This blog post is a DRAFT chapter for a book being published by Origami Works Foundation. We will correct inaccuracies in the final book version. If you identify any inaccuracies, please let us know using this Feedback Form.
So you’ve explored options for engaging with the workforce ecosystem, and selected at least one strategy, and a business services partner. Now what? You may be wondering --
What steps are important as you begin?
How can you maximize the chances of meeting the goals you’ve identified?
Once you’ve achieved some success, how can you build on that?
This chapter focuses on launching and building your expanded talent program. You’ll get some useful tips to get started, and then advice on how to build on your efforts, especially when it comes to laying a strong foundation with your business services partner.
Get Started
Now that we've explored inspiring possibilities for enhancing your talent strategy, it's time to take that exciting first step. This section is your go-to guide for navigating the initial phases of implementation.
We'll show you how to --
Begin by employing a "Start Small(ish)" mindset
Prepare and support supervisors
Establish effective communication routines
Start Small(ish)
Expanding your talent strategy may seem like a monumental task. That's where the wisdom of starting small comes into play. Starting small isn't a limitation; it's a strategic move that allows you to test the waters, learn, and organically grow your expanded talent strategy.
"It starts with one person. We’ve hired over 30 individuals with disabilities and more than 30 returning citizens or justice-involved individuals. Both of those programs started with just one person, and it created the success story, which led to us expanding these programs across our entire system." Jerry Baake, former Workforce Development Manager, Advocate Aurora Health
As Sarah Brown of Virgin Hotels advises, "Inclusive hiring as a goal can feel like a lot to take on, especially for small businesses. So, start small and find a couple of connections with others who have had success."
“We started with one restaurant before expanding. Then we appointed internal champions, sharing success stories to build trust.” Christine Hill, Director of Recruiting, Lettuce Entertain You
Another way to start small is to work with an agency that places temporary employees, or can facilitate a Paid Work Experience program (see Chapter 4). It’s a way to get to know a partner and its participants without committing to the long term until your organization is ready.
Take a look at the strategy goals that you developed in the last chapter. Is there a goal that presents an opportunity to take a small first step? If nothing is jumping out at you, reach out to your business services partner and ask for their advice. Remember: They’ve been doing this for a long time and have helped other employers like you, so leverage their expertise whenever possible.
Consider embracing the notion of "Start Small(ish)" as a powerful catalyst for meaningful change within your organization.
Prepare and Support Supervisors
No matter what their direct role is in the hiring process, preparing and supporting supervisors is a critical element to a successful talent strategy. Line managers play a key role in orchestrating the onboarding process, nurturing professional growth, and cultivating an inclusive workplace culture. On the flip side, a lack of buy-in from supervisors can make your goals impossible to reach.
Getting buy-in requires intentional and thoughtful effort. According to Mandee Polonsky of Northwestern Medicine, “Our main challenge with partners is getting our hiring managers fully on board. … Hiring managers play a key role, so their cooperation is crucial.”
Avoid stumbling blocks by thinking ahead. Here are some strategies, including insights from those who've been through this phase of program implementation before.
First, think about the needs and possible concerns of supervisors, and empathize with their position. What do they care about? What might worry them?
In planning conversations with supervisors, think through the following questions. We are including sample answers from a sample organization and partner.
Q: Who are the supervisors that will be affected?
A: Kevin, Shay, and Angel
Q: What's changing for this group as a result of our partnership with a business services partner?
A: Will be getting candidates from Chicago Collaborative. Partner recommends that we not require cover letters in the application process.
Q: What key talent issues are these supervisors looking to solve?
A: Fill open positions. Maintain high level of service.
Q: What are some key concerns these supervisors have regarding this new strategy?
A: Lack of time - will hiring from this source take more time? If we remove the cover letter, how do I gauge true interest in the role ? If we hire from this partner, will managing employees from this source take more time, or will service quality be negatively impacted? Will supervisors still be able to decide which candidates are hired?
Once you’ve thought through supervisors’ likely concerns, consider what you need to discuss and communicate. Be sure to involve supervisors and ask for their input, rather than just informing them. Continuing with the case study above, you might plan a discussion with supervisors that includes these topics --
Reasons you would like to establish this new source of talent
Why you recommend this partner; information about your partner’s successes with other employers; individual success stories.
