Agens Israel is an international partnership specializing in reintegrating the unemployed into the workforce. The company has obtained the right to activate the nation’s first Welfare-to-Work Pilot Program - in the following areas: Hadera, Or Akiva, Pardes Hana-Karkur, Ein Iron, Kefar Kara , Baqa el Garbia-Jat. Basma and Netanya.
Agens Israel operates professional employment centers in Hadera and Netanya, which are conducted according to advanced international placement methods.
The Partners
Agens Israel is a partnership between two leading companies- Israeli and International- in the placement assignation field:
Agens International Ltd., the international partner, is the largest company in Europe in the field of reentering the unemployed into the workforce. The company, based in Holland, has 600 employees in 25 centers acting in 4 different states. Since its establishment in 1999 the company has reentered more then 125,000 people into the workforce throughout Europe. According to the survey of the Dutch Suppliers Union (BOREA) and the Dutch government, Agens is "the leading assignation company" and "the leading company in customer satisfactory", in Holland.
Yeud Ltd. from the Adam Group, the Israeli partner, specializes in assigning workers in the Israeli market and is an authorized supplier for the Israeli government. The company was established in 1998 and operated several branches throughout the country, including 3 centers for immigrants.
The Staff
The multi-disciplinary staff of Agens Israel is made up of dozens of devoted workers: employment advisers, case managers, occupational doctors, occupational psychologists and administrative workers.
The staff provide a comprehensive service supporting all stages of returning to work and maintaining long term employment career..
The Customers
The main clientele enjoying the services of Agens Israel are:
• The Welfare Support recipient public, offered a real chance to return to the work market.
• The employer public, enjoying professional and high quality focused assignation of workers, at no cost.
Our Advantages
The success of Agnes is based on a wide range of important advantages:
• Professionalism- Professionalism and again professionalism. Agens’s multi-professional teams are made up of a wide range of excellent professionals, with specialties complementing each other- all in the best interest of the customer: occupational psychologists, doctors, employment advisers, social workers and National Insurance Institute representatives cooperating in order to find the optimal solution for each customer.
• Expertise - Agens specializes only in returning the unemployed into the workforce and this focus provides Agens with a profound understanding and high level abilities.
• Creativity - When needed Agens experts know how to locate and provide creative and focused solutions to the customer’s needs.
• Experience - Agens Israel partners have many years of proven experience in assignation in general and the unemployed specifically.
Agens Israel Implementing the Program
Agens Israel and the Welfare to Work Program share the same vision, the same philosophy and the same goals. The company shares the Israeli government’s belief that:
• Employment is the greatest hope to obtaining long term financial independence.
• Every person can contribute an effort.
• The faster the participants return to the workforce, the sooner their dependency on minimal income pensions will end.
• The comprehensive treatment of the employment centers is necessary for coordinating the employment related services, needed to transform the welfare recipients into successful candidates for work and efficient members of the workforce.
Furthermore, at Agens Israel we believe that their approach to implementing the welfare to work pilot program will assist the government in the following fields:
• Transferring welfare recipients to the workforce as smoothly as possible.
• Assisting those entering the workforce by equipping them with the necessary skills for keeping their jobs and obtaining long term financial independence.
• Promoting the "Work First" concept.
• Encouraging workers to continue to work and as a result to reduce the number of new people entering the welfare payments system.
• Increasing the work productivity in Israel and becoming more competitive in the world market.
In accordance with the principles, philosophy and goals of the Program, determined by the government, Agens Israel designed an approach that:
• Will focus on employment as the main objective.
• Will enter the participants in the program immediately, in full and consistent activity guided by the "work first" concept.
• Will create and maintain an atmosphere of urgency amongst the participants and the staff working with them.
• Will provide the participants with immediate and continuous feedback regarding their progress and the areas that require improvement.
• Will encourage the participants to take personal responsibility to reenter the workforce.
• Will create the right combination of support services, available for existing participants, past participants and participants referred fairly and equally.
• Will treat the employers, the National Insurance Institute, the Project Management and the other governmental authorities as equal partners.
Agens Israel Strategies & Work First Techniques
The Mehalev Pilot Program is designed to accelerate the movement from welfare to work and transfer primary responsibility for that transition to the Participant. As the Government’s agent, Agens Israel’s role is to assist the Participant in making that transition as rapidly and effectively as possible. Under the Work First framework, the objective of the Pilot Program and Agens Israel is to support the Participant’s steady progress toward long-term financial independence through rapid attachment to the labor market.
The government provides welfare benefits during this period of self-improvement. Under these other models, the assumption is that Participants will gain employment and be successful in the workforce if other issues are resolved before seeking a job.
In the Work First approach, the focus is on identifying the Participant’s work-related abilities, experiences, skills, and strengths as well as creating a timetable and plan for re-entering the labor market. While barriers to employment are addressed in the planning, the participation itself emphasizes actual work, whether in an unsubsidized position or in a subsidized opportunity that is intended to lead to unsubsidized work.
Trainings, counseling, and/or educational activities certainly may occur under the Work First model, but such activities are not the primary focus of the work week or the Personal Plan. These activities are in addition to work or are meant to lead to work but are, not instead of work.
An additional key to understanding Work First is the role of consequences in this model. In other welfare programs, welfare recipients receive benefits based on complying with eligibility and appointment requirements. Under Work First, the Participant is required to participate fully in order to receive financial assistance.
In summary, the Work First model focuses on matching at the earliest possible point the needs of area employers with the strengths of the Participant. It seeks to assist Participants to support themselves exclusively through private employment as soon as possible. In the interim, the model attempts to help Participants support themselves through a combination of government-funded and privately earned resources. In this way, Work First reduces the potential for ongoing dependency and increases the likelihood of long-term self-sufficiency.
Major Work First Strategies & Techniques
As part of a broader international organization which has been responsible for administering Welfare-to-Work models in several nations, Agens Israel recognizes the differences between Work First and competing approaches. Given that this program is based upon the Work First model, Agens Israel will implement this Pilot Program effectively by using a combination of Work First strategies and techniques, including:
• Emphasizing Alternatives to Welfare
• Engaging Participants Fully and Immediately
• Placing Participants in the Most Appropriate Tier
• Using Work-driven Assessments
• Developing Impactful Personal Plans
• Addressing Medical Limitations
• Developing Unsubsidized, Subsidized and Public Work Opportunities within the Region
• Fostering a Sense of Participant Responsibility for Success and Consequences
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