Employment Service: Transforming Customer Services through IT
Nick Rousseau 1, Janet Hinchliff 2and Bronwyn Robinson3
1 Occ. Psychology Division, Employment Service,
B2, Porterbrook House,
7 Pear St., Sheffield S11 8JF, UK. humfpsy.es.ph@gtnet.gov.uk
2 Process and Systems Division, Employment Service,
L3, Steel City House,
West Street,
Sheffield, UK.
3Citizen Connect Ltd., Wharfebank House,
Ilkley Road,
Otley,
LS21 3JP, UK
b.robinson@lifeskills.co.uk
KEYWORDS:Public Access system, touch-screen, user organisation, Internet.
INTRODUCTION
The exhibit and demonstrations will provide delegates with an appreciation of the HCI issues the Employment Service is addressing as it continuously seeks ways to improve services to jobseekers through greater use of IT. The Employment Service is a large (35,000 employees and a network of 1,000 Jobcentres) public sector organisation that makes extensive use of information. The New Deal initiatives launched by the Labour Government have added a major impetus to change the face of services to jobseekers and has placed greater emphasis on working with other organisations in helping diverse groups of people from welfare into work. Ministers requirements for change are both broad- ranging and urgent. Human Computer Interaction, for the Employment Service, means helping in the development or procurement of systems that meet real business needs within very tight timescales; and ensuring that system users and other stakeholders are enabled to benefit from these systems in supporting real world tasks. As such, considerable attention needs to be spent on enabling the exploitation of the systems as well as on their design and development. It is HCI in a real world context!
THE EXHIBIT
The exhibit will contrast: the technology and environment of Jobcentres of the past; the new style of Jobcentre that is being piloted/rolled out with: self service touch screen kiosks where jobseekers can search for vacancies directly from a huge database and submit themselves to them using the integral telephone; new desks and PC-based systems that enable ES people to provide an increasingly professional service with guidance available on-screen. In addition, the exhibit will show delegates other systems that are being developed to manage such services and to support Head Office policy colleagues in interpreting Ministers' wishes and guiding practice in the field. Around the exhibit area, there will be posters describing how these systems have been developed, giving further information about the emerging vision of the ES of the future, and acknowledging the range of organisations and partners who we have worked with to produce this. In particular, it will be made clear to delegates the huge agenda of Human Computer Interaction issues that have been identified in the course of this work, and the practical steps that have been taken to address them.
The exhibit will be in place throughout the duration of the conference. In addition, we will be offering a timetabled demonstration of our Open Access System - the touch-screen kiosks we have developed. We have also invited Lifeskills, a separate company developing a system for jobseekers, to demonstrate their product, to enable delegates to see other ways in which IT can be used to support jobseeking.
N.B.
The exhibit will make clear where the Employment Service has benefitted from the services of external organisations but this does not constitute an endorsement of their services or products. Lifeskills is one of a number of organisations developing services and systems for jobseekers with whom the Employment Service is working.
THE OPEN ACCESS PROJECT
The Employment Service has been exploring how much of job-broking could be carried out directly by jobseekers via the use of self service touch screen kiosks since 1995. There are two key issues here:
*what aspects of the process of searching and submitting for suitable vacancies could be taken up
by jobseekers?
*what proportion of jobseekers could do this for themselves with the right system and support? Insofar as job-broking can be left to jobseekers to carry out, the Employment Service will be able to concentrate the time of its staff on tasks and jobseekers where it adds more value (in particular supporting those most disadvantaged in the labour market). The approach taken has combined:
*studies of jobseekers' behaviour in searching for vacancies using the old style Vacancy Display
Boards;
*consultation with Jobcentre staff regarding their perceptions of jobseekers' requirements;
*evaluation of early system prototypes with jobseekers and heuristic evaluation of the user
interface by HCI specialists;
*major pilots of systems in jobcentres where Vacancy Display Boards have been removed, with
evaluations including jobseeker reactions and business impact.
The Open Access System (OAS) represents the second pilot of touch screen technology to assist jobseekers in their search for work. In an earlier pilot, with a more limited system, Jobseekers would search for work using the terminals and would take a printout to ES staff to be submitted to the job. The Open Access System takes the pilot a step further and, as well as allowing people to search for jobs using touch screen technology, it also allows them to submit themselves to the job using a phone integral to the terminal. The first system pilotted was well received and extensively used by jobseekers. We have identified a number of key challenges in this work:
*We have a very wide range of clients (disabled clients, people with literacy problems,
executives, labourers) and it is vital that we avoid further disadvantaging people who might
already find difficulty with jobsearch.
*We could not rewrite our vacancies database and this meant we needed to find how to provide
the best front end to this data, which constrained the design options.
*We had to re-design current job broking processes to integrate with the automated system,
which we did with help from Jobcentre staff.
*One of the biggest challenges was how to identify jobseekers using the system so that we could
monitor what vacancies they apply for. We decided on magnetic swipe cards; this system
required the least amount of client activity to access the system.
*The nature of the work led to concerns amongst staff about risks to their jobs - our experience
has been that by involving them in the planning and implementation of the pilots, and
communicating openly about their scope, staff have accepted the changes.
*The enthusiasm of the developers had to be kept in check. Kiosk technology was new to them
and they were keen to produce a system that would look impressive in the I.T. market place. We
wanted to maintain the 'simplicity' of the interface, and wanted to ensure the system could be
produced in the short timescales available.
The demonstration will provide delegates with an understanding of the system currently being pilotted and the issues and challenges we are addressing.
LIFESKILLS CITIZEN CONNECT
Currently in development, this is a WWW tool that harnesses the power of the Internet to provide individuals with an on-line resource giving information, guidance and a support service for finding work, choosing careers and entering into lifelong learning. The package will include:
*tools for individuals to develop profiles of their interests, skills and values;
*guidance packages on key areas of jobsearch such as CVs, being interviewed;
*support for the development and review of key skills such as communication, time management,
getting on with people;
*a database of occupational groups, each containing standard information and with video material
to help communicate the nature of the work involved;
The package can be linked to job banks so as to provide current vacancy information. Although the focus in the design is to equip the individual for self-discovery and self-navigation, it will be offered through intermediary agencies or possibly in Jobcentres direct. Citizen Connect is intended to be a networking tool which agents can use to empower individuals to navigate the rapidly changing world of work. In particular, there is a facility for directly comparing two different occupations or vacancies. This is intended to enable users to develop an appreciation of their own needs and of the ways in which jobs vary.
The benefits of the resource for the individual are:
*Connected to the world of work and employment
*Given skills in navigating successfully the labour market
*In command of the process
*Equipped to discover themselves in terms of skills and talents
*Able to make informed choices related to employment and learning
*Connected to a support system for sustainable career progression
*Develop confidence and fluency in information and communication technology
*The benefits of the resource for employment agencies are:
*Work in partnership with individuals
*Create greater opportunities to dialogue with clients at their level of interest
*Provide individuals with a much wider access to services than currently available by providing
inter-service connectivity.
