Evaluating employability: understanding the impact of third sector interventions through the lens of social value

This paper considers whether social value evaluation might be a useful tool for third sector organisations (TSOs) to understand the impact of employability interventions. While employability as a concept has been adopted within strategies to support the unemployed into work there are long-held criticisms of the concept and how it has been operationalised, as well as of the content, delivery and measurement of employability interventions funded by Governments. A key criticism has been around the measurement of success and whether a focus on job outcomes limits policy makers’ ability to capture progress towards work. Set against a backdrop of the devolution of additional welfare powers to the Scottish Parliament, and a keenness of both the UK and Scottish Governments to apply social value in evaluating policy interventions, this paper considers the potential role of social value in helping policy makers and practitioners understand the impact of employability interventions and provide a strong evidence base for improving upon client experience and outcomes.