Jobcentre Plus Business Strategy - Essay Example

Running Head: JOBCENTRE PLUS STRATEGY Jobcentre Plus Strategy s Jobcentre Plus Strategy Aim Even within a stable and successful economy, there are many individuals who need further help to move into work. Jobcentre Plus aims to provide that support both to benefit the individuals concerned and to support the Government's wider objectives of sustained economic growth, higher productivity and low inflation. Equally importantly, Jobcentre Plus needs to support our employer customers to recruit the people they need to ensure their success and prosperity. In meeting these challenges, we aim to draw on our recent experience of the New Deals and other programmes to develop a service with greater flexibility, more use of personal advisers and a focus on tailoring our services to meet the needs of both individuals and employers. there are 900,000 lone parents on income support, and children from lone parent households still make up almost half of all children growing up in poverty. there are still around 3.5 million people claiming benefits either as lone parents or because they are ill or disabled, 1 million of whom have said that they would like to work. disabled people are seven times more likely to be out of work and claiming benefits than non- disabled people. there are over 2 million households where no one works. there are just under 1 million people unemployed and around 1 million unfilled vacancies. Jobcentre's Culture Jobcentre's culture will be driven by the clear objective set by Ministers of "work for those who can, support for those who cannot." This clear work-focus will be apparent in everything Jobcentre do for Jobcentre's customers. Jobcentre plus will emphasize to them the link between benefits and work, with their associated rights and responsibilities. This will include a determination to reduce fraud and irregularity by ensuring that only those entitled to benefits receive them. But Jobcentre plus will also be about a much higher quality of customer service. Jobcentre plus will build on the existing successes of the Benefits Agency and the Employment Service by introducing more personal advisers with greater flexibility; more contact to keep people in touch with the labour market; more focus on meeting employers' needs and more emphasis on benefit integrity and accuracy. Jobcentre's Service Jobcentre's service will treat each customer as an individual rather than as one of a group narrowly defined by benefit entitlement. Jobcentre's aim will be to tailor what Jobcentre can offer to what each individual needs. For instance, Jobcentre plus will take care to treat disabled people according to their individual circumstances. As a further example, parents who want to return to the workplace will be offered guidance to identify and relate the skills they have acquired as parents to those required by employers. For employers Jobcentre plus will provide a much more outcome-focused and professional service based on improved communications, dedicated vacancy service managers and local account managers, building on the foundations already laid in the New Deal and more widely. Jobcentre plus will deliver Jobcentre's services through the full range of channels offered by modern technology, including the internet, touch screen terminals and customer service centres. Jobcentre aim to offer employers in the Pathfinders a more effective service which responds to their requirements. Jobcentre plus will do this by working with them to understand their needs and the demands of the different industry sectors in which they operate. This means co-operating with employers, the local Learning and Skills Councils and other local training and education partners to customise training to meet industry and local employer needs. Jobcentre also aim to be better at matching the people without jobs to the jobs without people. This will involve us working with individuals to prepare them for the needs of employers and also working with employers to ensure they can make use of the diverse range of labour available to them. Jobcentre plus will build on the New Deals to establish better relationships with employers and work together to enhance Jobcentre's understanding of their business. Jobcentre plus will use local vacancy service managers - and in the future newly created local account managers for employers - to provide a high quality and individually tailored service at a local level. Jobcentre's emphasis will be on looking for every opportunity to help Jobcentre's customers to work towards independence. In doing so, Jobcentre plus will treat each individual according to his or her circumstances and with the sensitivity that he or she deserves. At the same time, for those who need long term support, Jobcentre plus will aim to provide the highest possible quality of service and support. Jobcentre plus will ensure that Jobcentre's customers receive the benefits to which they are entitled and are aware of the support available to them from us and from Jobcentre's partners in the community. Jobcentre's communications with employers, including through Jobcentre's Employer Direct customer service centres, will maintain a consistently high standard nationwide. Jobcentre plus will aim to provide high class interview facilities for employers in Jobcentre's Pathfinder offices to help them fill their vacancies. Jobcentre plus will strive to involve employers in designing Jobcentre's future services and will ensure Jobcentre deliver services and products that meet the needs of employers and clients alike. Jobcentre plus will also increasingly look to employers to give us feedback about the standards of Jobcentre's service and whether it meets their expectations. Jobcentre plus will encourage its customers to make their first contact with us by telephone. Jobcentre plus will take their personal details immediately and assess them in terms of their job readiness. If Jobcentre think that they are job ready, Jobcentre plus will wherever possible submit them to a job. That will apply to all of Jobcentre's customers; not just those claiming Jobseeker's Allowance. Jobcentre plus will assign each customer a personal adviser and arrange a first meeting between the customer and their adviser. By the end of the conversation, the customer will have a confirmed interview with a personal adviser, will be sent all the relevant claims forms to complete and will be given a number to call for help if they need further assistance in advance of their personal adviser interview. When the customer arrives for their initial interview with their personal adviser they will be seen first by a benefit expert who will check that their claim form has been fully completed and that they have brought with them all the necessary supporting documents. After offering them some form of refreshment they will then be introduced to their personal adviser. The customer will meet with their personal adviser to discuss their personal circumstances and ambitions. The discussion will have a clear focus on work and the aim will be to agree on what, together, Jobcentre can do to help them move to or towards a job. Where appropriate, the personal adviser will be able to refer the customer to other more specialist organisations who can provide specific