The employability option of the award identifies employer involvement in pre-employment activity as one of the key aspects of the employability criterion. However, you should recognise that this option is time and resource intensive, and so SME employers may need encouragement to consider this type of activity. One way of doing this is to demonstrate the benefits that this involvement can bring to their business.

Some of the main benefits are:

• Professional development opportunities for existing members of staff
• Increased engagement with the local community
• Opportunities to ensure that potential employees are equipped with skills that are relevant to their business

Your starting point with an employercould be to find out if they are currently involved in any pre-employment activity that would help them achieve the award. If they are, you should find out the level of this involvement and identify how it links to the award. If the employer is positive about their current engagement, you could consider encouraging them to increase their involvement if this is appropriate.

You could also find out if they have been involved in the past and why this has come to end. Understanding any problems or difficulties they have had will help you to be able to direct them to a more appropriate activity.

For Example:
If they found that the activity they were involved in was too time consuming for them, you could talk to them about less intensive activities such as giving talks to clients or short term involvement in skills development programmes.

It is important to take the time to explore an individual employer’s capacity to become involved in pre-employment activities, as this will vary widely between different businesses. Their involvement may depend upon factors such as the size of company and the number of employees, and understanding this will help you be able to signpost them to an activity that is appropriate for them.

For Example:
A company with only a small number of staff may find it difficult to commit to ongoing staff involvement in interview skills training, but they may be able to commit to initiatives such as giving talks to clients that do not require a huge time commitment.