At the heart of Supported Employment lies a simple but powerful idea — that everyone has skills, strengths, and resources that can be built upon to create meaningful and sustainable work. My Employment Needs Analysis (ENA) and Individual Employment Plan (IEP) documents represent my very best hopes for how Supported Employment can truly work with clients — in ways that are empowering, practical, and deeply human.
These tools are not just forms to be filled in. They are living frameworks, carefully designed around a Solution Focused Approach and strongly informed by the best practice model of Dr. Nuala Whelan and the MEEG (Model of Evidence-Based Employment Guidance). Together, they support a process that enables clients to thrive and reach their full potential — by focusing on what’s working, what’s possible, and what’s already within their grasp.
A Solution Focused Foundation
In traditional employment support, the focus can often fall on deficits — what people lack, what’s missing, or what needs to be fixed. A Solution Focused Approach turns that on its head. Instead of asking “what’s wrong?”, we ask “what’s working?” and “what are your best hopes?”
The ENA and IEP are designed to bring these conversations to life. They invite clients to explore:
What’s going well — the strengths, skills, and experiences that already contribute to success.
What’s wanted — clear, positive goals that feel personally meaningful.
What’s possible next — small, achievable steps that move things forward.
Through scaling questions and reflective prompts, clients begin to see themselves not as problems to be solved, but as capable people already moving toward change. This creates a strong sense of agency and hope — both essential for progress.
Drawing on the MEEG Model of Best Practice
Dr. Nuala Whelan’s Model of Evidence-Based Employment Guidance (MEEG) provides a rigorous framework for integrating psychological theory with real-world employment practice. It highlights the importance of:
Self-belief and self-awareness
Goal clarity and motivation
Learning through action
A supportive environment
These same principles underpin the ENA and IEP. For example, the ENA assesses key competencies such as resilience, adaptability, and hope, while the IEP builds on these insights to co-create concrete, achievable goals. The emphasis is always on collaboration — clients are seen as experts in their own lives, with the coach acting as a facilitator of change rather than a fixer.
From Assessment to Action
The Employment Needs Analysis begins by understanding a client’s story — not just their employment history, but their motivations, supports, environment, and hopes for the future. It invites reflection through questions like:
“On a scale of 1–10, how ready are you to begin work?”
“What would it take to move one step higher?”
“Who might notice when things start to improve?”
The Individual Employment Plan then takes these insights and turns them into action. It captures the client’s preferred outcomes, identifies challenges and resources, and maps out the next steps. It keeps confidence and ownership front and centre — asking, “What do you know about yourself that makes this possible?”
This approach turns planning into a collaborative, strengths-based process where each client’s journey is unique, meaningful, and self-directed.
Enabling Clients to Thrive
My hope is that these tools — the ENA and IEP — embody a model of Supported Employment that is both compassionate and effective. They help clients to:
Recognise their own strengths
Build confidence and resilience
Set achievable, motivating goals
See progress and success, step by step
When we work this way, employment becomes more than just finding a job — it becomes an opportunity for growth, purpose, and wellbeing.
As Dr. Nuala Whelan’s work reminds us, evidence-based career guidance is most powerful when it honours the whole person — their story, their potential, and their capacity for change. The ENA and IEP are my contribution to that vision: practical tools built around hope, collaboration, and possibility.