Project Dual Career: Determining needs for employment-related support among partners of Swiss transferable employees

Transcription

1 Eidgenössisches Departement für auswärtige Angelegenheiten EDA Direktion für Ressourcen DR Personal EDA Project Dual Career: Determining needs for employment-related support among partners of Swiss transferable employees Melissa Woods Nelson, Project Manager, Project Dual Career

2 Project Dual Career A project of the Swiss Federal Dept of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) Phase 1 (6 months): Conduct needs assessment, deliver recommendations Phase 2 (21 months): Pilot and evaluate new measures

3 Why conduct a needs assessment? Why not just implement?

4 We already know a lot about needs or we think we do Many barriers are obvious (lack of work permits, gaps in the CV, language skills ) Other barriers may not be obvious Which barriers are most important to address? Focusing on the wrong aspects wastes resources and won t help those who need it

5 Supportive measures should match needs If largest barriers are gaps in the CV + a lack of work permits courses/training/ preventing gaps + signing bilateral agreements. If largest barriers are childcare + information solve childcare gaps and provide information Data are needed: which barriers are most important, where to focus efforts

6 Planning a needs assessment Participation of various stakeholders (MFA, HR, diplomats, consular staff, development staff, partners, unions ) Experience with surveys / research / statistics Specific research questions must be defined and fit within a theoretical framework Results should be actionable

7 Steps in a needs assessment 1. Define research question + target group 2. Determine how to sample target group 3. Develop survey instrument and method 4. (Translate and back-translate survey) 5. Test survey 6. Encourage participation 7. Remind target group to respond 8. Data analysis

8 Our research questions How important is the issue of employment? What are the most significant barriers to employment, and how can they be overcome? Which supportive measures do partners want? Side question: How much do partners know about and use existing measures of support? What should be offered to partners to help them stay employed?

9 Questions we did not address Underemployment Salary Representation activities Non-employment issues (children, compensation, divorce, etc.)

10 Defining the target group Diplomats and consular staff? Development staff? Short-term staff (e.g., humanitarian assistance)? Secondments? Partners living in separate households?

11 Our target group All partners of transferable MFA staff including seconded staff including partners living in separate households excluding short-term staff

12 Developing the questionnaire Qualitative interviews beforehand Literature research Benchmarking Iterative process of deciding the topics first, then the specific questions and answer categories for each topic

13 Outline of our questionnaire 1. Current work status 2. Importance of work and flexibility 3. Current barriers to employment 4. Knowledge and use of existing measures 5. Need for / Interest in new measures 6. Demographics (age, education, marital status, languages, current posting location, career)

14 Tips on developing surveys Questions should be clear for respondents, and meaningful for the research Answers / answer categories should be clear and force respondents to take a position Avoid leading questions ( If you have to go to a difficult country like Nigeria ) and assumptions ( your husband ) Do we have the questions we need to answer our research question? The longer it is, the fewer people will complete it

15 Survey methods In-person interviews can get more information, but very costly! Telephone interviews lower cost but response rate low; problem of time zones Mail surveys (on paper) low cost but response rate low Online survey low cost, flexible time and language, better response rate

16 Considerations and challenges Privacy / anonymity How to reach partners when no database exists Try not to raise unrealistic expectations Bias Languages Professional survey/market research company or DIY

17 Reach as many partners as possible Needs are different among partners (professional goals, career structure, children/ no children, same-sex couples, younger / older partners, men / women ) It s important to hear from all of them so that the right conclusions are made The higher the response rate, the better your data

18 How we reached our respondents No existing database of partners About 20% are members of association, 20% have contacted our Family Office Contact information for most partners missing Must information to all MFA staff to inform Link to online survey sent to pre-checked list of transferable staff for partners

19 Results

20 FDFA partners demographics Gender Marital status 63% 37% Men Women 6% 15% 79% Married Registered partner Other Education Household status 11% 45% 44% Less than university Bachelor/ Master PhD 7% 93% Same household Separate household

21 FDFA partners demographics Nationality: 68% Swiss, 20% EU, 26% other Multilingual: 91% speak English 67% speak French 60% speak German 35% speak Spanish 24% speak Italian 39% speak other languages 34% have never lived in Switzerland as an accompanying partner (!)