The kinds of support offered post-hire by the partner that can reduce supervisor time and stress
Ways the application process might be different (because of previous vetting by the partner)
For example, if your business services partner suggests removing the requirement of a cover letter for a position, talk with the partner and supervisor about why that change can improve outcomes, as well as other ways supervisors can get to know applicants beyond their resume or application.
Handy Hack: While it’s important to be open and transparent about what is happening and why, be careful not to over-stress the differences between these candidates and those from other sources. Heather Ronnow of Kronos Foods says, "We worked with the supervisors of these students to make them aware of their circumstances. We didn't want to say this is a special group that is coming in with special needs. It was more about conveying that we're working with an agency that's helping us find talent, and they're traveling a long way, and we want to make it worth your while and their while to attend to the issues they have in making their way out here."
In all communications, emphasize that you are starting small(-ish), and that supervisors’ feedback will be heard and addressed. Establish a feedback loop for supervisors to share insights on the effectiveness of your expanded talent initiatives. Make sure supervisors feel comfortable reaching out with questions, concerns, or seeking guidance. Open communication channels help in maintaining a smooth and stress-free transition for everyone involved.
Also, make sure that encouraging messages are coming from higher-up leadership as well as the talent or human resources division. Leadership support can make or break a program.
“BMO’s program received unwavering commitment from our head of distribution and branch system, Carolyn Booth. She views the BMORE initiative as an important alignment with our commitment to Zero Barriers to Inclusion. Transparent communication between partners, the program and retail leadership has been key to its ability to scale and better reflect the communities the bank serves.” Julie Garfield, Distribution Community Impact Initiatives Manager, Bank of Montreal (BMO)
With appropriate attention to the needs and concerns of supervisors, leaning on leadership, and employing the wisdom from those who've been there, you can lay a strong foundation for success with your expanded talent strategy.
Establish Regular Communication
To ensure success of your partnership, it’s best to immediately establish a regular communication cadence between your team and your business services partner.
Mandee Polonsky, drawing from her experience at Northwestern Medicine, recommends bi-weekly calls with partners. Routine check-ins provide a forum for discussing candidate progress, identifying those moving forward, addressing support needs, and tackling unforeseen issues.
You’ll need a consistent contact person along with a regular schedule. Nicolette Cuttell of Best Buddies Illinois points out the significance of having "a point person we can communicate with for check-ins and to provide supervision, especially during the onboarding process." This proactive approach allows for an even flow of feedback between all parties.
Handy Hack: If you’re starting small, regular bi-weekly meetings might seem like overkill. But, having a discussion on the calendar provides space to address anything that might come up, and it beats needing to gauge everyone’s availability and find time to connect. You can always cancel a meeting that isn’t needed, which is much easier than trying to schedule one in an urgent situation.
Recognizing the inevitability of team member turnover, it's also wise to consider this advice from Mandee: Include more than one point of contact from your organization. Here’s a great place to involve one or more line supervisors. This proactive approach not only promotes engagement and investment, it mitigates the impact of personnel changes and maintains the continuity of communication.
Establishing regular check-ins sets up a partnership for growth, which we’ll cover next.
Build On Success
Let's say your first foray into leveraging the workforce ecosystem is bearing some fruit. This section covers two straightforward ways to grow: Add positions, and add training programs.
Add Positions
Once you have at least one hiring success story, you might be ready to share additional open roles with your business services partner. Think of the time you’ll save if you can return to a trusted partner who already knows the needs and preferences of your organization when it’s time to hire.
Many employers have grown from a few positions to create successful programs across their organizations. Tana Francellno, now with World Business Chicago, shares an example from her past career in workforce development:
“Initially, we piloted a program with two students working in one unique department within the health system. The first cohort was incredibly successful and drummed up a lot of enthusiasm for the program. From there, the pilot was expanded to 12 additional departments and became formalized. It is a funded initiative for youth career development and exposure that continues to grow, hosting more and more students each year. “ Tana Francellno, Director of Workforce Development, World Business Chicago
Keep in mind that you can tap a business services partner for positions beyond entry level. Recall that this book has already cited examples of attorneys, project managers, software developers, and other roles.
Add Training Programs
If your organization has seen success with pre-employment or on-the-job training provided by a partner, maybe there is another set of skills to be learned, or a different group of employees who could benefit from learning opportunities.
Pete’s Fresh Market first partnered to train front-line customer service team members, and then expanded to English language skills and training for supervisors. National Tube Supply built on its initial efforts until its reimbursements from the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) added up to real money that affected the bottom line.
