Prerequisites and Conditions for Applying Individual Approach to clients at Employment Offices through the Eyes of Street-Level Bureaucrats

Adam Taborsky

Abstract
OBJECTIVES: The research objective of the article was to determine the prerequisites and conditions for applying an individual approach to clients of public employment services, according to selected Labor Office employees in the Czech Republic. THEORETICAL BASES: Assumptions and conditions were drawn for the application of individual services by public employment services discussed by Michael Lipsky, Deborah Rice, Rik van Berkel, and Bernardo Zacka in their approaches. Other authors then discuss individual conditions such as trust, equity, autonomy, informationava ilability and bureaucratic procedures. METHODS: Forty-one semi-structured interviews were conducted as part of a qualitative research strategy these included interviews with employees from ten different types of Labor Offices in the Czech Republic from three different cities in the Bohemian, Moravian and Silesian regions, and discussions aimed to identify the prerequisites and conditions for the application of individual work in public employment services. OUTCOMES: Based on a thematic analysis, research participants identified the conditions of individual access in the organisational and professional contexts, including: a) organisational resources; b) discretion; c) competence, values and resilience; and d) support for competences for the application of an individual approach. SOCIAL WORK IMPLICATION: The abstract concept of the individual approach is not well understood by public employment services staff. Understanding the importance and benefits of the individual approach and its conditions can contribute to a greater application of the individual approach.

Keywords
Preconditions for labour office jobs, individual approach, public employment services, street-level bureacrats, social workers resources

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