One of the most common failings in a retention support program is the lack of systematic and close contact during the first month in a new job. All customers are different in terms of their support needs, but those with multiple barriers, such as child care, transportation or substance abuse issues, need frequent contact and support during this critical time. Remember, by the time the employer calls you it is often too late to resolve the issue. Therefore, to ensure success and build trust with both your client and the employer, stay in touch and in tune with how things are going, especially early in the process.

The following is an example of a contact guide used effectively by employment programs with high customer retention rates. You can use this, as you can the additional resources below, as inspiration for creating your own tools.

First week:

• Be certain the customer has a means of getting to work, contact the customer the day before work begins to touch base.
• Meet or call the customer at end of his or her first day on the job. Check back twice more during the first week. Re-confirm the customer's home or cell phone number in case of emergency.
• Do a face-to-face check-in with your customer's employer or supervisor (with your customer's permission) at end of first week to get a progress report. Re-confirm your phone number with the front-line supervisor and express your desire to know immediately if there is a problem.

First month:

• Meet with, or at least speak to, your customer weekly to monitor his or her progress. Budget permitting, it's a good idea for your organization to encourage workforce staff to have lunch with each of their customers once a month to celebrate progress.
• In case of a problem, meet personally, but separately, with the supervisor and with the customer to hear both perceptions of the problem.
• If a problem does arise, after you help resolve it, increase the frequency of your contact with both your customer and the employer.

First three months:

• If the customer is making a problem-free transition into job, reduce contacts to once a month. If there is an issue, work-related or personal, that may affect job performance, increase the frequency of your contacts.

Three months and beyond:

• Employment providers with high retention rates often offer monthly job clubs for successfully employed former customers. The meetings provide support and encouragement for new employees.
• The most successful providers track customer progress up to 12 months after initial employment.

Resources
A Primer on Case Management for Employment Programs, by Steven Redfield of STRIVE National, outlines the essential keys to retention and career advancement services. This 12-slide presentation in PDF also provides nine pages of hands-on tools to help improve your case management practices.

General Performance Factors is a performance review worksheet created by STRIVE/Chicago Employment Services. An easy-to-use four-page Word file, it lists 12 areas for employee evaluation that could be helpful to monitor your customers' progress during their first month on the job.

Sample Client Outreach Letters is a wonderful collection of short letters workforce providers can use to maintain contact with their clients. STRIVE/Chicago Employment Services created this handy tool. It's a two-page Word file.