They’re definitely not a dating agency but Christchurch based supported employment agency Catapult Employment Services Trust would be the first to say successfully matching employers and job seekers is a core component of their work.
Dedicated to its cause, Catapult staff can often been seen out and about in their community getting to know the local businesses they work with, so when a prospective employee comes knocking they have a good idea of where their skillset and personality will fit best.
“For us it all about getting this right, because for us if you don’t get this right, it’s probably not going to end well for anyone involved,” CEO Ali Brown says.
Testament to creating these strong business networks is the Trust’s most recent initiative which allows jobseekers, who are unsure of which career path they wish to take, undergo skills tests at places of business that Catapult have networked with.
“It’s great because at times we get clients who don’t know or haven’t been given the chance to see what they might like to do, so being able to offer this option has been really good.
“We have found it really increases the client’s confidence and the businesses who are involved with this initiative are really enjoying it too. It also gives us another tool to help us place individuals in the right kind of employment.”
Another tried and true method employed by Catapult included employment consultants creating detailed profiles of clients. An example of when this worked well was when Catapult was able to transform a physically disabled man’s love of the outdoors into a job.
“When the client first came to us he had recently lost the use of his legs and felt especially down as in his previous life had been quite outdoorsy.
“Knowing this, the employment consultant who worked with him was able to make contact with the Southern Institute of Technology (SIT) to see if there were any teaching jobs in outdoor education. Luckily there was and initially the client started out in the job via the mainstream programme, but has held a permanent teaching role there for the past eight years or so, “Ali says.
Being able to place people in roles they love and hearing that they were still enjoying their role years later makes everything worthwhile, Ali says.
This is what we strive for and we will continue to incorporate methods that help us reach this goal, as well as being open to new ways of doing things that we believe will benefit the people we work with.
A couple of new ways of working that Catapult were currently exploring involved Social Enterprise opportunities, as well as sharing some backroom functions with fellow Inclusive NZ member Kilmarnock Enterprises.
“We are currently in talks with Kilmarnock about sharing an employment consultant, which should bring in new and different ways of doing things. Here at Catapult were always up for finding new and innovative ways of working smarter and to our full potential, so we are also looking forward to learning more about social enterprise and how we can make it work, “Ali says.