“We have been awarded approximately $30k in WIOA funding and countless thousands of dollars in on-the-job training money. We have developed an ongoing high school partnership with students coming in for part time work and have hired at least 6 justice impacted employees.” Kraig Kistinger, Director of Human Resources, National Tube Supply
While setting up a first training program with a partner is likely to take some time and effort, additional forays into this area will be quicker and easier. So, consider identifying how your organization can benefit from partner and funding support to improve skills and performance, benefiting everyone both now and in the long term.
Measure and Monitor Results
When managing an expansive talent strategy, gathering metrics and analyzing results enables you to decide whether your efforts are bearing fruit. Keep a watchful eye on outcomes. Track progress toward your goals. Measuring and reporting results highlights your success and points you towards opportunities for improvement. Here are some steps you can take, with examples from the real world.
Choose Your Metrics
When deciding what to measure, start by revisiting your initial goals. Then consider how to decide whether you are meeting those goals.
Handy Hack: Project yourself Into a future where you are saying, "Wow, our expanded talent program has been super-successful!" How would you know that? What numbers would you be showcasing to leadership?
Julie Garfield emphasizes the power of BMO’s program dashboard. The dashboard shows fiscal year hires, diversity data for inclusive recruitment, and retention statistics. It also highlights potential promotions.
"We highlight talent on track for development and promotion as well as at-risk colleagues, emphasizing the importance of nurturing this talent. The goal is not only hiring but also developing and retaining staff. It’s about learning what it’s going to take for us to be the best possible employer for talent--regardless of neighborhood or circumstance of origin." Julie Garfield, Distribution Community Impact Initiatives Manager, BMO
Here are some metrics used by different organizations --
Organization | Metric | Source |
Virgin Hotels | Employee demographics | Surveys (two times per year) |
Northwestern Medicine | Recruitment demographics | HR systems |
BMO | One-year retention rates by position | HR systems |
Chicago Housing Authority | On-the-job performance and employability skills of summer interns | Survey administered by One Summer Chicago organization |
National Tube Supply | On-the-job training reimbursements and training cost offset | Dollars received from WIOA (Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act) |
Include Data From Partners
In addition to relying on your own systems and teams, employers can use metrics gathered by their business services partners. Ebony Campbell of the Chicago Housing Authority uses One Summer Chicago’s impact survey, which gauges program participants’ on-the-job performance and employability skills.
Fun Fact: One Summer Chicago brings together government institutions, community-based organizations, and companies to offer employment and internship opportunities to youth and young adults. They engaged 20,544 participants in 2022 alone!
Corneisha Fowler at Cara Collective underlines a key measure of success: The organization's one-year retention rate across all employers, standing at an impressive 65%. A partner might be able to provide useful statistics for your organization as well, and you can compare it to a benchmark--is your organization beating the average, or is there room for improvement?
However you measure the outcomes of your efforts, monitoring results enables a journey of continuous improvement. Every number can be a stepping stone toward a more impactful talent strategy.
Fuel and Grow a Partnership
Nurturing and sustaining an ongoing collaboration with a business services partner creates more success for everyone, and requires some investment by all parties. According to Bianca DeRango, formerly at Jane Addams Resource Corporation (JARC), “Our most successful partners demonstrate effort and intentionality in maintaining an ongoing relationship.”
In this section, we explore key practices that promote the longevity and effectiveness of your initiative --
Get together and collaborate
Communicate with intention
Invest time in relationships
With these steps, you can nurture a partnership that grows, evolves, and leaves a lasting impact.
Get Together and Collaborate
If you started small(-ish), and followed the advice in the previous section, you may already have regular meetings with your partner, supervisor(s), and other stakeholders in place. As your program expands, you might want to re-examine the cadence and content of those collaboration opportunities.
“I truly believe in workforce development and in our partnership. I’m not going to be perfect and neither will they. Only by talking to each other can we figure out how to be better.” Kraig Kistinger, Director of Human Resources, National Tube Supply
Some employers add strategy meetings in addition to regular tactical discussions. Whether monthly, quarterly, or tied to specific milestones, regular check-ins with a broader group of stakeholders can shine a light on potential roadblocks and create a dedicated space for collaborative problem-solving. Here are some topics to consider --
Current Activities: Discuss ongoing recruiting or training efforts, how they're unfolding, and any roadblocks to be tackled.
Spotlight on Individuals: Discuss specific individuals who've been placed or are in training. How are they doing? Any shining stars ready for promotion? Are there challenges that need individual attention?
