WHERE
The Meriko Project was managed by the Merikoski Vocational Training Centre, which is owned by the national Pulmonary Association Heli. The project operated in Oulu, Northern Finland, until the end of year 2006, when its funding ended. The objective of the project was to support the participants in finding paths to basic vocational training, to further training or to employment. The project offered on average 25 positions at a time for young people and adults looking for a job under different schemes: training for working life, traineeship, work try-out and subsidised employment. The main target group was persons who had had difficulties in entering the labour market or were likely to experience them, and in particular those who had not been able to find employment or further training upon completing their basic vocational studies. The starting point of the Meriko Project was to identify the best way for each person to find employment or training.
Measuring empowerment through changes in work ability and personal situation
The project allowed its participants to maintain and update their knowledge and skills, to learn about work tasks in different fields, and to get practical work experience in the joinery, metal and textile workshops and office tasks at the Meriko Factory. The training at the Meriko Factory lasted normally six months.
A work placement officer, psychologist and work supervisors offered support in career and life planning to the project participants in a special recruitment unit (Meriko-Rekry). This included a jointly prepared personal plan for the future, guidance in further placement to work or training, assessment of training capability, and discussion with potential employers in co-operation with other service providers, such as the employment office and the regional labour force service centre.
The Meriko Factory had six full-time employees: a manager, three supervisors, work placement officer and sales/office clerk. In addition, the Meriko Project employed a psychologist and a project manager on a part time basis.
Although the project funding has ended, the experiences will be used by the mother organisation in its corresponding activities.
The Meriko Project was a partner in the EQUAL Development Partnership Response.
WHY
The most important reason for developing measurements of individual empowerment in the Meriko Project and in the Development Partnership Response was the lack of proven methods for measuring empowerment in Finland. The Meriko Project needed to demonstrate its impacts on society and the results achieved especially to the funders and other stakeholders. A further reason for developing the measurement was the need to find the most suitable path to employment or training for each participant during and after their stay at Meriko.
HOW
Objectives and indicators of successful results
The goals that are discussed here are related to supporting the personal empowerment of the participants (clients) of the Meriko Project in accordance with the project plan and the social budget prepared for the process of social accounting in 2006. The indicators of the social accounts related to ‘Supporting the empowerment’ illustrate the services of the recruitment function and demonstrate the results achieved to the project’s key stakeholders. The main indicators of empowerment have been defined as follows:
- A cognitive ability test has been done by 90% of those who have been at Meriko for over a month by using psychological test methods (ability assessment and personal guidance)
- An assessment of ability to work and working skills has been done by 90% of those who have completed their stay at the Meriko Factory (self assessment and supervisor’s assessment)
- A personal plan for the future has been prepared for all persons who have completed their stay at the Meriko Factory or who have interrupted it for positive reasons, that is, after having found a job, a training position or some other meaningful solution for the future
- A self assessment questionnaire of empowerment has been filled out by 90% of those who have started in the second half of the year 2006
- 60% of the target group estimates that during their stay at the Meriko Factory improvements can be seen in their
- a) readiness to work
- b) quality of life and life situation
- c) outlook on the future
The indicators of empowerment were defined in co-operation with other organisations, units and experts engaged in similar work within the Deveopment Partnership Response. The Meriko Project personnel have also defined a level of satisfactory results for their own activities.
Measurement
The fulfilment of the objectives 1–4 is verified from statistics. The realisation of objective 5 is measured by a self-evaluation (empowerment survey). It comprises a set of 39 questions to assess the individual’s commitment to the Meriko Project’s activities, ability to work, learning capability, personal experience of health and coping in life, social relationships, and outlook on the future. The change in the target group’s empowerment is examined as a distribution of a set of several questions on a three-point scale: decreased – increased – no change.
The respondents filled out the self-evaluation form for the first time when starting at Meriko and for the second time during their last week in the project, when they were likely to be able to assess the personal change that had taken place during their stay. The results of the empowerment survey were analysed by the work placement officer and the psychologist.
Results and actions taken
It was shown that, on the basis of measurements, it was possible to plan realistic future paths for the target group:
- Since the initial survey was made during the first week, it supported the planning of further actions needed to support the individual. Thus, the evaluation guided and supported the career planning counselling provided by the recruitment function.
- The survey conducted in the last week provided information about the actions needed to support the person after the project. This information can be distributed upon the participant’s consent, for example, to the labour force service centre or to some other relevant expert to help make decisions about future actions to support the individual.
The empowerment results are recorded in the Meriko Project’s social accounts where they are viewed against the set objectives. This allows key stakeholders to draw their own conclusions about the success of the operations and use the information as a basis of decision-making, for example, when considering funding.
Since the measurement of empowerment has given good results, the self-evaluation of empowerment will be applied in autumn 2007 also to students of the Merikoski Vocational Training Centre, which managed the Meriko Project.
Enclosure: Personal self-evaluation form, Meriko Project
For more information: Merikoski Vocational Training Centre (Ammattiopisto Luovi as of 1st August 2007), Marjut Huttunen, marjut.huttunen(at)luovi.fi