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

7. The following structure is adopted for presentation of the headline findings 1 :-
• segmentation of clients by motivation;
• awareness and understanding of IAG;
• coherence;
• signposting and referral;
• links between providers;
• barriers and gaps;
• comment on specific topics;
• recommendations to the National IAG Board.
SEGMENTATION OF CLIENTS BY PERCEIVED MOTIVATION
8. Analysis of the sample as a whole suggested that there are two main groups of
clients, when segmented by motivation (as opposed to other contextual factors).
These two groups can be distinguished, as follows:-
• clients who were receiving IAG as part of an integrated package (e.g. a
programme of learning or training). This group can be subdivided further into:
• those who are participating in learning or training as a requirement of a benefit
claim
• clients who have taken up learning or training for non-benefit related reasons;
• clients who were accessing specialist IAG services direct (e.g. one-stop shop
users), specifically in order to obtain IAG on learning and work.
9. Clients receiving IAG as a consequence of participating in learning or training are
motivated chiefly by the desire to gain skills and/or to continue to receive benefit.
The key point is that IAG is brought to them (e.g. as an integrated element of the
learning programme) at the instigation of an external agent. Furthermore, these
individuals may not have identified a personal need for IAG, prior to receiving these
services.
10. By way of contrast, clients accessing specialist IAG services direct are motivated by
an identified need for IAG support. They are themselves proactive in seeking
services to address those needs.
AWARENESS AND UNDERSTANDING OF IAG
11. In general terms, clients have a very limited awareness and understanding of the full
range of IAG services. This is a major constraint on their being able to access the
most appropriate service at the optimal moment – and, by extension, on their ability
to assess whether services are ‘coherent’.
12. Selected findings include the following:-
• with the exceptions of Jobcentre Plus and learndirect, most adults are only
aware of their current IAG provider;
• most adults use IAG only for job seeking or access to learning opportunities.
Few access services for career development planning – but such provision is
difficult to find and is often a costed service;
• there is hardly any awareness of IAG being a sector or of providers being part of
a broader network;
• many adults, other than those in the benefits system, had ‘stumbled across’
their current provider. Selection was hardly ever the result of an informed
evaluation of the various providers in the area;
1 The remainder of this chapter is based closely on the material in Chapter IV.
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