Activation Policies for the Poor in OIC Member States
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The purpose of ‘activating’ benefit systems is to facilitate job search and matching, shorten
unemployment durations and encourage workless people to engage in employment-focused
activities. This is likely to be more effective if the users of the system perceive increased
opportunities in any new approach at the same time as being made aware of their obligations and
the consequences for not meeting them. This involves supplementing stricter work-related
requirements and sanctions with a combination of services that include referrals to vacancies and
employment assistance, help to reduce employment barriers, and, especially where out of work
benefits remain relatively generous, incentives that ‘make work pay’.
Individuals living in poverty or at risk of poverty are less likely to have informal networks in place to
facilitate job search. They are also likely to have fewer qualifications and resources to achieve these.
Support is therefore required in the form of activation to improve the employability of
disadvantaged people and increase the likelihood of them finding work. Disadvantaged individuals
with particular characteristics will also need different forms of support to meet their specific needs.
Evidence on the most effective combination of work-related requirements and services is mixed.
Experience suggests different approaches and sequences of support are needed for the diverse
groups subject to activation requirements, from the young and long-term unemployed through to
lone parents and those with health issues or only partial work capacity. Cumulative evidence also
points to the effectiveness of a strong employment-focused ‘message’ delivered through well-trained
case workers who assist with job search, matching and barrier reduction, and can refer to
mandatory intensive employment-focused programmes. A key tool for advisers has been the
development and use of individualised action plans or reintegration agreements. These should spell
out responsibilities and rights and the agreed employment objective and job search steps to be
taken. Such plans should be agreed early in a claim for benefits and be subject to regular monitoring
and updating.
Service delivery systems are best organised when they ensure that the scarce resource of face-to-
face contact time is targeted most at clients who have significant employment barriers. In several
countries, the PES encourages more employable clients to use self-service channels to undertake
their own job search whilst investing in a more personalised service targeted at priority groups,
including the long term unemployed or those considered at risk of long term unemployment.
Reforms have included organisational mergers or co-location to create ‘single gateways’ to services
that combine employment assistance with benefit administration. In several countries these
developments involved changes in the location and structure of offices, in referral and attendance
procedures for clients, and the development of new aids to help secure employment and other
placements.
PES effectiveness has been improved through the introduction of performance based management
with targets emphasising job placement, especially for harder to help groups, coupled with
requirements that the PES engage with such clients. PES capacity often has been augmented through
grant-financing or contracting with a wide range of other providers. Expanding the procurement of
such services may enable the PES to meet the needs of a more diverse caseload entailed by more
widely applied activation requirements without impacting too immediately on mainstream
employment services for unemployed claimants.
Finally, systematic evaluation of the effectiveness of services and individual programmes has been
an important factor contributing to the impact of activation strategies. Central governments need to
consistently commission and draw on evaluation findings to design and redesign job search
requirements, employment programmes and work incentives.
1.6 Methodology & framework for examining activation strategies
Based on the definitions and context explained earlier in this section, we have developed a
framework to assess the activations strategies reviewed in the study. The framework has been used