Local worlds of coordinated activation policy

2016 ◽  
pp. 235-264 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katharina Zimmermann ◽  
Vanesa Fuertes ◽  
Patrizia Aurich-Beerheide
Keyword(s):  
Activation Policy

scholarly journals Placement Advisors as Innovators. How Professionals Use Enhanced Discretion in Germany’s Public Employment Services

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-18
Author(s):  
CAROLIN FREIER ◽  
MONIKA SENGHAAS
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Public Employment ◽  
Labour Market Situation ◽  
Group Discussions ◽  
Employment Services ◽  
Employment Agency ◽  
Logic Of Action ◽  
Market Situation ◽  
Innovation Project ◽  
Activation Policy

Abstract Employees of the public employment services (PES) are street-level bureaucrats who shape activation policy on the ground. This paper examines how PES staff use enhanced discretion in an innovation project carried out by the German Federal Employment Agency. Applying a bottom-up perspective, we reconstruct PES employees’ logic of action and the dilemmas they face in improving counselling and placement services. According to our findings, placement staff use enhanced discretion to promote more individualised support and an adequate matching of jobseekers and employers. The use of discretion is framed by organisational norms and reward mechanisms and by the current labour market situation. Our analyses are based on qualitative interviews and group discussions with placement staff.

scholarly journals Refugee integration policy the Norwegian way – why good ideas fail and bad ideas prevail

2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne Britt Djuve ◽  
Hanne Cecilie Kavli
Keyword(s):  
Institutional Change ◽  
Labour Market ◽  
Market Integration ◽  
Interesting Case ◽  
Policy Learning ◽  
Integration Policy ◽  
Policy Ideas ◽  
Policy Field ◽  
Activation Policy

Integrating non-Western refugees into the highly specialised Scandinavian labour markets has proven difficult. This highly ideological policy field is an interesting case for the study of policy learning versus ideas as drivers for institutional change or continuity. Using the Norwegian Introductory Programme as a case study, we show that the application of core programme measures remains largely unaffected by evaluations that show that such measures tend to have very modest effects on the labour market integration of refugees. Concurrently, incremental changes in the disciplining elements of the programme have resulted in an increasingly controlling activation regime. Our interpretation is that a major driver behind the intensification of disciplinary elements has been the assumption that participants lack the motivation to integrate into the labour market. Moreover, we find that this assumption presents an obstacle to policy learning with regard to programme quality. Within activation, policy ideas seem to function simultaneously as path-reinforcing cognitive locks and as drivers for political change.

scholarly journals The activating profession: coaching and coercing in the welfare services

2016 ◽  
Vol 29 (7) ◽  
pp. 725-739 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anniken Hagelund
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Practical Experience ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Welfare Policies ◽  
Daily Work ◽  
Welfare Services ◽  
Activation Policy ◽  
Private Actors

Purpose Activation policies are key elements of contemporary welfare reform throughout Europe. The purpose of this paper is to explore the consequences of more active and individualised welfare policies for conceptualisations of professionalism and competence in the welfare services. Design/methodology/approach The primary data are 25 qualitative interviews with street-level bureaucrats (SLBs) conducted in two local offices in The Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration (NAV). These data were supplemented by relevant policy documents. A distinction between the authorities discourse of organisational professionalism and the SLBs discourse of occupational professionalism is applied to structure the analysis. Findings Efforts to professionalise activation work takes place in the absence of a specific professional knowledge base to guide daily work. The paper explores how relevant competence and skills are defined in such a context, both from the perspective of the authorities and from the front-level workers themselves. A key finding is that such competence tends to be defined in terms of the ability to manage communicative processes and relations. Paradoxically, the active turn in social policy with its emphasis on work and activity seems to entail a competence ideal that is inward looking and psychologised. Research limitations/implications The qualitative approach implies limited generalisability in terms of statistical representativity. Furthermore, the results invite closer studies of the practical effects for social security users of the identified patterns. Practical implications Policy makers who aim to make welfare services more work orientated should look for ways of increasing SLBs concrete relations with and practical experience from collaboration with employers. This may entail reviewing the practice of outsourcing the implementation of active measures to private actors. Originality/value The paper adds to a small literature on the implementation of activation policy in contemporary welfare states.

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