The Mitie Foundation exists to provide varied life opportunities for disadvantaged groups within the communities where they operate.
The organisation’s aims are to change minds, raise aspirations, and remove barriers, opening ways into sustainable employment.
Challenges
The Mitie Foundation wanted to improve diverse representation at the senior leadership level. We also looked to improve uptake on apprenticeship schemes and in the recruitment of armed forces.
Innovative actions
We developed the Ready2Work programme, a collaborative initiative that facilitated rewarding work experiences. This eight-week introduction to the world of work used a three-stage process to provide candidates with a route into sustainable employment. Steps included:
- Pre-placement (one week);
- Work experience (seven weeks); and
- Paid employment.
A lot of challenges were faced due to COVID-19, and the resulting restrictions meant that our initiative had to be postponed since this was meant to be a face-to-face programme. To overcome these challenges and ensure that we could still help members of the targeted communities, we moved all these activities online.
In December 2020, we ran a virtual employability week in partnership with the Foyer Federation, a charity providing accommodation, personal development, and mentoring to young people who can’t live at home.
Evidence of impact
More than 500 candidates completed the scheme. Of these candidates,
- 85% were previously long-term unemployed;
- 5% were previously homeless (or at risk of being homeless);
- 5% had a criminal record (or were at risk of offending); and
- 5% were registered as disabled.
Our collaborative Ready2Work programme provided a route into sustainable employment for people with perceived barriers to employment. The programme has proved worthwhile, seeing 343 candidates gaining employment. This 68% rate is a great achievement, providing many with a route into sustainable employment.
The information contained within this resource was accurate at the time of its publication and subsequent revision. This article was created in 2021 and revised in April 2022.
