Client needs for coherent information, advice and guidance services ...

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Links between motivation and perceptions of coherence 543 We commented in Chapter IV that client motivation emerged as an important variable in relation to the way in which clients interact with IAG services. 11 These differences in motivation are particularly relevant to clients’ subsequent perceptions of coherence. 544 As we have seen, a significant number of clients receive IAG services without themselves having identified a need for IAG. Individuals who make direct approaches to learning providers are often seeking to implement a course of action, not to identify one! Typically these clients receive services at times and in ways that are considered appropriate by tutors and other external agents. 545 For example, advisers from voluntary and community education providers often engage the potential learner in discussions of need prior to registration, as well as meeting with learner groups toward the end of a course to discuss progression opportunities and other learning options. Other examples include inputs from employer representatives during access courses; and exercises and activities designed to focus career aspirations, delivered as an integral part of lifeskills and learning gateway training. 546 Providers take care to ensure IAG input is tailored to the needs of the group so far as is possible, with activities introduced as required; the timing of delivery is clearly another important consideration. When IAG delivered in this way is effective in supporting clients to implement their chosen course of action and develop their goals, services are perceived as coherent. These clients did not set out to find IAG, but they would typically declare themselves satisfied with the support received to help them progress in their chosen learning path. 547 The situation is different when clients are motivated to take up training as the result of an external requirement. In such cases, the decision to take up training is not necessarily part of a coherent plan. 12 As such, IAG services can be well-received in a superficial sense, but without bringing about a sense on the part of the individuals that they are making any progress. 548 Many examples of such clients come from Jobcentre Plus programmes. Their goals are often simply “to get a job”. They may feel dispirited and believe that there is little they can do to improve their job prospects; their aspirations are low and their only strategy is to continue applying for jobs. Such clients may be willing to participate in programmes but do not actively engage with the provision that is being delivered to them. 549 This is not true of all clients on Jobcentre Plus programmes, of course. Many individuals with longer-term career aspirations, or with the desire and confidence to identify and work towards longer-term goals, find Jobcentre provision helpful, especially when appropriate training is identified. This group are often individuals qualifying for early entry to New Deal and who are, therefore, often participating through choice, rather than as a benefit requirement. In that sense, they have more in common with the next group considered. 550 Coherence needs are different again amongst clients who actively put themselves forward for IAG services. These clients approach the service because they have identified a personal need for IAG. This does not necessarily imply that these clients have clear work or learning goals, or that they have clear expectations of how the 11 See paragraphs 403 to 408 12 as defined by the client, as opposed to the referring adviser! 35
service can help them; rather it suggests that they recognise that they need some help to move forward from where they are now. 551 This group includes individuals with a wide range of needs. Some have clear career goals but need help to determine an appropriate strategy for achieving those goals. At the other end of the spectrum are clients who want to change career, or return to work after a break, but have no idea of what they want to do. Still others might need help to determine how best to use their existing skills and qualifications in the current employment market. 552 Clients who actively seek IAG services appear to perceive coherence in terms of whether they can see how different services are contributing to progress towards their goals. Several well-motivated clients indicated that they would like an action plan, or some other indication of the various services available and the different ways in which they might meet help them meet their needs. One client remarked: “you need to know where it’s all leading - the provider might know but the client doesn’t!”. 553 This group includes many unemployed individuals whose goals are not dissimilar to those of Jobcentre clients: that is, to find a job. However, these individuals tend to have been unemployed for a shorter duration than the majority of those contacted through Jobcentre Plus. They also tended to be relatively well-qualified and experienced, and with higher aspirations and confidence in their ability to find appropriate work. Unlike many Jobcentre clients, this group had, at an early stage, identified a need for help to maximise their chances of obtaining work. 554 For unemployed clients who had actively engaged with IAG provision, the important factors in relation to coherence were that the service was able to support them towards their own work goals, continued to suggest new strategies and options when success was not forthcoming, and offered encouragement that helped the client to maintain motivation, even in the face of apparent lack of progress. Another key factor for clients who seek IAG is whether their initial contact results in an accurate diagnosis of need (recognised as such by the client) which leads to an early – and shared – understanding of how progress is to be made towards addressing that need. Internal and external coherence 555 As noted in paragraph 535, clients are strongly focused on their current provider and often fail to consider the wider range of information and advice sources. This may explain why coherence seems to have a more immediate relevance for clients when applied to services received within the same organisation (e.g. referral to different advisers for a different type of service internally). 556 The key appears to be having an on-going relationship with a trusted adviser who can be used as a point of reference and sounding board, even though some services may be delivered by his/her colleagues. This finding does not only apply to IAG services integrated within a broader programme of provision (e.g. lifeskills training). Similar conclusions were reached at focus groups with clients of many other IAG providers, including one-stop-shops, project-based job and training workshops and Connexions. 557 The strengths to such an on-going relationship are:- • trust and confidence; • awareness of the ‘history’ (no need to keep explaining how the current position was reached); • understanding of the personal drivers and values (no need to keep explaining what is important or why a particular goal is relevant). 36
Page 1 and 2: RESEARCH Client Needs for Coherent
Page 3 and 4: CONTENTS Chapter Page EXECUTIVE SUM
Page 5 and 6: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY INTRODUCTION 1. T
Page 7 and 8: • many clients said they would ha
Page 9 and 10: development of directories and data
Page 11 and 12: I: BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE INTRODUCT
Page 13 and 14: II: METHODOLOGY INTRODUCTION 201 Th
Page 15 and 16: 215 Several adaptations were introd
Page 17 and 18: III: CLIENTS AND PROVIDERS IN THE S
Page 19 and 20: Services Table 3.2: Breakdown of
Page 21 and 22: Services Table 3.4: Breakdown of cl
Page 23 and 24: 326 Our synthesis and analysis of c
Page 25 and 26: • a student who is part of a grou
Page 27 and 28: 420 In terms of patterns of referra
Page 29 and 30: RECOMMENDATIONS 434 We were not for
Page 31 and 32: targeted at them. This point was ma
Page 33 and 34: providers demonstrated a high level
Page 35: 536 Many clients do appear to find
Page 39 and 40: esource management practice; thus s
Page 41 and 42: Transfer of client records 579 The
Page 43 and 44: who graduated several years earlier
Page 45 and 46: exacerbated by media pressure to ge
Page 47 and 48: • In practice, there are often di
Page 49 and 50: 621 Referral to learning providers
Page 51 and 52: was minimal. The main exception was
Page 53 and 54: 649 In some areas, the IAGP itself
Page 55 and 56: combine their visit with other acti
Page 57 and 58: 681 There was a lack of suitable pr
Page 59 and 60: • Some advisers working with the
Page 61 and 62: APPENDIX A KEY DIFFERENCES BETWEEN
Page 63 and 64: other providers, including a number
Page 65 and 66: 52. Many providers’ staff express
Page 67 and 68: C. COHERENCE OF IAG SERVICES C.1 Pl
Page 69 and 70: C.4 Are there links with HE careers
Page 71: Copies of this publication can be o

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