problem

Career questions

Career intervention

Concern Indifference Do I have a future?

Orientation exercises

Control Indecision Who owns my future?

Self management training

Decisional training

Curiosity Unrealism What do I want to do with my future?

Information seeking

Confidence Inhibition Can I do it? Self-esteem building

Career Adapt-ability : research base (UK)

International• Life Design

Group• 13 country

study (CAAS) – Special issue of JVB (2012)

UK – qualitative indicators• Mid-career

workers (N=64)

• Older women (N=36)

UK – quantitative CAAI• Confirmatory

factor analysis

• 4 Universities (N=753)

Key findingsFor practice:identifies competencies/strategies needed to

survive in a volatile labour marketbelong to the individual, not the employer provides a clear indication of relevant

interventions relevant for practiceraises awareness of self-defeating behaviours

Key findings

Raises aspiration Encourages autonomyRelevant across the life-coursePotential for greater integration of ICT

EmployId – online version of the CAAI UK

Challenging times: PES practitioners

PRESSURE

RESILIENCE

www.employid.eu

EmployID addresses many of the requirements for the PES contribution to

EU 2020

For further details: https://employid.eu/ orContact: jenny.bimrose@warwick.ac.ukAlan.brown@warwick.ac.ukdeirdre.hughes3@btinternet.com

THANK YOU