“People who are out of work are not hard to help,” asserts Palladium’s Tom Onions. “But they are often navigating complex and overlapping barriers to getting sustainable work.”

And getting people who have been out of employment for a long time requires more than simply a job application to get them back on the market. That insight, says Onions, sits at the heart of how effective employment programmes are delivered, and it’s why community partners play such a critical role across the sector and much of the work Palladium’s Employability and Community Services team provides.

Whether the team is delivering mainstream employment support or more intensive programmes such as Connect to Work, successful outcomes rarely come from a single organisation working in isolation. Instead, they are built through what delivery teams often describe as a “whole village” approach – one that brings together local authorities, central government departments, job centres, supply chain partners, and voluntary sector organisations around the needs of the individual.

“Across the areas where we work, these partnerships take different shapes,” Onions explains. “In some places, they are formal contractual relationships, such as supply chain partnerships where local organisations deliver specialist elements of a programme on our behalf.” In others, the relationship is more informal, but no less important. Simply knowing which organisations operate locally, what support they provide, and how to connect participants to them can make a significant difference.

In smaller, rural towns or villages, services may be limited and geographically dispersed, but community infrastructure often plays an outsized role. A village hall might be one of the few accessible, trusted places where people regularly come together. Local voluntary organisations operating from those spaces often have deep relationships with residents and an acute understanding of local needs. Ensuring employment programmes are aware of – and connected to – those networks helps prevent people falling through the gaps.

“Crucially, effective partnerships are driven by participants’ needs, not organisational convenience,” he adds.

“Our teams don’t shoehorn people into pre-selected services. Instead, they refer participants to organisations with the strongest local track record for addressing specific barriers, whether that is housing insecurity, health challenges, confidence building or specialist employment support.” In some cases, that means signposting someone to a homelessness charity with a strong local reputation; in others, it means working alongside organisations delivering complementary skills or wellbeing services.

One example is Berkshire’s Connect to Work programme, which supports people who are far from the labour market and often need a more intensive, Individual Placement Support or Supported Employment approach. Palladium is delivering this in partnership with Ways into Work, who bring decades of Supported Employment experience.

A key demographic within the Supported Employment caseload is young people with autism who have never worked. He explains that establishing trust as soon as possible between advisors and participants is critical to truly make a positive impact on their lives. Many participants have been let down by services in the past or have disengaged after repeated negative experiences. Ways into Work is already well known and respected in their community so can help break down barriers and build trust quickly. Ways into Work works closely with local NHS/health services, and are connected into wider support networks.

Partnering with organisations like Ways into Work ensures that our services can also act as a gateway to an entire ecosystem of local knowledge and relationships.

Onions explains that community partnerships are built through flexibility. In some programmes, Palladium works as a subcontractor. Experience working across both roles – as lead contractor and subcontractor – has reinforced the importance of being a reliable, flexible and collaborative partner. Effective employment systems depend on trust not only with participants, but between organisations as well.

“Ultimately, what community partners tell us is simple: employability works best when it is locally rooted, collaborative and focused on the whole person” adds Onions. “People’s barriers may be complex, but when the right organisations come together around their needs, those barriers become more navigable.”

As the sector continues to evolve, the challenge – and opportunity – is to make these partnerships more visible, better understood and more consistently supported.