This handout is deceptively simple, but it is a very powerful tool for increasing employment motivation in people with low levels of interest in getting a job. In a conversation with people, you help them list in the left column the things that will benefit them when they go to work. On the right side, you talk about the things they will lose when they go to work. No one can deny that an unemployed parent will lose time with their children when they go to work. On the other hand, the parent staying unemployed and not being able to role model working or teach their children how to get a job will most likely guarantee their children a life of poverty. The counter balance from the loss of time with children is a better life out of poverty for those children. Which is more important that win or that loss? This debate between the advantages and disadvantages of employment is already going on in the minds of many of the people in your program. If you work the form with them in an objective and non-judgmental fashion, you will help them see the pros and cons of going to work. If the factors in the win column are stronger and more meaningful for them, this process will help to increase their employment motivation.

MY GOING TO WORK WIN LOSS CHART

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Mountains is a handout that helps people put their lives in perspective. On the four lines on the left hand side, they write the challenges in life that they have successfully overcome. The lines on the right side reflect challenges they are dealing with now. Once people have completed both sides of the mountain, you may be able to help them see how some of the strengths they demonstrated in overcoming the challenges on the left side of the mountain could be used to overcome the challenges on the right side. This handout gives people a sense of accomplishment and at the same time identifies some of the struggles they still need to win. If people cannon write, I have had them draw pictures to represent various things in their lives.

MOUNTAINS

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Asking people to draw themselves working in a job they would really like is a powerful way to help people express how they see themselves in the world of work. Make sure you say that this is not a competition and you are not judging people on their artistic ability. This is just a way for people to tell you more about how they picture themselves in the labor market. If you are not an outstanding artist, you will put people at ease if you do one of these for yourself about a job that you would like to do besides your current job and share it with your job seeker. If you work in groups, you can have people do this for each other.

DRAW YOURSELF WORKING

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To use this most effectively, make sure you extract all the soft and hard skills from the accomplishment.  I once got twelve skills from a person fixing their bike.  I got twenty-eight skills from someone organizing an event at a faith-based organization.  When you go to match these to jobs and careers, you do not need to use every skill.  Just pick out the ones that could be used in various jobs and careers.  It is good to think of as many jobs and careers as possible so people understand the full potential of what they can do.

This tool is very effective in group work.  Have a person put in an accomplishment on the top line.  The piece of paper is then passed to another individual or small group where all the skills are outlined.  Then the piece of paper is folded over just under the thing the person did and the paper is passed to another individual or small group.  They cannot see the original accomplishment so they are not limited by it.  All they can see is the skill set.  They start thinking of jobs and careers without being hindered by the knowledge of the original accomplishment.  It is amazing what people come up with in this process.  Then the paper is given back to the original person so they can see all the skills, jobs and careers that other people saw in their accomplishment.  It is good to have the original people report back to the group about what they see on their paper.  What did this make them feel like?  What jobs and careers interest them the most and why?  What are the next steps they need to take to get closer to their favorite job or career?

 MY LIFE SKILLS ARE WORK SKILLS

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Many of the people served by the workforce system have had little or no recognition for things they have done right with their life.  They are more used to criticism than praise.  They often have nothing on paper that acknowledges their accomplishments.  If you want to be successful especially with the hard-to-employ, you need to appropriately celebrate progress at each step and not wait until you can celebrate victory over the problem.  So a person making an appointment at a drug counseling program would deserve a ribbon instead of waiting until they complete treatment.  Someone starting a GED program should get a ribbon when they start and every time they pass a test instead of waiting until they get their GED.  A person with a disability that works hard to make it less of a barrier to employment should get a ribbon.  Do not give out the ribbon easily, but use them to encourage continued progress.

 Write in the center of the ribbon why you are giving it to the person.  Develop a ribbon giving ritual celebration including things like having other people present, applause, handshakes and a speech by the ribbon recipient about how they accomplished this goal.  Taking a photograph and printing it on a computer is a great celebration tool.  Give the person a copy of the picture and get permission from them to post it where other people will see with an explanation about why the person got the ribbon.

 Put the ribbons on different colored paper.  You can cut out the ribbon itself or use the whole piece of paper.  Encourage people to show their ribbons to other people, put them up where the live or if they are homeless give them some kind of waterproof folder to keep them in.  The ribbon and the ritual celebration become very significant moments in the lives of the people we serve.  Ribbons and celebrations will increase motivation to keep making progress and significantly raise self-esteem even in very hard-to-employ populations.

 If you serve adults or youth that are hard-to-employ, you should bring Larry’s training and consulting to your organization.  He offers many workshops focused on specific types of hard-to-employ populations.  His training From “I Don’t Want to Work” to “I Got A Job!” is based on the feedback of hundreds of hard-to-employ people that eventually went to work.  Find out what changed their motivation and put it into your program to make employment progress.  The Revolutionary Captain and Coach Approach to Case Management will show you how to help hard-to-employ people case manage their own lives and employment process.  These are only two of the many workshops Larry provides that will give you new and more effective tools to work with the hard-to-employ.  Larry also has extensive consulting experience that shows management how to upgrade the weak parts of their programs and put state-of-the-art practices into their organization so it becomes a springboard to employment for the hard-to-employ.  For more information about how you can bring Larry’s training and consulting on the hard-to-employ to your organization click here to contact Larry Robbin now!

 Click here to get the Award

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]]> https://larryrobbin.com/for-adults-or-youth-in-reentry-or-with-legal-system-involvement-what-were-the-steps-on-your-path/ Fri, 27 Sep 2013 18:52:26 +0000 https://larryrobbin.com/?p=186 This handout is designed to help people understand the things that led up to their involvement with crime so they can avoid repeating these problems.  The statements on both sides of the path are things people say that caused them to get into trouble.   Some things may also be statements people make to get out of taking responsibility for their actions.  People take statements from either side of the path that apply to their journey towards crime and write them in the path.  This process requires introspection and reflection on the past.  The end result with the statements in the path provides a powerful visual message about the triggers that they should avoid to keep out of the legal system.  This handout can also be used in a group work format with people interviewing each other and putting things on the path based on what the other person said.  The completed handouts can be presented to the group.

Some people may be in denial and not list all the right things.  Through your counseling, you may see things they did not put on the path.  You should have an appropriate counseling conversation with them about these issues to help them overcome their denial.  It is a major sign of progress when people actually get objective enough to put all the right things in the path.

If you are going to use this handout, you should bring Larry Robbin reentry and employment training and consulting to your organization to get more handouts like this and to improve your outcomes.  Larry trains on many reentry topics such as Jails to Jobs, Keep the Bars Behind You! Job Retention for People in Reentry and Freedom is a Constant Struggle!  Case Management Strategies for People in Reentry.  These are only a few examples of the many reentry related trainings he provides.  Larry also uses his forty-five years of reentry employment experience in management consultation to help program leadership make their model more effective.  To get more information about Larry’s reentry training and consulting  click here to send an email.

 WHAT WERE THE STEPS ON YOUR PATH

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