Your Hired!

A recruitment event, organised by North Lanarkshire Council's Supported Employment Service, has resulted in Motherwell-based company, Walker Profiles, recruiting two new members of staff after successful job matches and interviews.

Supported Employment helps people with learning disabilities, acquired brain injury, mental health issues and young care leavers find employment. It matches employees with posts and enlists an experienced job coach who provides ongoing support to both employee and employer.

Jim Gibson, Director at Walker Profiles, attended the event and was so impressed with what he heard about the service that he was keen for Walker Profiles to become involved. Jim said: "It made total business sense to recruit via a service that matches people to the right jobs and provides ongoing support. Both new employees, John and Jimmy, have embraced the opportunity to return to the world of work with great enthusiasm, and based on our experience I would certainly encourage other employers to consider becoming involved with supported employment."

Jim initially engaged with the Supported Employment team and following recruitment interviews and work trials he employed John Callear from Wishaw and Jimmy Annell from Motherwell. John added: "I am so pleased to have found a job which matches my skills and I'm keen to continue learning new tasks."

Our service supports over 170 people in jobs, with over 75% of people remaining in their jobs for two years or more.

Yvonne Weir, Enterprise Manager, added: "This is what we were hoping would happen following our event last year. It's great that Walker Profiles have responded so positively. We are now planning to hold future events for council contractors to help fill their vacancies with the right people for the job in a cost-effective manner.

"We would encourage other businesses to get in touch and find out more about our Supported Employment service and how we can help."