With unemployment at a historical all-time low, Jobsplus is focusing its resources on promoting job retention and stability. The project was designed to train Jobsplus and LSF management and client-facing staff as licenced users of the Outcomes Star with the aim of implementing the tool with disadvantaged and disabled jobseekers and job changers so as to measure and support their need for change, thus enhancing their employability level and helping them become more stable through adequate support measures. Furthermore, the Outcomes Star promotes standardisation, harmonisation and consistency across Jobsplus and LSF services and may be fundamental in bringing to light gaps in the services being offered to clients. The project also served as a base for training two participants (one from Jobsplus and another from LSF) as Outcomes Star licenced trainers with the aim of applying the tool across all Jobsplus Jobseeker services and its dissemination with local stakeholders and NGOs. Furthermore, in its capacity as a training provider, it was Jobsplus's intention to be in a position to offer Outcomes Star training to local stakeholders and NGOs as a result of the implementation of this project.
Jobsplus is the Public Employment Service in Malta. Established in August 1990 through an Act of Parliament entitled the Employment and Training Services Act, the primary functions of the Corporation are that of providing a public employment service and training persons to improve their skills to find employment. Within the organisational structure, the Inclusive Employment Services Unit is specifically designated to assisting persons with disability, former substance abusers, former prison inmates, and individuals with other socio-economic difficulties to integrate into the labour market. Created and developed by Triangle Consulting Social Enterprise Ltd, the Outcomes Star is an evidence-based holistic and empowering tool designed to meet the need for outcomes measurement whilst also improving keywork for service users, services and commissioners. For this reason, Jobsplus and the Lino Spiteri Foundation (LSF) - a public social partnership with and dependant on Jobsplus - assisting persons with disability (RDPs), deemed the Outcomes Star a valid tool to measure and support change when working with jobseekers and job changers alike, thus upskilling the local workforce and enhancing the services offered to service users.