PES organizations are expanding service delivery across hybrid, in-person, and digital models to upskill potential workers with low digital literacy. Some jurisdictions are prioritizing digital-first approaches, while others are offering in-person and digital options with a broader range of employment supports. This is not an either-or proposition, as digital-first and digital by desire both exist on the continuum of digital strategies.

What does success look like?

• Providing a user-friendly, accessible, and fully functional digital experience
• Conducting effective segmentation so that those with low digital literacy or access are referred to in-person services
• Making digital literacy a fundamental part of training

PES organizations are investing in digital platforms, tools, and software to improve client experiences, accelerate outcomes, and reduce administrative work. In turn, this leads to more efficient resource allocation and more effective service delivery.

What does success look like?

• Creating end-to-end digital value chains for jobseekers to search for jobs, easily apply, and get prompt advice from employment counselors
• Providing proactive support, such as assistive resume builders, automated upskilling platforms, and career pathway suggestions
• Connecting platforms to provide analysts with comprehensive data to inform future programs and policies
• Enhancing back-end case management to allow employment counselors to monitor progress and direct individuals to in-person channels when needed

There's a difference between a job and the right job. PES organizations are increasingly focusing on programming that supports meaningful and lasting employment.

What does success look like?

• Using funding models that offer the right outcomes-based incentives for the provider network
• Establishing frameworks that enable, prioritize, and measure longer-term employment outcomes
• Creating data frameworks that measure individual employment outcomes

Addressing the root conditions that exclude people from the workforce starts with creating holistic support services. PES organizations are deliberately channelling additional resources to better serve the jobseekers who are furthest from the labor market.

What does success look like?

• Devolving the delivery and coordination of wraparound interventions to the community level, where they tend to work best
• Facilitating linked and standardized data sets to support the identification, case management, and tracking of outcomes for clientsIncentivizing local collaboration with new contracting approaches
• Assisting caseworkers, employment counselors, and clients in accessing the right supports through navigation supports and real-time mapping of services
• Co-creating plans with clients, where interventions are structured based on their ambitions and needs

With the current shortage of workers in the labor market, PES organizations are expanding engagement with employers to help them find the right talent.

What does success look like?

• Building the skill sets of PES workers to better engage and support employers
• Developing frameworks that facilitate access to services for employers, especially those in sectors experiencing skill shortages and those who assist clients facing employment barriers
• Creating service standards for employer engagement, including response times, satisfaction levels, and follow-up commitments

Every PES client has unique needs, and many require bespoke services. By introducing standardized and increasingly sophisticated needs-based assessments, PES organizations can identify the type and level of support required for each client more effectively.

What does success look like?

• Implementing a universal assessment system that encompasses employment and social supports
• Deploying a tried-and-tested, ethical, machine-learning framework to mitigate bias in assessments
• Extracting the necessary information to guide decision-making around personal service plans
• Collecting aggregate, anonymized data to support system-level planning

With the right data, information, and policies, PES organizations can benchmark performance at the system level and reward contracted providers when sustained job outcomes or other goals are achieved. Introducing these measures not only improves funding, but also helps make innovation a reality.

What does success look like?

• Creating a performance framework (with service providers) that accounts for various client needs, journeys, and goals
• Collecting data from the initial assessments to outcomes achieved to identify areas for improvement and adjust services and delivery model(s) accordingly to provide better support
• Enhancing reputational incentives for providers and establishing a system of appropriate consequences for poor performance