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BARRIERS TO EMPLOYMENT SUCCESS INVENTORY ADMINISTRATOR’S GUIDE, SECOND EDITION

BARRIERS TO EMPLOYMENT SUCCESS INVENTORY ADMINISTRATOR’S GUIDE, SECOND EDITION John J. Liptak, Ed.D. This assessment can be administered online. For details, go to www.jist.com. This brief guide was written to provide additional information for professionals using the separate assessment instrument titled Barriers to Employment Success Inventory (BESI). BESI is designed to help individuals identify their major barriers to obtaining a job or succeeding in their employment. It is designed to be self- scored and self-interpreted without the use of any other materials, thus providing immediate results for the respondent and/or counselor. It is especially useful with counselees who are about to begin looking for a job, those who have been unsuc- cessful in securing employment, and those who are unable to keep a job. BESI yields a raw score in each of five separate categories. It is not a test, but rather a counseling tool intended to initiate a dialogue concerning the person’s barriers to successful employment and ways in which those barriers can be over- come. BESI provides a standardized approach for counselors to use in identifying, understanding, and finding solutions to barriers to successful employment. Copyright 2002 by JIST Publishing, Inc. Published by JIST Works, an imprint of JIST Publishing, Inc., 8902 Otis Avenue, Indianapolis, IN 46216-1033. Phone: 800-648-JIST Fax: 800-JIST-FAX E-mail: info@jist.com Web site: www.jist.com All rights reserved. Duplication of this document is permitted for internal distribution to staff using Barriers to Employment Success Inventory. No other use is permitted without written permission from the publisher. ISBN 1-56370-862-0 2 © 2002 JIST Publishing, Inc. Changes in the Workplace and Society The workplace of today has changed considerably and will continue to do so. Thus, many people are experiencing barriers to employment success. Hansen (1997) suggests that the American workplace revolution has just begun. A plethora of information ex- ists related to the consequences of the new workplace (Bridges, 1994). In order to un- derstand this complexity and the barriers confronting people, career and employment counselors need to understand the changes that have taken place in our society and in the world of work. Loss of Work Role During the 1990s, downsizing was a common practice among many companies in the private sector and agencies in the public sector. The rate of job loss was higher during the 1990s’ recovery than it was during the recession of the early 1980s. Gysbers, Heppner, and Johnston (1998) said that “job loss has economic meanings as well as social and psychological meanings” (p. 19). Research indicates that the stress of unemployment can be linked to a variety of psy- chological disorders, including depression, suicide, alcoholism, and child abuse. Such stress and disorders can interfere with the job search process, in turn causing additional stress for the individual. Winegardner, Simonetti, and Nykodym (1984) have described unemployment as “The Living Death,” and say that “unemployment can have a devas- tating impact on the human psyche, just as the major crises of divorce, the death of a loved one, and facing death itself strongly affect each individual” (p. 149). Increase in Technology Technology drives many of the new opportunities and changes in the world of work: G No longer do all workers have to go to the company office to work. More work is being outsourced to employees who work from their homes. G Workers now use computer networks and team networks to do a great ma- jority of their work. Hines (1994) believes that, by the year 2010, we will be in the “Infotech Society,” in which workers will do their work by com- puting combined with telecommunications and networking. G Technology has produced many new jobs and industries, including per- sonal computer manufacturing, software and video game development, bio- technology, and wireless telecommunications. Technology has forever changed such industries as health care and financial services. G Computers have changed the way people work. Rifkin (1995) believes that computers will continue replacing jobs to the point that large numbers of people will not have work as we now know it. He suggests that many jobs will cease to exist, and that we can expect shorter work weeks, an emphasis on the social economy, and more volunteering and service to the nonprofit community. © 2002 JIST Publishing, Inc. 3 G Robots, which have traditionally been used strictly for factory positions, will continue to replace workers in a variety of industries. Changing Organizations In addition to mass downsizing, other major changes have taken place in the workplace. Average wages have steadily declined over the last decade. Employers pay less toward employee pension plans and health insurance costs, and employees