Understanding Linkers Research

A philanthropic funder identified that a number of their investments included a 'linker' role - professionals who support individuals experiencing disadvantage to navigate a complex service system and access the support they need. They were funding linker roles across early childhood, education, health and justice. The organisation commissioned us to better understand the linker role and the characteristics of the linker workforce, and the conditions that support linkers to be effective. We reviewed the evidence-base and develop a working definition of a 'linker', surveyed the organisations funded by the philanthropy to build an evidence-base on the characteristics of Linkers, their workplaces, and how they are recruited, paid and managed. Using this work, we developed a typology to characterise and understand different parts of this workforce and analysed and understand the conditions that enable Linkers to be effective and any key considerations for recruiting, managing and growing this workforce. This work was designed to support the organisations that employ linkers, and equip the philanthropic funder to be an effective commissioner of linker-based models.

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