Ongoing support for employees

Overview

Ongoing support, sometimes called post-placement support, helps employees learn their tasks and meet employer expectations. By focusing on real workplace relationships and practical guidance, employees and employers build confidence and achieve better outcomes. 

Almost everyone needs some support when starting a new job and this often comes from a range of sources, including managers, workmates and others. For some people with disability, additional assistance is required to help them settle into their new role. This additional support often comes from an employment specialist, sometimes called a job coach or employment support worker.  The evidence confirms that providing support in the workplace improves job retention.²

To establish the kinds of assistance that will help the person, it is important to work with them to understand if they want support and how they’d like it to be provided. This could include help communicating with their employer, as well as support in the workplace or offsite. With the person’s consent, it may also involve supporting the employer to help ensure a smooth transition into the role and beyond.

Some things to consider about ongoing support for employees include:

Planning for success

In the lead-up to the person starting their job, discuss the support they would benefit from and, with their consent, involve their employer. Information gathered through this process can then help develop a shared plan or ‘post-placement support’ agreement.³ This type of plan outlines when and how support will be delivered in the workplace, as well as any support the person is comfortable for the employer to receive to help sustain their employment. 

Providing work-related support 

Providing tailored support especially during the early stages of employment can help employees settle into their role and support longer term job sustainability.  

Where on-the-job training forms part of the post-placement support agreement, it should use proven learning methods that break tasks into steps, provide practice opportunities and feedback and reinforce success. This approach helps the person learn their tasks so the work is done correctly and meets the employer’s expectations and standards.⁴ Support can also be provided  outside the workplace, for example, in cases where the employee has decided not to share disability information with their employer.⁵ 

Fading support and identifying natural supports

In the workplace, the goal is for the person’s employment support worker (sometimes called a job coach) to be as ‘invisible’ as possible. Over time, their role usually fades as ‘natural’ supports are built in the workplace.⁶ 

Natural supports are the everyday assistance available to all employees, such as guidance from a manager, supervisor, or co-worker with experience in the role. The goal is for the person to rely primarily on these workplace supports rather than their job coach⁷, with day-to-day support provided through typical workplace relationships and processes.

In this context, fading shouldn’t be seen as reducing support, but as building up the employee’s natural supports. Spending less time with the employee in the workplace is the eventual outcome of fading.⁸

Key strategies for success

Providing effective support that is based on an understanding of the person’s individual needs and uses the right mix of strategies tailored to those needs leads to better job retention.⁹ Some strategies to support this process include:

• developing a clear plan with the person and employer about what support will be provided and how
• designing the supports to match the person’s needs and strengths. 
• adjusting the supports over time and the person builds independence and capability 
• providing training in the workplace that is tailored to what the person needs and how they learn best 
• building the employer’s and colleagues’ ability to support the person to learn and grow in the job.