Many SME employers will be wary about the risks of recruiting from priority groups and will be concerned about the potential consequences for their business if things go wrong.

It will help if you make sure that there is an effective matching process between the skills of clients and the jobs that employers need to be filled. Being sent unsuitable candidates is likely to deter SME employers from considering people from priority groups in the future.

Different companies will have different recruitment needs, will require different types of skills from their employees and will have different types of jobs available. In order to be able to match clients with employers effectively, it will help understand what individual employers need from the staff that they recruit.

This means that you should try to develop an ongoing relationship with a range of individual employers. You should try to develop an understanding of the types of jobs that are available in local businesses and the skills that are required by different employers.

In order to be able to match the right people to the right jobs you should try to:

• Develop ongoing relationships with individual employers and gain an in-depth understanding of the culture of the business, as well as the skills and experience needed to do specific jobs within that business.
• Have access to detailed knowledge of the skills and experience of individual clients.
• Use the knowledge you have of individual clients and employers to match specific clients to specific job opportunities with individual employers. Ideally this is done in advance of need, so that individual clients can be helped to develop the specific skills and attitudes required for a particular position.
• Be prepared to repeat the process each time a job vacancy arises within a company.
• Use your knowledge of individual employers to help clients access effective pre-employment training and guidance that will equip them with the skills needed by these employers.