Employability is a complex area of work and is influenced by a variety of needs, challenges, histories and circumstances. The Work EastRen team recognise that in this vein, success can be determined in a number of different ways, and whilst the long-term goal is to support people into employment, there are various complexities and factors that may impact on a client’s journey to employment.
The team’s aim was to develop a trauma-informed/enhanced advisor team that was responsive to local needs in the community and the individual needs of clients. The people who engage with the team’s support represent a diverse and varied range of needs, including those with experience of the immigration system, people who are care-experienced, those in recovery from substance use, people leaving the criminal justice system, and single-parent households. As such, the team wanted to ensure that they had an appropriate understanding and awareness of trauma to support them with shaping their service delivery and in recognising and responding to trauma. As part of this aim, the team are looking to develop their Employability Feedback Group to support continued reflection and reviewing of service delivery.
Partnership working
The project involved the whole Work EastRen team, who are responsible for supporting clients to gain employment, and included the involvement of Business Partners who sit within the employability framework as well as partners from East Renfrewshire’s Local Employability Partnership. These partners included Department of Working Pensions (DWP), Skills Development Scotland, Enable Works, Scottish Action for Mental Health (SAMH) and other specialised agencies who are involved in supporting clients on their employability journey.
The Work EastRen team worked with their local Trauma Implementation Coordinator following discussions highlighted during a training session. This led to further engagement, support and reviewing of the impact of trauma-informed practice within the team. Furthermore, this relationship enabled the team to host a bespoke training day with partner agencies to raise awareness and share perspectives.
…there has been a significant increase in strategic buy-in and an appetite at service management and team leadership level to engage in the programme.
Challenges and Enablers
The key challenge for this process was to gain buy-in from the team.
Whilst the workforce is supportive in nature, employability as a sector is not considered culturally as an explicit ‘caring profession’ such as Social Work or Health, and in turn the language and ethos of a trauma-informed approach wasn’t consistent with the ‘traditional’ way of designing and delivering employability support.
Buy in came from the team as part of Continuous Professional Development (CPD) workshops and protected learning time. Two of the teams’ advisers are co-located with social work teams within the council so had brought back their own learning from these departments and were keen to incorporate this within their own approach.
The team developed the employability feedback group as a way of harnessing the lived experience of their diverse client groups and cohorts. Previously this was captured through online surveys and feedback to advisers but it was realised that this was something that needed a more formal and inclusive format.
A key enabler was the role that the client adviser played to help champion, raise awareness and drive forward trauma-informed approaches within the team.
This client adviser joined the Trauma Collaborative Network within the local authority and alongside other staff members, participated in the trauma-enhanced training to develop their knowledge of the trauma agenda. Alongside management carving out space and time to influence changes within the team, this enabled and empowered staff to embed trauma-informed approaches within their practice.
The feedback gathered did generate discussion amongst front line staff around best approaches and these reflections were brought to team meetings and other workshops.
There was potential for a “fear factor” around the word trauma and a lack of understanding and the myths surrounding it with possible avoidance of the issue. Through training, discussion and a positive approach, there was a much improved awareness which allowed advisers to recognise signs and act appropriately to provide the best support to clients.
I have become more aware of what the impacts of trauma can have on individuals and how individuals can deal with and react to trauma so differently. Having more of an awareness of this allows me to deal with situations more tactfully whilst giving a more thought to different factors that I hadn’t really thought about before.
Outcomes
Project outputs and early outcomes included:
- Developed the lived experience group (employability feedback) alongside trauma-informed training for all staff
- Approached feedback from this group with a trauma informed lens
- Responses and feedback from this group were implemented e.g. website development, wellbeing classes on offer etc.
- All staff fully trained at Level 2 and around 5 staff at Level 3.
- Staff have also attended their own wellbeing courses e.g. training delivered by HSCP including domestic homicide training and discussed clients who are perpetrators/victims of domestic abuse and how to better support them and yourself when dealing with trauma. Other training includes, Mental Health First Aid and self-harm awareness.
- Feedback from service users through surveys have been introduced. Consistent engagement with the feedback employability group. Continue to look for new participants and we continue to develop the themes of the groups.
- From training follow-up survey, participants detail that there has been some cultural shifts in general approach to working with clients.
It has influence[d] me by taking a sensitive approach to questioning bearing in mind my client group of migrants. It has also allowed me to track progress very carefully and bear in mind timescales for progression
Results
The team have continued to enhance staff training and awareness, and are continuing to develop the feedback group with service users. The feedback captured from this group has been forthcoming and demonstrates a positive response to the changes implemented as a result of the group, such as a wider vocational offer, wellbeing programmes, and more effective communication around programmes.
Staff were happy to undertake the training to better support their client groups. All reported they had a positive experience. Feedback from staff included:
“…everyone is more empathetic when dealing with clients”
“I know everyone within my team who completed the training found it really useful and really great training course and we are perhaps more kind of open to chatting things through.”
“I am able to identify clients that are dealing with trauma and to sign post them to other services for support”.
Learning
A key learning point from the team’s experience is that by investing fully in trauma-informed approaches they have been able to generate new ways of approaching and thinking about their work. Although the team were unfamiliar with trauma-informed approaches in the initial stages, by getting staff buy in through allocating specific time for staff training and supporting them in their training and learning, the team were able to introduce a new way of working that has benefited clients and increased the team’s influence and reach. This has included a record number of referrals for 2024-25, with 700 unique participants (an increase of 100 from the previous year), including referrals from more specialised partners including Community Mental Health Team, Transitions Team, Addiction Services etc. due to stronger links in with key staff and the raised profile of the team’s services and approach.
As well as the client experience, shared learning amongst the advisers worked well as staff have now been trained and continue to refer their clients to the feedback group to gain their insights and knowledge. This means the team have a group of people to allow them to maintain our progress and trauma-informed perspective.
Having the Trauma Champion as point of contact for any guidance and support alongside the Trauma Implementation Coordinator has been another enabler in throughout this project.
A key piece of learning to share with other agencies and teams who do not identify themselves as working with trauma regularly would include preparing and supporting staff to have the space and time to engage in ongoing learning and training. In addition, keeping trauma as a standing item in team meeting agendas ensures that there are regular opportunities to reflect on progress in shifting to a more trauma-informed culture and workforce.
The team have also shared their learning and practice out with the local authority, and delivered workshops at the Scottish Local Authority Economic Development (SLAED) conference to promote their approach to embedded trauma-informed practice within employability settings
one of the key learning points has been the enthusiasm and leadership showing throughout this change by the team leader and champion. It has shown that with good leadership these perspectives can be adopted by everyone