Community Employment Mentor
Full time- 37 hours
Newport
£11.50 an hour
ST7454
Our client is looking for a Community Employment Mentor to join them. DBS Required
JOB PURPOSE
Community Employment Mentors will provide intensive one to one mentoring to participants to help them identify and take practical steps to overcome barriers preventing them taking up identified training and employment.
You will support a caseload of participants identified as being eligible to receive services under the programme, developing and implementing their action plans, addressing barriers to employment, developing employability skills, and securing employment whilst actively promoting the services of the programme to a wide range of stakeholders. You will empower, motivate, and support participants to move into and, most importantly, sustain employment, as well as supporting participants to progress whilst in work.
You will provide a flexible, high quality service, working in partnership with Communities for Work and will be expected to work as part of an integrated team. Supporting participants through a person-centred approach to mentoring and coaching and tackling barriers to employment (arising from poverty and long-term inactivity), providing interventions on an outreach basis, and supporting participants in the community.
Duties
· To manage the recruitment, retention, training and development of participants, building positive relationships and developing effective processes to identify and overcome barriers as a pathway to employment as set out in the relevant guidance.
· To have individual responsibility for mentoring a caseload of participants, using a positive, enabling and collaborative approach.
· To use a variety of techniques, including effective diagnosis, individual coaching and personal support to maximise the number of programme participants securing and sustaining employment.
· To work with key stakeholders, service delivery partners, statutory and non-statutory organisations in order to promote the support available through the programme and generate referrals.
· To work closely with stakeholders such as Families First, Flying Start and supporting people in order to provide an effective referral pathway and support participants in order to provide a continuum of support and progression route towards employment.
· To provide a flexible service, developing comprehensive support plans with participants, undertaking further assessments and regular reviews as appropriate in collaboration with additional early intervention programmes to maximise collective support available for participants in addressing wider barriers of employment.
· To create timely support and interventions for participants moving between the closely aligned Welsh Government anti-Poverty programmes in order to identify the most appropriate service enabling the participant to make positive steps towards employment.
· To work closely with the Employer Liaison Officer to ensure they can keep participants in sustained employment providing help and advice as required by the employer.
· To provide information, advice and guidance regarding the support available from the programme to key stakeholders and participants
· To be involved in the Triage process, taking, and making referrals and completing initial assessments.
· To undertake work with other team members in supporting participants to prepare for training and employment
· To identify alternative employment options for participants who require additional support in progression.
· To verify job outcomes through evidence or employer contact and to be responsible for ensuring all participants outcomes are recorded accurately.
· To maintain participants files and data (paper and database) to 100% accuracy at the first, and every subsequent instance of completion
· To follow prescribed filing and data accuracy requirements to ensure the confidentiality of participant information and a robust audit trail for internal and external review.
· To assist in the co-ordination of referral mechanisms
· To participate in the Welsh Government programme development activity
· To provide flexible support to the programme in the area and work occasional unsocial hours.
Qualifications
Educated to a minimum of NVQ level 4 or equivalent
Knowledge
· Understanding the support needs of long term unemployed, economically inactive people, young people their families and single customers
· Thorough and up to date knowledge of employment and benefit issues and an understanding of welfare reform and the implications for participants.
· Knowledge of related services provided by the statutory and voluntary sector
· Understanding of confidentiality and data protection issues
· An understanding of customer service in a service delivery setting
· Experience
· Extensive experience of providing intensive employment focussed mentoring to a caseload of participants
· Experience of exposure to client groups. These client groups may include benefit claimants, single parents, those with criminal records, protected characteristics, mental health groups, specific disabilities etc
· Understanding of performance management and monitoring processes
· Experience of joint working with statutory and voluntary agencies
· Experience of assessment and development of action plans and their implementation