Enhancing individual task performance and productivity: an ethnographic observational study of supported employment among social services clients in Finland.

Background: The purpose of the study was to investigate the various aspects of employees' work environment, including their job characteristics; the level of support provided by supervisors, job coaches and coworkers; and their perceptions of job performance and productivity from the perspectives of both employees and supervisors in the context of sustainable employability in supported employment interventions. This study was part of the Finnish Work Ability Programme Evaluation Study (2020-2024).

Methods: This study is theoretically informed by the concepts of specific work ability and sustainable employability, as well as how health affects productivity at the task level-approach. The research is based on qualitative data obtained through ethnographic fieldwork, nonparticipating observing with interaction at work, which includes observing employed individuals in their workplaces. Additionally, we recorded discussions, took photos at work, and conducted interviews with supervisors and job coaches.

Results: The main findings were that persons with disability or decreased work ability were employed in precarious low-productivity work, with limited opportunities for more sustainable employment. Several means from public employment services to decrease the employer's personnel costs were used. The supervisors appeared to have a strong grasp of each employee's task-specific productivity level. Supervisors had to adapt their usual tasks to provide extra support for employees, often focusing more on work performance. The role of coworkers and the work community as whole was also important. The personal support of job coaches during the employment phase was crucial, but their role in the workplace was unclear, especially to employers.

Conclusions: To strengthen sustainable careers, the matching of jobs and individuals should be promoted through closer and productivity-oriented cooperation with employers and work communities in vocational rehabilitation and re-employment. The chosen qualitative research strategy, ethnographic fieldwork at work and multi-perspective data collection provided new interpretations of the possibilities for sustainable employability using the Supported Employment method. From the perspectives of both enabling prolonged working careers for employees and providing a clear understanding of task-performance-based productivity to employers, there is a need for more microlevel data on what happens in work and workplaces, particularly the social mechanisms through which results are achieved.