The
WIT members presenting the project
at SCORE’s WITs Convention
2004.
When
inmates are discharged and want to find employment,
they can turn to the Singapore Corporation of Rehabilitative
Enterprises (SCORE).
SCORE’s Employment Assistance Unit helps to
facilitate the smooth reintegration of offenders
into the job market and the community.
However, due to cost constraints and limited manpower
resources, the unit had difficulty providing adequate
assistance to the growing number of clients seeking
job placements.
Hence an 11-member WIT team got together to improve
the efficiency at EAU, so that staff can perform
more job matches in a day.
Besides revising and simplifying the application
form, the team proposed that EAU officers help the
clients to fill in the application form on the spot.
This eliminates time wasted on verifying the information.
EAU officers now find it easier to match the clients
to relevant companies according to their skills.
And companies are assured of employing suitably
skilled staff.
Since the idea was implemented, the number of clients
who benefit from the service has increased from
five to eight per day.
“Even though there isn’t a significant
increase in the number of clients served, the joy
of seeing just one ex-offender gainfully employed
simply outweighs everything,” said Ms Jessie
Wong, the leader of the WIT team.
Being involved in the project also gave the members
an insight into the intricacies of formulating and
implementing policies. Members learned to respect
each other’s views and appreciated the usefulness
of WITS tools in solving problems at work and at
home. Teamwork was also strengthened in the process.
This project won the gold award at SCORE’s
WITs Convention 2004 held on 5 July (see the following
story).
