Page 65 - Socially-responsible-restructuring-Effective-strategies-for-supporting-redundant-workers

Socially responsible restructuring
Effective strategies for supporting redundant workers

Case study evidence here is limited, and the review concludes that, while
these issues may feature strongly in some cooperative local area arrangements,
at enterprise level they have limited direct relevance or tangibility.

3.3.1. Quality assurance and evaluation
Although quality assurance systems for guidance exist, such as the matrix
28
standard in the UK ( ), there is very little evidence of the widespread use of
quality assurance systems as a means of assuring quality of provision in career
guidance in restructuring companies. Where quality measures are employed
these are more likely to be performance-related, such as for agreed delivery
standards, and client feedback measures. None are strictly quality assurance
measures. Similarly, in respect to monitoring and evaluation, although a number
of case studies were able to share monitoring data about the number of
beneficiaries, much of this was restricted in terms of its extent and quality. These
data are reviewed in more detail for outcomes and impact in Chapter 5.
Only a limited number of formal evaluation studies were available (for example in
PACE in Scotland and ReAct in Wales, Case studies 10, 12 and 16) and these
were available mostly where external funding had been secured, including for
ESF, an issue returned to in the following chapter. Consequently, it is not
possible to comment in detail on key aspects of medium-term effectiveness, as
advocated in the guidance Resolution. In general, the review concludes that
medium-term effectiveness is a neglected area for evaluation. Evidence of the
effects and effectiveness of guidance interventions, in the development of career
management skills by individuals and wider employability, is unlikely to be
secured from local-level evaluation and monitoring. This short-term focus is
disappointing, given that some work has been supported using European funding
sources, such as the ESF. It also suggests that the questions raised by the
Council Resolution about the value of evidence-led reviews of the effectiveness
of practice may be long overdue in this specific area.

3.3.2. Practitioner competence
The widespread need to develop career guidance practitioner competences to
develop the quality and coordination of career guidance services featured in a
recent Cedefop study on ‘professionalising career guidance’. This proposed a
competence framework for career practitioners, from which the following
competence areas are particularly relevant for career guidance providers in the
context of restructuring:
(a) identify information needed for career development activities;

28
( ) See: www.matrixstandard.com/ [cited 10.5.2010].

59