This study empirically examines how counseling and job referral activity intensity and individual characteristics are associated with two performance outcomes among practitioners implementing the Korean National Employment Support Program. The analys...
This study empirically examines how counseling and job referral activity intensity and individual characteristics are associated with two performance outcomes among practitioners implementing the Korean National Employment Support Program. The analysis uses practitioner survey data from the 2022 Survey of Private Employment Service Institutions. After restricting the sample to National Employment Support Program practitioners and excluding extreme values in activity variables, the final analytic sample consists of 1,146 individuals. Subjective performance is measured using a five point Likert item of self evaluation. Objective performance is measured as the annual job placement employment rate transformed to a 0 to 1 scale. Ordered logit and fractional logit models are applied. The key explanatory variables are the number of face to face on site counseling visits per day, the number of non face to face counseling sessions per day, and the average annual number of job referral linkages per practitioner.
The correlation between the two performance indicators is weak, with a correlation coefficient of 0.087. Face to face on site counseling visits and the average number of job referral linkages show consistent positive associations with both subjective and objective performance, whereas non face to face counseling does not show a clear association. In average marginal effects based on predicted probabilities, a one unit increase in face to face visits per day is associated with a 1.4 percentage point increase in the predicted probability of the highest self evaluation category, P(self evaluation = 5), and a one unit increase in referral linkages per practitioner per year is associated with a 0.5 percentage point increase. For objective performance, the estimated change in the mean employment rate, E(z_obj), is 1.8 percentage points for a one unit increase in face to face visits and 0.4 percentage points for a one unit increase in referral linkages, while the estimate for non face to face counseling is −0.2 percentage points and not distinct. These findings suggest that performance management should distinguish perceived indicators from outcome indicators, and that strengthening face to face visits and referral linkage activities requires a design that integrates quality management with supportive operating conditions.