Employment support is not the same as Supported Employment
08 September 2025
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In this article Julia Green, the National Chair of BASE and the Supported Employment Manager at North Northamptonshire Council, argues why employment support is not the same as supported employment. Why The Distinction Matters In a world where we continue to strive for accessible and inclusive recruitment pathways, diverse, talented, and representative workforces, and a focus on can and not can’t, employment support or supported employment absolutely makes sense, right? And with only subtle differences between employment support and supported employment as headlines, what they deliver and how they must be really similar, right?
Supported Employment; A biography Supported employment has a well-documented history and today within the sector those founded principles remain, with continued development and growth in the tried and tested 5 stage model of supported employment and in its quality fidelity, namely the supported employment quality framework, or SEQF for short. Understanding what quality should and does look like is one of the key differences. Without quality measures and assurances people, providers, employers, and commissioners have no idea what ‘good’ is. Credibility is weakened and the risk of ‘any job’ over ‘the job’ increases and just any job is not supported employment. Employment Support: A Parallel History
Provision for employment support has an equally tracked history and over the last 20 years Work Preparation, Work Step, Work Choice, and Supported Employment Services represent just some of that history. It is always interesting to see how, where and when we circle back to things that worked well but then changed. I recently found myself describing place and train as being ‘do you remember the Work Preparation programme back in 2005, where we engaged quickly with employers and introduced work at a much earlier stage to place the person and then train them on the job’. Place, train and the 5 stages of supported employment model create our foundation for delivery. Without one or either, supported employment does not exist and generic action plans, in work support calls, texts and check-ins just don’t make the supported employment grade. Person-centred Practice: More than just a job Supported employment is more than just the job. It is about really engaging with the person (stage 1), identifying through quality vocational profiles (stage 2) and job analysis (stage 3), everything that is important to the person, including circles of support, routines, learning styles, skills, and development goals. It is about challenging the status quo of systems and processes, changing hearts and minds, educating, championing (employer engagement – stage 4), and creating opportunity for everything the person can do, with little or no focus on what they can’t. Job carving, job coaching, quality in work support (stage 5), and organic employer solutions are all absolute musts when it comes to quality supported employment.
Employer Engagement: The Non-Negotiable Danger alert! Do not overlook or underestimate the importance of the employer, like ever. They are not just gatekeepers to jobs with endless resources, patience, knowledge and understanding and supported employment will not work without them. Employer engagement is about really, like really, considering business needs, pressures, aims, and ambitions and working with employers as partners to tailor, adapt, overcome barriers and identify solutions together. Real-World Solutions: PPE, Interviews, and Accessibility I recently accompanied one of my team to an initial employer meeting and was beyond proud to listen as they explained to the employer everything that we, as a provider, could offer them in terms of help, support, education, learning, practical resources… a solution-focussed listening ear. The employer had constant and high numbers of vacancies, an absolute want to be inclusive, creative, and accessible, but were finding the balance between business, recruitment and staff needs a real struggle. They explained how their work spaces required high levels of hygiene and process (lots of PPE – personal protective equipment - think blue hair nets, aprons, gloves and face covering and no make-up, no perfume rules), which led to in-depth discussions around solutions, including seam free PPE alternatives, to avoid irritation to people who may be sensitive to the feel of fabric and videos to show what PPE would look like so that people could prepare in advance. Assisted interviews, providing questions in advance, the disadvantages of large and busy assessment days, simplifying language, rules, initial applications, inductions and processes. The ultimate automatic door, accessible to everybody regardless of why they might need to go through. Removing Barriers: A £60 Lesson in Retention
During our meeting a call came through to the employer. A recently appointed staff member called to hand in their notice as they were unable to pay (upfront) the £2.50 per day bus fare (subsidised and dedicated work bus). Payday was 4 weeks away. The employer team simply looked at each other and then us and said, ‘we just need to remove this barrier don’t we’. At a cost of £60 they were able to retain a staff member, continue in their ambition to be a local employer of choice, prove their flexibility and commitment their team, tailored to the needs of the person. Sometimes the solution is that simple (and sometimes much more complicated or complex but don’t worry because that is exactly where supported employment teams come in!).
The Supported Employment Equation: Person + Provider + Employer = Quality outcomes through model fidelity and mutual trust.
Supported employment starts with the person and then the provider supports the person based on the 5-stage supported employment model, and the employer makes up the final third of the jigsaw, reassured by model fidelity that they know what good looks like and that they can trust in ‘good’. Right support for the right person at the right time and with the right employer. Employment support is not supported employment. Right! This article first appeared in IEP Journal #11
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