Making a Difference: Measuring Soft Outcomes Event

On 26 March our Engagement in Employability Project hosted a conference aimed at building confidence and skills around identifying and reporting on soft outcomes within voluntary sector organisations. The event was facilitated by Professor Alan McGregor and his team from the Training and Employment Research Unit (TERU) at Glasgow University. The event consisted of a number of workshops looking at:

• What do we mean by soft outcomes?
• How do we measure them?
• How do we make best use of results?

There were also presentations from West Fife Enterprise, Fife Gingerbread and Frontline Fife who shared experience and good practice in relation to measuring outcomes.

Key discussions during the day included that the outcome first of all belongs to the client and he/she should be encouraged to take ownership for the progress made. Also, organisations would like to see more partnership working in relation to sharing expertise and resources. There was also a general feeling that one style doesn’t fit all, a range of tools must be made available that can be adapted to suit the particular client group or situation.

The event was well attended with 81 attendees from 59 different organisations. Evaluations have been sent out to all attendees and the feedback from these will be used to gauge interest for a larger scale event around outcomes. The information will also be used to identify training needs in relation to employability which will be responded to within the CVS Training Programme.

Powerpoint Presentations from the event

• Professor Alan MacGregor’s introductory presentation and workshop briefings
• Frontline Fife’s presentation, which gives an overview and demonstration of their Outcomes Matrix
• West Fife Enterprise’s presentation, which shares their experiences using the Rickter Scale tool
• Fife Gingerbread's presentation, which shares their involvement in Employability and how they measure progression

Evaluation of the event

• Evaluation Summary produced by University of Glasgow, Training & Employment Research Unit

Web / Other Resources

• The Scottish Government Employability Learning Network
• Evaluation Scotland
• Hall Aitken - A guide on how to measure soft outcomes
• Measuring Soft Outcomes and Distance Travelled: A Review of Current Practice (PDF)
• Rickter Scale
• The Soul Record: Soft Outcomes and Universal Learning
• The Outcomes Star: Supporting change in homelessness and related services (PDF)
• IES - Guide to Measuring Soft Outcomes and Distance Travelled (PDF)

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Marri Welsh (Development Officer) / Sarah Lawson (Project Worker)
CVS Fife, 23-27 Randolph Street, Buckhaven, Fife KY8 1AT
T: 01592 567001 - E: marri.welsh@cvsfife.org  -  sarah.lawson@cvsfife.org

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