SMEs will usually just want someone who can do a good job for them from their first day. As long as recruits turn up on time, listen to instructions, carry out tasks effectively, get on with colleagues and customers and work hard, employers are unlikely to be concerned about their past or their previous situation.

To make sure that SMEs get recruits with the attitudes and skills they need, it is important for you to be confident that the issues they face have either been effectively dealt with or are being effectively managed.

If these issues are not addressed, the match with an employer is unlikely to work and this could jeopardise not just this placement, but the likelihood that the employer will recruit again from this source.

Examples of how to address common barriers include:

• Ensuring that parents and those with other caring responsibilities have access to advice and information about the availability and cost of appropriate care for their dependents.
• Providing clients with access to expert advice about the financial implications of moving from benefits to employment, including advice about in-work benefits such as tax credits.
• Providing clients with appropriate pre-employment training that equips them with the skills they need to enter employment.
• Working with the employer to ensure the client has access to appropriate in-work support for the initial period of employment.
• Working with the employer to ensure that any necessary adjustments have been made to support the employment of clients with disabilities.

Click here for more information about the common barriers faced by priority groups.