with keynote speaker The Lord Shipley OBE, chair of the HOL Youth Unemployment Committee
20 January, 12 – 2pm | Online via teams
email membership@ersa.org.uk for a teams joining link

A note from the ERSA Chair (December 2021)

Dear ERSA members,

I am writing to encourage you all to consider putting yourself forward for board membership of ERSA.

ERSA’s work is to champion and support the sector, in all its breadth and diversity.  We work closely with commissioners and funders, at all levels, on issues around programme design and management.  We all care passionately about the employment support sector. We also know that we can do more collectively as a sector to help improve standards of delivery across the piece and to make the case to government and other funders for investment in services.  We work hard to influence the wider policy agenda as it affects jobseekers. Our specialisms include disability and health, housing and homelessness, offender related services, youth employment and welfare reform, amongst other areas.

Our priorities in the coming year are keeping up the momentum of our UK Shared Prosperity work, helping shape future commissioning in a post-covid world, taking ERSA out to members through local forums and linking themed based forums with these, building ERSA membership to be a strong Voice of and for Employment Support, bringing members together at events and online, upskilling the sector, working with all commissioners.

ERSA could not function without its board. Our board of directors set the tone and strategic direction of the entire organisation. It is therefore vital that board directors reflect the sector as a whole and possess the range of skills that are necessary for the organisation and the sector to thrive. Crucially, it means directors understanding that their duty is to ERSA and the sector and they are not on the board as a representative of their own organisation. If you have not yet had this type of experience, ERSA could prove a valuable opportunity to gain it.

There are five vacancies, we hope to balance the representation on the board to reflect the sector ERSA represents. As part of this we are looking to attract a range of skills from strategic planning, delivery management (prime and supply chain) and finance.

We very much want to make sure that all parts of the employment related services sector are represented on the board – small, medium and large organisations; and that they represent a range of employment programmes, providers of specialist services, housing associations, local authorities, as well as the end to end players, voluntary sector, small local, public and private sector organisations.  As ERSA’s regional networks also grow, we also need to ensure we have representation from a wide geographical spread of providers.

We are acutely aware that BAME communities should have a strong representative voice on the ERSA board and we are actively seeking nominations to strengthen this.

The ERSA board meets every January, March, May, July, September, and November. Currently the board meets online but we do expect to meet in person as soon as we can.

We expect members to be active as far as their responsibilities to their own organisations allow and to promote ERSA at every opportunity which presents itself.

Board members are encouraged to get involved as champions of different parts of the employment support agenda and contribute from their respective skills base to a range of board discussions and activities between meetings.  This may involve, for example, becoming a board member champion for one of the ERSA forums to help them understand members issues and ensure that these are aired at board level.

Board members are expected to support the staff team and to contribute to the development of ERSA’s strategy. Current work streams which require contribution from the board are:

• Good practice and conduct building supply chains
• A sector owned Quality Mark for Employment Support
• Data and Security Audits – developing the market for future commissioning
• Social Value – how this is achieved and demonstrated within the sector
• How the employment support sector can become carbon neutral
• Membership drive
• Identifying future sources of funding
• Finance sub committee

Thank you for considering the opportunity to stand for the ERSA board of Directors.  

Information, timeline, eligibility and application (CLOSED)

ERSA Board Processof Nominations 

ERSA Board Nomination Form

ERSA Board Election Timeline 

If you would like an informal discussion about becoming an ERSA board director, please contact ERSA’s Chief Executive, Elizabeth Taylor, who will be happy to answer your questions.

Regards

Richard Clifton

Chair, Employment Related Services Association