With the grant, Bosselaar, together with his academic colleagues and managers at municipalities and UWV, will conduct action research into the most important challenges of managers of professionals who help long-term jobseekers find work. Due to the often complex problems of these job seekers, this is not easy. The study has three goals: supporting the participating managers, listing and analysing the challenges and solutions, and sharing the knowledge gained. Bosselaar explains: "The core of the approach is that we bring together the knowledge of scientists, managers and experience experts in a so-called Action Lab in order to support the participants in tackling a challenge of their own choosing, to evaluate it together and to make any necessary adjustments.”
The research focuses in particular on professionals involved in helping people with disabilities find a job ('re-integration professionals'). Bosselaar: "For this reason it was important to us that in our own research team also someone with a disability would participate. Together with the Servicepunt Participatiebanen of the VU (Renée van Scheppingen) we managed to recruit a colleague for this purpose."
ZonMW coordinates the research programme Skilled at Work for the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment. The aim of this programme is to improve the knowledge and innovative power of municipalities and the UWV with regard to services in the field of Work and Income.