The business approach to job development

Abstract

In this study, the business approach to job development and its two models are reviewed and used in an 8-month demonstration project with four Tennessee community rehabilitation agencies. Agencies were selected based on a past successful placement history as well as geographic location and population served. These four agencies were brought together for an initial briefing meeting followed by 6 months of tracking job development activity with technical assistance and concluded with a debriefing meeting. This study tracks the effectiveness of the Cold Call and Referral Models and uses the data to make recommendations for best practices and problem solving. Further findings from this project suggest that the business approach to job development is effective in obtaining jobs in larger corporations in 50% of the agencies interviewed.