Employer engagement in active labour market programmes : The role of boundary spanners

Journal article


Ingold, Joanne. (2018). Employer engagement in active labour market programmes : The role of boundary spanners. Public Administration : An international quarterly covering public administration throughout the world. 96(4), pp. 707-720. https://doi.org/10.1111/padm.12545
AuthorsIngold, Joanne
Abstract

The involvement (or engagement) of employers is critical to the success and effectiveness of active labour market programmes (ALMPs), yet little is known about how street-level organizations (SLOs) delivering them interact with employers. This article draws on interviews with ‘employer engagement’ staff in SLOs contracted to deliver the UK's principal ALMP, the ‘Work Programme’. Conceptualizing these staff as ‘boundary spanners’ who operated both within SLOs and at the physical boundaries between SLOs and employers, the study found that their day-to-day work involved three key types of activities. First, initial business-to-business ‘sales’ approaches to employers; second, a complex process of matching of clients to employers’ requirements through intra-organizational interactions; third, the building and maintenance of trusting inter-organizational relationships with employers. The strategies and tensions revealed emphasize the under explored, but critical, role of inter-personal dynamics, both within and at the boundary of SLOs, in the aim of assisting people into employment.

Keywordsactive labour market programmes; street-level organizations; employer engagement; boundary spanners
Year01 Jan 2018
JournalPublic Administration : An international quarterly covering public administration throughout the world
Journal citation96 (4), pp. 707-720
PublisherJohn Wiley and Sons Ltd (UK)
ISSN0033-3298
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1111/padm.12545
Web address (URL)https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/padm.12545
Open accessPublished as non-open access
Research or scholarlyResearch
Page range707-720
Author's accepted manuscript
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All rights reserved
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Open
Publisher's version
License
All rights reserved
File Access Level
Controlled
Output statusPublished
Publication dates
Online16 Aug 2018
Publication process dates
Accepted07 Aug 2018
Deposited07 Jun 2024
Additional information

© 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd

For author manuscript:
© 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. This is the peer reviewed version of the following article:
Ingold J. Employer engagement in active labour market programmes: The role of boundary
spanners. Public Admin. 2018;96:707–720, which has been published in final form at
https://doi.org/10.1111/padm.12545. This article may be used for non-commercial
purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving. U

Place of publicationUnited Kingdom
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