pay more. To cut costs and improve efficiency, most major companies now use temporary workers for piecemeal, consulting, freelance, part-time, and outsourced work. According to Charland (1993), labor market estimates in the United States indicate that at least a third of all job roles are in transition, a third of all vocational-technical schools have become obsolete, and a third of all workers eventually leave their jobs. Transitions in the workplace have become commonplace. Most companies even have career and outplacement services as a part of their human resource departments. Many authors contend that, in the future, workers will change jobs more frequently, be required to move more often to get a job, and have to retrain for new employment opportunities. GLOBALIZATION Until the mid-1950s, the majority of people worked for one employer their whole life and never had to worry about being downsized. The number of jobs available for today’s U.S. workforce has decreased. Many workers have been, or worry about being, laid off from their jobs. Many companies have streamlined their operations and released un- necessary labor; moved their operations outside the United States to countries with lower labor costs; or replaced their workforce with production-efficient technology. INCREASE IN SELF-EMPLOYMENT Today, fewer people are working for large corporations than did in the past. In fact, more people are starting small businesses and working from home in home-based busi- nesses. The number of franchises being started has increased, and the number of small businesses has doubled. Some of the reasons behind these changes include sharing jobs with another employee, compressed weekends, the use of flextime, reduced work hours, an increase in the use of temporary workers and volunteers, and participatory management. CHANGING DEMOGRAPHICS The United States Department of Labor (1993) indicated that the number of Hispanics and Asians in the labor force would continue to increase much faster than white non- Hispanics. Similarly, the number of African-Americans in the labor force will grow slightly faster than the rest of the workforce. The number of women entering the workforce will continue to grow much faster than the rate for men. An increasingly diverse society and workplace will require career counselors to under- stand and be able to provide services to people with differences in religion, ethnicity, race, gender, age, class, diversity, or sexual orientation. Hansen (1997) believes that 4 © 2002 JIST Publishing, Inc. “interpersonal relationships always have been important both on and off the job, but in the future career professionals will have to pay even greater attention to helping indi- viduals build mutual respect, trust, and self-esteem and value differences” (p. 9). Simi- larly, Brown and Minor (1992) feel that career assistance professionals—previously focused on white, middle-class populations—will need new theories and techniques to effectively interact with diverse workplace populations. The identification of barriers to employment success for multicultural populations is a very important aspect of the counseling process. Peterson and Nisenholz (1999) stud- ied the application of counseling services from a multicultural perspective and sug- gested that “the cultural differences within our society can affect counseling success” (p. 339). Because of the many workplace changes, career counselors have had to alter how they define a career and career counseling, and what treatment plans can direct the process. Barriers for Various Populations Roberts, Harper, and Preszler (1997) studied FRESH START, a program that works with Native Americans who have multiple barriers to employment success. They con- cluded that “career development, or even job placement, is a great challenge with cli- ents confronted with multiple barriers” (p. 121). FRESH START included client assessment, job search and retention skills, career exploration, personal counseling, remedial education, general education development, and job-specific training. Herring (1996) identified several major barriers to Native Americans securing employment, including problems of anxiety, lack of education and training, negative stereotypes, and inadequate career- and self-knowledge regarding work. Martin (1991) studied the barriers to employment success among urban Native Ameri- cans and those residing on reservations. He found that barriers included feelings of cultural conflict, lack of dependable transportation, culturally sensitive assessments, and the use of English as a second language. Westwood and Ishiyama (1991) said that “a special challenge exists for counselors who work with distinct minority groups because of the additional barriers to employment” (p. 130). They noted that immigrant clients in the United States faced such barriers as language difficulties, lack of knowledge of the world of work, limited networks, and lack uploads/Geographie/ besi-guide.pdf