22 FDFA partners employment 87% say it s important to them to work, but--- Only 37% currently work Among those who wish to work, unemployment is: 31% in Switzerland 61% in the EU 70% in other countries abroad

23 Barriers to employment 78% say the transfer process does not take their needs into account 67% are unable to keep their CVs largely gap-free 52% of those posted abroad cannot get a work permit at the posting location 59% say local job market doesn t offer realistic chances 40% lack necessary skills/experience to find a job locally 38% do not have enough information about the local job market.

24 Which barriers have the greatest impact? Factors with a statistically significant influence on employment Despite transfers, my CV is largely gap-free Influence on employment (Φ) Level of need Potential impact High 67% Very high High The local job market offers me a High 59% High High realistic chance I have the necessary skills/education Very high 40% Medium- High to find a job locally High My work is compatible with my Medium 38% Medium Medium partner s function I can handle the local administrative Medium 33% Medium Medium factors, including legal issues I can get enough information about Medium 38% Medium Medium the local job market I can get a work permit at the current Low 37% Medium Medium posting location Cultural factors (including local Medium- 18% Low Low language) Low I have good French and/or German Very low 17% Low Low skills I have good English skills Very low 9% Very low Very low

25 Measures most requested by partners are not the same for everyone! All partners Women Men Partners of diplomats Partners of consular staff Partners of development staff 1. Choice 2. Choice 3. Choice Temporary positions in the administration Temporary positions Temporary positions Temporary positions Temporary positions Access to MFA courses Access to MFA courses Access to MFA courses Networking events Networking events Access to MFA courses Temporary positions Networking events Contact person in Bern Access to MFA courses Professional career advice Courses on selfemployment Contact person in Bern

26 Would partners wishes address the most significant needs? Barriers with the greatest impact Solutions most requested by partners Lack necessary skills/education to find a job locally Gaps in CV Limits of local job market Temporary work opportunities in the public administration Internal training courses Networking events Incompatibility of work with partner s function Local administrative factors Lack of information about local job market Contact person in Bern Professional career advice Courses on self-employment No access to work permit

27 Measures of direct support alone are not enough Policy / culture on accompanying partners and their employment / employability How are partners needs incorporated into systems (Community Liaison Officers, transfer process ) Communication with partners

28 Will the new measures meet needs at Posting Location Switzerland (27%) Partners interested in employment HQ and abroad? % Unemployed Need (# of partners) Solutions % 85 Temporary positions in the public administration, courses in Bern, Networking EU (16%) % 99 Networking, agreements allowing non-swiss, non- EU partners and same-sex partners to work Other (57%) % 406 Bilateral agreements, courses on selfemployment, temporary positions in the mission, online courses

29 How can we make a case for supporting accompanying partners? When resources are limited, the projects that get funded are those that are highest priority and save money Why is it important for the MFA to help partners? Can helping partners stay employed benefit the MFA?

30 Outcome Project proposal was approved in April 2013 Pilot phase will: Develop policy on partners, including employment Prioritize bilateral agreements Improve processes Improve communication and information Provide opportunities to work in the public administration, networking events, courses

31 An experiment in crowdsourcing my questions for you

32 Maximizing participation of partners How can we tap partners energy and involve them more? How to encourage membership in spouse/partner associations How can partners network to help each other Volunteer problem

33 Communication with partners How can communication between MFA and accompanying partners be optimized?

34 Accompanying Persons Officers What factors make Community Liaison Officers / DMA Stellen successful? Size of mission? Duties? Pay / conditions? Presence of motivated partners? Other?

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