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Addressing all the barriers to work – not only the social ones
A new employment initiative by Metropolitan and banking giant JP Morgan takes a new approach to getting people into work, writes Geeta Nanda
(l to r) Kamal Motalib, vice-president, global philanthropy, JP Morgan; Christine Roberts, Transform and Achieve graduate and Geeta Nanda, chief executive of Metropolitan
Housing associations have for many years worked with our residents to get them into work. Last year at Metropolitan, we helped more than 1,000 people in this way.
Our residents have a close relationship with us; they know that our aim is to work with them to sustain that employment, get it right and not treat them like numbers contributing towards a target on a page.
Last week I attended the launch of a highly innovative and collaborative employment programme we have established with JP Morgan, which is supporting the initiative for two years.
The free training programme, called Transform and Achieve, is targeted at east London residents of all ages who are out of work – with the aim of supporting them into employment, training or volunteering.
“The idea is that to get people fit for work you have to address all the barriers to work – not just the social ones”
It’s based on a holistic model in which participants are provided not only with employment training, but more broadly with coaching in mental well-being, nutrition and fitness.
The idea is that to get people fit for work you have to address all the barriers to work – not just the social ones.
When we presented the proposal for the programme to our JP Morgan partners, the idea of going to the gym or eating well to keep on top of your game was very relatable – but applying this kind of focus to an employment programme for those out of work was new.
The core programme of six weeks supports people to get into good habits such as doing regular exercise and eating well.
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Transform and Achieve coaches work with people as individuals to understand what obstacles they have in their lives, and how they can grow in confidence.
Early results are very promising with a majority of participants being supported into sustainable employment.
At the launch event, we heard from one woman who not only got a job in the legal sector but took her older child out of a poor care home and moved into accommodation that enabled her to look after him. The programme quite literally changed her life and that of her son, and her belief in herself and what she could do.
Another Transform and Achieve graduate, who contributes now as a coach on the programme, told us how he gained the confidence to pursue a career as a professional musician.
While the programme is led by Metropolitan, we are working in collaboration with other housing associations to deliver it – including Peabody, Swan, L&Q and Poplar Harca.
From the success of this, we hope we can extend it beyond east London, and work on other initiatives that can help fulfil the corporate social responsibility programmes of other private institutions like JP Morgan.
Housing associations are great collaborators – mainly as a result of the challenges we have had to tackle in our operating environment – but also in response to what our customers tell us about their needs and aspirations.
As people-centred businesses, we are quite rightly taking our partnerships to the next level and working with a wide range of private, third sector, local and central government organisations to ensure we continue to not only invest in much-needed homes, but also to deliver services and solutions which help our residents.
In these testing times, more organisations are seeing the mutual benefit of working with those who act for the common good – and that can only be positive for the customers and communities housing associations exist to serve.
Geeta Nanda, chief executive, Metropolitan
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