APM provides job help for those most in need

APM provides job search, return-to-work programs, therapy, staff and vocational training to more than 65,000 clients each year.

APM chief executive Michael Hobday with founder and managing director Megan Wynne.

When Megan Wynne established her business to provide occupational therapy to regional clients in 1994, she never envisaged it growing to service jobseekers, workers, and industries in more than 400 sites across Australia, New Zealand and in Britain.

The Perth-based businesswoman now employs more than 1000 people at APM and provides job search, return-to-work programs, therapy, staff and vocational training to more than 65,000 clients each year.

“We just wanted to be the best at what we did and provide great services,” Wynne says. “For the first couple of years our vision was servicing the state and not thinking about the US or UK.”

Wynne, a former occupational therapist, saw a gap in service delivery in the early 1990s, and realised there was an opportunity to provide regional rehabilitation and allied health services in Geraldton and Bunbury in Western Australia.

By 2000 the company had moved into Tasmania and the Northern Territory, and was operating in most states by 2002. Further expansion saw APM move into disability employment and later mainstream job networking.

In 2012 APM won its first contract for vocational education provision in New Zealand, and the international arm gathered steam.

Wynne has overseen the greatest growth in the company she founded since becoming a mother to Sarah, now aged five.

She worked right up to Sarah’s birth, signing a key expansion contract just the day before. With help from a nanny Wynne has been able to return to work full time and push ahead with international expansion plans.

Wynne’s drive and motivation to start the business only a few years after graduating has seen her increase staff, win contracts and expand from her regional and city bases to regional New Zealand and her other international locations. In short, she is helping employ people and find jobs for those in need.

Chief executive Michael Hobday recently joined APM after spending 25 years working for the federal and Queensland governments in the service delivery and transport sectors, and 13 years developing private sector businesses in Britain, the Asia Pacific, Europe and Middle East.

He was involved in the decision to provide the Gold Card to war veterans and widows, and represented Australia at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

With an interest in service provision to people in disadvantaged communities, Hobday has been helping win contracts in regional areas and abroad. He says the company now employs 30 people in Britain and is finalising a major deal that will see it employ more than 500 people in Europe.

The British contract would see the company expand into employment services, training provision and assisting people who have been incarcerated to find a job.

“It’s a whole range of government-related contracts with people who need help the most,” Hobday says.

APM has also won two recent federal government contracts that are due to begin from July 1.

The first is providing regional evaluations of elderly residents who require independent assessments regarding whether they can stay in their home, and what services they may need to remain independent. The contract will result in several hundred new jobs in 22 regions.

The second contract is with the government’s new employment services model, Jobactive.

Hobday says the company’s contract to deliver services in nine regional sites makes APM the largest new player in the market.

“What we built was basically a partnership model, creating four pathways for job seekers so that we can get them into work quicker than they would have in the past,” he says.

The pathways include recruitment, a traineeship and vocational educational option, the use of the company’s own staff to help clients find work, and new software and equipment specialising in job matching.

The Jobactive sites will be a one-stop shop for people looking for work or training, with 95 locations to be established from the program’s opening date in just over 10 days time.

Wynne says APM and its delivery model is centred on providing human services, and it is not a recruitment firm. She says it helps the most disadvantaged, especially those with a background of multi-generational unemployment, drug and alcohol abuse or mental health issues.

“The new contract is critical to us, the Australian government has trusted us to deliver. In Australia disability and age are human services areas that are growing and now that we have a sizeable footprint in the UK, we’re going to focus on growing.”

Providing an employment service is a significant chunk of APM’s business — particularly to the disadvantaged and disabled — and Wynne says the evolution of technology and online job boards should not have a significant impact on her company’s operations.

“The more challenged and disadvantaged people are the more need for assistance they have,” she says. “The really positive thing is that we can provide them with that (job search) technology and enable them to compete in a rapidly changing world.”

Hobday says digital services can be harnessed to help others, and APM can facilitate their needs through its service provision and staff.

“The new digital age will help those who need it — those with mental health issues, drug and alcohol abuse and physical disability. Sometimes we leave the hardest to help behind but we’re there to help those who need it, and for those who need less help, the technology is available.”

Hobday says APM’s services in regional areas have also helped indigenous communities, ensuring no-one is left behind in the search for meaningful employment.

“The key component about APM is it has a value, a heart, and in true Aussie spirit it gets out there and gets it done,” he says.