In addition to its work in influencing policy and mainstream services and delivery, GMEC runs a series of projects and initiatives supporting employers to engage with diverse communities and directly offer employment opportunities to those groups furthest from the labour market. A couple of our initiatives are detailed below:


EMPLOYER SUPPORT NETWORK & GOOD PRACTICE SHARE

GMEC Communications
Employers and delivery partners can register to receive both our e-newsletters, which appear bi-monthly, and our hardcopy newsletters, which are produced three times a year.

As GMEC is independent of any products and services, and overseen by employers, we aim to describe the complexity of products and services in a way that enables you to understand what’s out there, its potential benefits to you, and how it fits with other services.

GMEC’s Diversity Alliance
The Alliance provides a cross-sectoral forum for employers across the whole of Greater Manchester who are proactively working to diversify their organisations. The forum aims to explore the issues that matter most to employers by delivering the following benefits to participants:

• Member Driven Programme – forum members set the forthcoming programme, and meetings are chaired by employer member, Harry Maqbool, Royal Mail
  
  
• Good Practice Seminars - regular opportunities for forum members to formally exchange good practice with other member organisations and leading employment and employment law specialists
  
  
• Specialist Workshops – open to line managers, diversity champions or other colleagues from within member organisations, these technical workshops will be delivered by leading specialists and external speakers
  
  
• Informal Support – an opportunity to share queries, issues and ideas in an informal but confidential environment with fellow members
  
  
• Written Communication - regular e-mails, briefings and breaking news to keep you up to date on policy, developments and opportunities

Previous meeting topics include: Positive Action, Disability Confidence, and Managing Healthy Workplaces.

Membership of the Alliance is free to all Greater Manchester employers.

PROJECT & EMPLOYER SUPPORT

GMEC offers employers and public partners with project development support for employment initiatives aimed at those furthest from the labour market

Prolific and other Priority Offenders (PPO) Projects
One of the key projects GMEC has intensively supported is making real headway in securing employment for one of the hardest to help groups - Prolific and other Priority Offenders (PPO).

employment, alongside stable housing, significantly reduces the risk of re-offending amongst Prolific and other Priority Offenders (PPOs). GMEC, through its partnership with Board member, GM Procure, has tapped into a source of employers sympathetic to the needs of PPOs, and committed to giving them a second chance.

To date GMEC has influenced 5 Housing Providers to use an internal works team contract to provide PPOs with a 6-month temporary paid employment opportunity. The team effectively operates as a business, using the awarded contract to cover management and operational costs. As at March 2010, the projects have placed 48 PPOs into paid temporary jobs, and so far moved 16 onto permanent employment. GMEC is now working with Probation and GM Procure, to identify a suitable exit strategy for GMEC’s involvement and a strategy for the sustainability of the projects.