help (such as healthcare or training). The personal adviser will also be able to offer advice about how much better off the customer could be in work. At the end of the interview, the customer will see the benefit expert again and will be given as much certainty as possible about what benefit they will receive and when; or about what needs to happen next to process their claim. The personal adviser will arrange further interviews with the customer by agreement between them, other than for customers claiming Jobseeker's Allowance who still need to come in fortnightly. Jobcentre plus will encourage customers to use the services of their personal adviser on a regular basis in their progress towards independence. This will include ongoing advice on vacancies, training, childcare, and in-work incomes. Where appropriate the personal adviser will also be the routeway into all of the New Deal programmes. Jobcentre plus will continue to make checks on all benefit claims at the time of their first contact and throughout the lifetime of the claim to ensure that only the right people are receiving the right money to which they are entitled. There were several successes and significant events to celebrate in 2005. Organization In order to achieve improved profitability and grow their business, Jobcentre Plus needed to modify their operating structure. Jobcentre Plus completed an overhaul of their industry and functional practices as well as a realignment of their organization into three global operating regions-Europe/Middle East/Africa (EMEA), the Americas and Asia Pacific-effective for 2005. Understanding that their practices, their client teams and their geographies overlap and support each other, Jobcentre Plus will work to bring these programs together seamlessly in 2005. Corporate Governance and Management Jobcentre Plus created a Global Leadership Team (GLT) to accomplish several key objectives: Bring their key operating staff and client-facing leaders together in one group. Give key non-management advisors a "seat at the table" for the first time. Elevate representatives who consistently display critical leadership skills and values to the top team. Expansion of Leadership Services With a team of professionals in many parts of the world, Jobcentre Plus're increasingly able to offer clients an integrated set of leadership consulting services that includes individual talent management, leadership team and board assessments, board building, executive on-boarding and M&A effectiveness. Diversity Jobcentre Plus believe that diversity is a defining characteristic of the best leadership teams. Diversity of thinking and global experience can help companies grow into new markets and enables leadership teams to better serve their customers. Their commitment to diversity is reflected in their own leadership, as well as in the leadership teams Jobcentre Plus help their clients build. In the Community Beginning in 2003, Jobcentre Plus has adopted one major charitable cause each year to be the focus of their efforts worldwide. In 2003, it was an organization that provides free reconstructive surgery and related health care to tens of thousands of young people around the world. Last year, it was the Special Olympics, a global organization helping mentally and physically challenged children and adults reach their full potential. And in early January Jobcentre Plus kicked off their next global fundraising initiative to provide relief to victims of the tsunami in South Asia, their focus for 2005. Goals for 2006 Their mission is to help their clients build diverse, high-performance leadership teams. Jobcentre Plus have moved far beyond the simple, one-off transactional search, and now Jobcentre Plus are changing the game, redefining the executive search industry and themselve by: Expanding their focus on building key client relationships, and evolving from service providers, to trusted advisors Continuing to build out Leadership Services Focusing on talent management Differentiating the work that Jobcentre Plus do and the brand under which Jobcentre Plus operate sharing their knowledge about the science and the art of leadership within the company as well as with their clients and the global business community Jobcentre Plus made great progress in 2005, but still have much to accomplish. With their Global Leadership Team and Board of Directors in place, their focus for 2005 will be on five major strategic imperatives: Drive Profit Improvement Worldwide in All of Their Operations If Jobcentre Plus is to claim to be the best in their business, naturally it follows that Jobcentre Plus should be the most profitable. Being profitable allows us to improve the firm to the benefit of their clients and shareholders. Each region has launched specific programs in this area. Reinvigorate Their Global Practices Jobcentre Plus have integrated their Industry and Functional practices as well as their Global Accounts into a single entity to enhance their go-to-market strategy and to help us achieve greater prominence with clients around the world. Their efforts include hiring key senior consultants and increasing their knowledge of relevant industry talent for each of their practice areas. Expand Leadership Services Globally A successful search is just the beginning. Jobcentre Plus is continuing to expand their leadership services globally for one simple reason: Their clients want us to. Done right, these services enhance their brand and their client relationships, and can be more profitable than their search business. Improve Their Professional Development Program Jobcentre Plus have committed to a plan, a budget, and the leadership to develop their firm's talent at all levels. The continuous development of leadership talent is as critical to us as it is to their clients. Align Their Compensation and Wealth-Building Programs with Their Shareholders To be a market leader, Jobcentre Plus must provide competitive compensation and wealth-building programs to their consultants and employees. Jobcentre Plus have launched a multiyear program to increase the amount of equity ownership internally and to balance the emphasis on revenue growth with an equal emphasis on profitability. The changes Jobcentre Plus are making in their compensation programs are based on the concept of alignment with their shareholders, and Jobcentre Plus believes they are in the best interests of all. The foundation of this effort is profitable growth and increased employee ownership. Securing Their Future The acquisition and continuous development of leadership talent-surely an organization's most important asset-remain the key to the sustainable success of any company. Jobcentre Plus are committed to serving their shareholders, their clients, and their employees equally by taking advantage of their market position and by using the momentum of 2005 as a platform for becoming more profitable and achieving even greater success in their business. Jobcentre Plus have numerous business-building efforts and cost-control initiatives in place to help us improve both top and bottom line results again in 2005 as Jobcentre Plus distinguish themselves as the one firm with integrated services to help their clients create and maintain winning leadership teams. Bibliography www.jobcentreplus.com Read More