Purpose
Mana in Mahi – Strength in Work was created to generate sustainable employment outcomes for young people in New Zealand.
In 2018 MSD launched the Mana in Mahi prototype, with the intention of learning from this formative phase before rolling out a second phase more broadly. In 2019, MSD contracted an independent consultancy to evaluate the early stages of Mana in Mahi to learn what was working and what could be improved.
The evaluation reports describe findings from the Mana in Mahi prototype.
The Recommendations and Ministry Responses text shows how MSD used this research to improve the service. These evaluation reports helped shape design settings for Mana in Mahi Phase Two. In August 2019, Mana in Mahi Phase Two was implemented and in August 2020 Mana in Mahi Expansion was implemented as part of the Apprenticeship Support programme.
Formative and process evaluation of the Mana in Mahi prtotype: first report
This report presents initial findings from the formative process evaluation of the ‘Mana in Mahi – Strength in Work’ programme (Mana in Mahi) prototype, implemented by the Ministry of Social Development (MSD). The aim of Mana in Mahi was to create sustainable employment outcomes for young people, with a secondary objective of addressing the national skills shortage. MSD launched the prototype of the programme in August 2018 with the intention of learning from the initial phase to inform the design and wider roll-out of a second phase.
The purpose of this evaluation is to provide MSD with information on the strengths and weaknesses of the design and implementation of the Mana in Mahi prototype, and provide recommendations for improvements to the design and implementation which will help to inform the future expansion of the programme.
Formative and process evaluation of the Mana in Mahi prtotype: second report
This report presents findings from the second stage of the formative process evaluation of Mana in Mahi. The report is based on interviews with 41 people with Mana in Mahi: clients/young people, employers and MSD regional and national staff, and reviewed programme documentation and monitoring data (for November 2018 - September 2019). This second evaluation builds on the findings in the first report about strengths and weaknesses of Mana in Mahi and potential areas for improvement, while identifying new insights that led to improvements.
Methodology
The first report:
This is a preliminary report based on qualitative interviews with 43 Mana in Mahi participants (clients, employers and MSD staff), and a review of programme documentation and monitoring data (up to 31 March 2019). It focuses on identifying the strengths and weaknesses of the prototype implementation and design, and the achievement of immediate outcomes. Most interviews were conducted in April and March 2019. Therefore, the maximum amount of time clients and employers had been participating was approximately seven months. A second report on the prototype implementation will be completed in November 2019.
The second report:
This report is based on interviews with 41 individuals (15 people were interviewed for a second time) with Mana in Mahi, clients/young people, employers and MSD regional and national staff, and a review of programme documentation and monitoring data (for the period November 2018 - September 2019). The interviews for the second round were conducted in September and October 2019, meaning some employers and clients had participated in the programme for a maximum of just over one year. This second report builds on the findings described in the first report (May 2019) about the strengths and weaknesses of Mana in Mahi and areas for improvement, while also identifying new insights to inform design and implementation improvement.
Key Results
Formative and process evaluation of the Mana in Mahi prototype: first report
This evaluation provided MSD with information on the strengths and weaknesses of the Mana in Mahi prototype and identified areas for further development. This preliminary report was based on qualitative interviews with 43 Mana in Mahi participants. Most interviews were conducted in March and April 2019.
Formative and process evaluation of the Mana in Mahi protoype: Second report
This report presents findings from the second stage of the formative process evaluation of Mana in Mahi. The report is based on interviews with 41 people with Mana in Mahi: clients/young people, employers and MSD regional and national staff, and reviewed programme documentation and monitoring data (for November 2018 - September 2019). This second evaluation builds on the findings in the first report about strengths and weaknesses of Mana in Mahi and potential areas for improvement, while identifying new insights that led to improvements.
Recommendations and Ministry response February 2020
This one page document summarises the recommendations from the evaluation of the Mana and Mahi prototype and describes how MSD responded to the feedback in the design and implementation of the programme.