Local London JETS win at DWP awards

Our employment programme and partners were recognised for successfully delivering the Job Entry: Targeted Support (JETS) programme across our sub-region at the Department of Work and Pensions’ awards celebration on 31 January 2023.

Part of the national Work and Health Programme funded by the Department of Work and Pensions, the Local London JETS scheme, which is delivered by partners at Maximus UK, has helped over 9,200 people across our nine member boroughs back to work since it launched during the pandemic.

Standing out against providers across the country, partners delivering JETS in Local London boroughs were winners and came highly commended in the best Employer and Innovation categories.

Travelodge, a key employment partner took home a well-deserved Employer Award for their “exceptional commitment in creating opportunities for JETS participants in Local London.”

The sub-region’s JETS team were also highly recommended in the Innovation Award category, where fresh thinking and combination of incremental gains improved outcomes for participants.

 

Photo: Sarah Jones, Local London Acting Employment Programmes Manager (left) and Nishma Shah, Head of Operations JETS, Maximus (right) collect JETS Employer Award.

Sarah Jones, Local London Employment Programme Manager, who collected the award said “The impact of COVID was felt acutely across north east and south east London. Managing JETS on behalf of our boroughs we quickly found that participants needed more support than anticipated, so we introduced wrap-around support such as financial advice, mental health and bereavement support where needed. Working with our delivery partners Maximus, we helped over 9,200 people back into work. In such a bleak time, this programme made a positive difference to many people and I am proud of all the team involved.”

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About the awards

Winner: JETS Employer Award

From the outset, Travelodge, has been ambitious about supporting the programme, willing to give Local London JETS participants the opportunity to work regardless of their backgrounds or experiences.

Travelodge’s commitment to supporting our customers has been remarkable. They have:

• Supported our regional job fairs and local job hubs.
• Demonstrated open-mindedness and willingness to give our participants the opportunity to work regardless of their backgrounds or experiences.
• Shown flexibility in the hiring process to accommodate participants’ needs.
• Assessed our participants based on aptitude, soft and transferable skills, really helping participants without prior experience in this sector.
• Offered in-depth training and development package, as well as incentives including flexible working, discounts and complimentary food while working on site.

Working alongside Travelodge has created a sustainable partnership and led to hundreds of sustainable jobs for our participants. Indeed, from February 2022 we became one of the main recruiting partners for their London hotels, across their departments.

Local London JETS participants who have gained employment with Travelodge have shared nothing but positive feedback. One former JETS participant, now employed by Travelodge said “They have given me the opportunity to grow and develop my skillset and progress within the company.”

Highly recommended: JETS Innovation Award

The Local London team also shone brightly in the innovation category for their commitment to continuous improvement. Each month the team introduced incremental improvements to the way they supported people across all our boroughs. This included:

• Offering face-to-face inductions, which helped build trust and create better working relationships between participants and advisors.
• Providing Behaviour Science Training to all advisors to better understand participants and improve response, including using ‘nudges’, resulting in a 37% rise in attendance/response rates.
• Creating job hubs for holding interviews with employers in Maximus’s offices resulting in 100% success rate of job starts.
• Pairing participants with an advisor who had a lived experience in their chosen sector.
• Month-by-month this helped get more people back into work which is evidenced by a 25% increase in job starts between year 1 and 2.

The JETS employment scheme, delivered on behalf of Local London by Maximus UK, has helped thousands of people back into work who were struggling to find employment during the pandemic.

People on the programme were provided help with IT skills, job searching, CV writing, interview support and support to consider different employment sectors, routes and ways of working including home working. The programme also offered participants financial and mental health support where needed.

The scheme will close in March 2023 and has stopped taking referrals.

For more information about JETS, visit the scheme website.

Read more JETS news: www.local.london/topics/jets