Jobindsats'dk an ITbased benchmarking tool

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Jobindsats.dk an IT-based benchmarking tool

• Majbritt Jacobsen, Roskilde, February 2008

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What is Jobindsats.dk?

• Jobindsats.dk is an IT-based benchmarking tool
  making it easy and fast to see the results and
  effects of labour market initiatives (more than
  500 measures)
• Benchmarking between
• different municipalities / jobcentres
• different measures to combat unemployment
• across time
• What works? And what does not work?
• Who does it well? And does not?
• Transparency for everyone including the social
  partners.

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For whom?

• Primarily, Jobindsats.dk is targeted towards
• Employees and politicians at the local and
  regional level
• Employees and politicians at the national level
• Secondarily, towards
• Social partners unions, unemployment funds and
  employers organisations.
• Press
• Researchers and students
• General public with an interest in labour market
  and employment

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What is the content of Jobindsats.dk?

• Jobindsats.dk consists of the following data
• General data on population and supply and demand
  on the labour market
• Data on the results and effects of measures to
  combat unemployment
• Resultatrevisionen an annual report on the
  results and effects at the local level

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What is the content of Jobindsats.dk?

• In Jobindsats.dk, it is possible among other
  things to find answers to
• Who are the unemployed?
• For how long do they remain unemployed? And were
  do they go afterwards?
• Do the unemployed get their right to education
  and other job creation schemes fulfilled - and
  on time?
• Which measures work well for which groups?

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Resultatrevisionen

• Resultatrevisionen will consist of
• Benchmarking between comparable municipalities /
  jobcentres
• Recommendations on where to cut financing through
  a more effective approach
• Focus areas where there is a special need for
  effective actions ex. ethnic groups and youth.
• The report will serve as the basis for local
  political prioritizing and budgeting

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How to use Jobindsats.dk..
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Where do data come from?

• Data in Jobindsats.dk come from a number of
  different sources including
• Registrations at the local level made by the
  local employees in jobcentres and municipalities
• Statistics Denmark
• In Denmark, the availability and quality of data
  is quite good compared to other European
  countries.

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Whats new?

• For the first time, Jobindsats.dk makes it
  possible
• To make knowledge of employment measures
  accessible to everyone
• To show what works and does not work
• To make a solid basis for political decision
  making and prioritising
• To show data on the current situation
• To present data building on the registration of
  the local and regional authorities
• To benchmark the efforts made by different local
  and regional authorities
• To make detailed analysis of background variables
  such as gender, age, ethnic origin etc.
• One common way of measuring performance

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How to compare?

• Benchmarking is the key stone in Jobindsats.dk
  comparing
• Different geographic units
• Across time.
• Comparable municipalities / jobcentres with the
  same preconditions based on ex. number of
  inhabitants, number of immigrants, number of
  single providers etc.
• Fair comparisons that makes sense
• Comparing with other municipalities / jobcentres
  than the neighbouring

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How can Jobindsats.dk affect behaviour?

• Increased knowledge of own results and effects
• Increased knowledge of results of other local or
  regional authorities benchmarking
• Increased benchmarking not only with the
  neighbouring authorities but also nationally and
  with other more comparable local authorities
• Better equipped politicians capable of making
  better decisions based on knowledge - not belief
• Increased focus on results and effects not just
  measures
• Larger incentive to approve on accurate
  registration at the local level
• Increased pressure to document, explain and
  improve measures
• Identification of variations in performance and
  incentive to best practise, sharing of
  experiences and knowledge

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How is the content determined?

• Availability of data
• Acts on active labour market policy
• Demands and wishes among the local and regional
  authorities
• Demands and wishes at the national level
  including strategic focus areas
• Demands and wishes among the social partners and
  other important actors on the labour market
• The tables and figures should make sense and be
  user-friendly keep it simple

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How to secure local anchoring of the tool?

• In order to secure support and that the tool is
  user-friendly and meets the demands of the users,
  it is important to
• Include the local and regional actors in the
  process working groups
• Include the social partners and other relevant
  actors working groups
• Local relevance of the measures connection
  between the local employees reality and goals
• Common data and standards for measuring

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Pitfalls and recommendations

• Too much steering and overregulation
• Too much or double registration
• Too much counting
• Lack of focus too many measures disturb the
  picture
• Wrong measures can result in inappropriate
  behaviour
• Focus on output more than processes
• Remember that things are linked together make
  sure that a general picture is presented
• Focus on realistic goals rather than possible
  goals

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Pitfalls and recommendations

• Bottom-up processes Secure local anchoring /
  support for the tool
• Education secures skills to understand and use
  the tool
• Combine quantitative measures with more
  qualitative
• Secure that it in reality it is possible to
  compare
• Keep it simple!