The Mindset Shift in Employment Services

Across employment services systems globally, expectations are shifting.

Governments are placing greater emphasis on participant experience, sustainable employment outcomes and personalised support. At the same time, traditional compliance driven approaches are being reconsidered, as providers work to engage participants in more meaningful and lasting ways.

Australia provides a useful case study of this shift.

With the move from Disability Employment Services (DES) to Inclusive Employment Australia (IEA), traditional compliance levers are reducing, and engagement is becoming more relationship-driven. While widely welcomed, the change is also creating some uncertainty across the sector.

Prospert facilitator and researched, Dr George Giuliani, says many consultants are now navigating engagement without the tools they previously relied on.

“In the past, compliance often played a central role in how engagement was managed,” he says.

“It could help drive participation, but it didn’t always create the kind of relationship that leads to more sustainable outcomes.”

Engagement that emphasises participant experience and decision-making

For many employment consultants, mutual obligation provided a clear structure for engagement. When participants disengaged, compliance mechanisms created a pathway to bring them back into the process. George says that as those settings change, consultants are being asked to work differently.

“Using the big stick approach to push people towards outcomes doesn’t always work,” he says.

“Particularly with very disadvantaged participants with mental ill-health – it often pushed them into further debt or stress.”

“We’re seeing a shift back toward relationship building, supported by research showing that engagement plays a key role in achieving sustainable outcomes,” says George.

This shift reflects broader changes in government expectations and contract settings, which increasingly emphasise participant-centred delivery and sustainable outcomes.

However, George notes that many consultants entered the sector during a period of heavy compliance and may not have developed relational engagement skills.

“For the last 15 or 20 years, it’s all been about processes…and now it’s shifting back, and the difficulty is that a lot of our consultants don’t necessarily have those skills, or a framework for how to use them in an IEA setting,” he says.

A new performance reality

At the same time, the performance environment is evolving.

Under the new IEA performance framework, participant experience will account for 30 per cent of provider performance, alongside employment outcomes, which are weighted at 70 per cent. The framework also introduces participant satisfaction and capability-building surveys, bringing the participant voice directly into performance ratings.

Disability Employment Australia’s CEO, Peter Bacon, says the new performance framework brings “massive” change.

“But relational engagement has always been a big part of many providers’ approaches,” says Peter.

“What this new change does…is align the idea that people get work because of the quality of their experience, rather than setting experience and performance as being at odds with each other.”

This represents a change from previous models, where compliance and activity measures played a larger role.

The framework also places a greater emphasis on long-term sustainment, including 12-, 26- and 52-week outcomes, reinforcing the importance of meaningful engagement and participant commitment.

Why employment service providers should care

For people leading employment service provider organisations, the implications are clear.

Engagement quality is no longer just a practice issue. It directly influences performance, participant satisfaction and, over time, market share.

The new framework will also introduce increased transparency, with performance data published and benchmarked across providers.

This creates both opportunity and risk.

Providers who build strong participant engagement and sustainable outcomes may strengthen their position. Those who rely on compliance-driven approaches may find it harder to maintain performance.

Paul Diviny, Founder and Director at Prospert, says the shift is also being discussed internationally.

“We’re seeing similar conversations emerging in other markets such as Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom,” he says/

“The focus is moving toward participant experience, sustainable employment and stronger engagement. This is not just an Australian shift, it’s happening more broadly.”

A shift in mindset

For George, the shift ultimately comes down to mindset.

“We’ve got this incredibly committed group of consultants across the country who genuinely want to help people get into jobs,” he says.

“And we’ve got a whole bunch of people who want to get jobs and are struggling to do that. We just need to create a better match in the way that they work together.”

As employment services evolve, that match is becoming increasingly important.

In the next blog, we explore what relational engagement looks like in practice, and how consultants are building meaningful connections with participants without relying on compliance.