Tips for Successful Partnership of Employer and DESO

Meridian Meats and Farm Market, a medium-sized BC business, and posAbilities Employment Services, offer some tips for creating a successful partnership between employers and DESOs.

Understand each other’s organizations

“Before I engage in a partnership with a service organization, I want to understand what the service organization’s trajectory is for their clients and what the job developer’s relationship is with their clients. This is important for me to understand whether our values will align.

I also want to ensure they understand my business so that when they recommend candidates, they are likely to succeed in my organization. The more they understand my organization, the better they will understand the roles we are recruiting for.”

—Brody, Meridian Meats and Farm Market

“When I just met Brody, I asked him if I could have a tour of his store, in order to really understand his business and their unique needs. When there, I look at the environment, the culture, the pieces that will help me identify if the candidate I recommend will be a right fit. This visit gives me a sense of what the organization is looking for and an opportunity to build a deeper relationship with key contact(s).

This can also help identify opportunities that they may have not considered. As an example, if I see a mechanic cleaning up a shop, I might suggest they hire someone for a few hours a day to clean the shop so that their mechanic can do more jobs. This type of job carving invariably results in net increased profit.”

—Gail Finnson, posAbilities Employment Services

Align on needs and services offered

“As a small-medium organization, I am very tight on resources and it’s important to me that if needed, job coaching is available—not only once the person is hired, but in the future if we need advice or the candidate needs further coaching. I also appreciate knowing how the service organizations work together to both source clients and provide support once a client is placed.

Knowing that the DESO collaborates with others assures me that if they don’t have the right candidate for me, they will work with another organization to find someone.

Also, if they don’t have the resources to support me or the candidate in the future, they can link us up to someone who can help.”

—Brody, Meridian Meats and Farm Market

“It is important that the candidate succeeds, and the business finds someone who is the right fit for them. In order to achieve that good fit, I endeavour to recommend someone from my jobseeker pool where the employer needs, as well as the jobseekers skills, training, experience, barriers and strengths are a good match. If I don’t have someone who is their right fit, I have a network of Job Developers who I can share the job lead with.”

—Gail Finnson, posAbilities Employment Services

Agreement on who is the client

“I have really appreciated working with service providers who see me, and the job seeker, both as clients. When this is established, I can be sure that the needs of the job seeker and the needs of my business are being considered equally.”

—Brody, Meridian Meats and Farm Market

“Both the employer and the jobseekers are equal parts of the equation, and both need to be seen as the client. An ongoing relationship with a business, will yield more jobs starting than starting from scratch every time.

We want to meet the employers’ needs in a way that works for them, so that the match succeeds; and they will be more likely to want to work with us again.”

—Gail Finnson, posAbilities Employment Services

An on-going relationship

“The service providers that we have continued to work with are those that provide support after the initial placement has happened. In some cases, once a person has been placed and initial job coaching has taken place, we do not require further assistance. However, there are instances where after a few weeks or months an issue arises, and we want to lean on our service provider partners–the experts–in how we best manage these pieces. Knowing that a service provider will continue to be there for us is very important to me.”

—Brody, Meridian Meats and Farm Market

“We always stay available to the employer after the jobseeker is on-boarded; to support both the employer and the client. Because this helps retention, this makes us all more successful.

It makes good business sense to ensure that the match continues to succeed over time. Checking in is a good way for me to remind employers that we are here if they have any other staffing needs that I can assist with.”

—Gail Finnson, posAbilities Employment Services

Other Resources from Presidents Group

Visit our other resource to select the right disability service organization for your needs.