Energizing the Workforce: Open to Open Hiring
In addition to the movements discussed in the February Edition of Energizing the Workforce, there is one clear pathway that is being more commonly discussed among businesses in terms of expanding their scope of employment. OPEN HIRING! Businesses and organizations all over the United States are engaging in this practice to help widen the hiring scope.
What is “Open Hiring?” The solution! Open hiring is essentially hiring on a first come first serve basis. The Body Shop piloted this practice by stating the following: “We’re not asking for your background check, we’re not asking for you to be drug screened. And there are only three questions to get a job. It’s: ‘Are you authorized to work in the U.S.? Can you stand for up to eight hours? And can you lift over 50 pounds?’ If those three questions are answered, then we will give you a chance to come to work in our distribution center.” This eliminates many of the fears and difficulties that come along with finding employment post-incarceration. “And there’s a business case. In an open hiring pilot at The Body Shop’s distribution center, its employee turnover rate fell to 16% in December 2019 from 43% in December 2018. The Body Shop also says productivity improved. ‘When you give people access to something that they’re struggling to find, they’re very committed to working hard and keeping it,’ said The Body Shop U.S. GM Andrea Blieden” Providing an OPPORTUNITY that can lead to an internship or even a full-time job is a way to open the floor to a new venture for these individuals.
The Body Shop is not the only large company that is engaging in this. Greyston Bakery in New York was one of the first establishments that gained traction for conducting “open hiring.” “Anyone can come to the bakery, put your name on the list, and when a position opens, the next person in line is hired for an apprenticeship at a world-renowned bakery (Yonkers bakery). This gives the formerly incarcerated the ability to create a strong work ethic in this apprenticeship which can then lead to more opportunities. “Currently, over 60% of Greyston’s bakers are ex-convicts. According to Senior Development Officer Karen Tumelty, it’s all about “investing in a person’s future, rather than their past.”
Source: New York Times, “No Background Check, Drug Test or Credit Check. You’re Hired!”
Greyston has taken this practice and created an entire platform for other businesses to follow, naming them “one of the world’s most innovative companies by Fast Company.” They have gone so far to create the Greyston Center for Open Hiring. Through Education and Training, Advisory Services, and Research, this center seeks to educate organizations interested in open hiring and how it can greatly benefit their professional space in a variety of ways. “Open Hiring can solve today’s business challenges. Maximizing employment is the key to every country’s economic growth and well-being. An estimated 5.4 million people cannot find a job in the United States. That represents a huge loss in productivity and tax revenue. Greyston’s Open Hiring business model has proven successful in its home community of Southwest Yonkers, New York. Think of what our world would look like and could achieve if every company found just one job that could be filled through Open Hiring.” They go on to describe four large issues that are affecting the United States workforce and how open hiring integrates into each, leading to more solutions and positive outcomes.
1. Recruitment, Screening, and Retentions Costs
2. Tight Labor Market
3. Demand for Corporate Social Responsibility
4. Radical Inclusion Changing the World
Greyston is the model that we can all follow, please click here to read some brief stories about individuals who have had their lives changed from the open hiring policy.