Metrics Review: Discuss number of referrals, placements, retention rates, training evaluations, performance evaluations, or any other metrics you are tracking. (See ideas in the “Measure and Monitor Results” section, above.)
Progress Toward Goals: Track progress on mutual goals. Strategize on any needed course corrections. Don't forget to celebrate milestones achieved!
Lessons Learned: As you expand your talent strategy, make sure you're not just moving forward, but also taking a moment to gather and capture some wisdom along the way.
Next Steps: What's next on the horizon? Use shared time to make plans for the next set of goals.
Active listening is crucial. Ebony at the Chicago Housing Authority observes, "Our most successful employer partners excel in active listening. They understand and respond to the aspirations and needs of our youth participants."
Communicate With Intention
If your talent strategy is to succeed and grow, people need to know about it. Sharing outcomes and success stories can help fuel your overall strategy and motivate the team to continue pursuing success. Communications also open channels for feedback and enable continuous improvement.
Clarify your communication aims. First, think through the answers to these questions --
Who needs to know about expanded talent efforts?
What are key messages and discussion topics for each audience?
How should we communicate key messages & enable discussion?
When and how often should this communication occur?
Who is responsible for producing or facilitating the communication item?
Then, convert those answers into a clear plan. For example, you could assemble a simple communication plan like this one --
Audience | Key Messages / Discussion Topics | Communication Item | Cadence / When | Responsible |
Line supervisors of front-line staff | Agenda for upcoming partnership review meeting; invitation to add items to agenda | Email: Partnership review meeting reminder | Bi-weekly, every other Tuesday | Maya (Talent) |
Partner contact, line supervisors, talent rep | Current Activities Recent Hires Metrics Review Goals Review Lessons Learned Labor Forecasts Next Steps | Virtual meeting: Partnership review meeting | Bi-weekly, every other Thursday | Maya (Talent) |
Leadership team | Progress toward goals Challenges Next steps Q&A | Email with 2-3 powerpoint slides attached: Results report | Quarterly, at quarterly department meeting | Kevin (Supervisor) |
Blog followers | Success story with featured team member (mix of partner referrals and employees referred in other ways) | Blog post (with social media shares): Hiring or retention or promotion success story | Two times per year - January and July | Shawnette (Communications) |
All team members | Success story with featured team member (mix of partner referrals and employees referred in other ways) | Link to blog post (above) | Two times per year - January and July | Shawnette (Communications) |
Customers | Success story with featured team member (mix of partner referrals and employees referred in other ways) | Customer newsletter article: Highlights from blog post (above) | Two times per year - January and July | Shawnette (Communications) |
Here are a few tips for making your communication strategy effective --
In all your communications, think about sharing stories, which are more powerful than mere facts.
Share stories on various platforms—internal newsletters, social media, and beyond. Real-life narratives connect with potential hires, clients, and the community at large.
Quantify the impact you’re producing. If your practices have led to improved retention rates, productivity boosts, or reduced expenses, share those metrics.
Go beyond your own walls. Connect with the local community by sharing stories of how your organization is growing a diverse and thriving team.
So, go ahead, flaunt those victories, listen to feedback, and keep the momentum rolling!
Invest Time In Relationships
As you expand on success, you should know that your peers and potential partners stress that a winning strategy goes beyond job-by-job transactions, or even collaboration and strategizing. It's about building meaningful partnerships over time.
The most successful relationships are fostered by dedicated team members who become central points of contact, and get to know one another. “It’s the trust earned by showing up for each other that makes these partnerships work,” says Aubree Weiley, Director at Bridges From School To Work. For example, you can build deeper relationships by supporting business services partners beyond their direct work with you.
“We like an employer that’s willing to take advantage of all we offer; coming to our events, seeing our mission in action and all the different facets we serve or will do outside the job itself.” Nicolette Cuttell, Director of Jobs, Best Buddies
Investing over time in a relationship with your partner can pay off in even better outcomes. Kerry Griffin of MERGE says, “We have been working with CareerSpring for a few years now, and they have essentially become an extension of our recruitment team--finding and vetting talent from their network. They understand our landscape, and know our talent needs and expectations.”
Summing Up ...
Whether you’re starting with a first referral hire, a training program, or a retention game plan, you are laying the foundation to access a broader set of talent and skills. As you navigate this landscape, remember you have experienced partners and peers to lean on.
"Our most successful employer partners share several key traits and practices that stand out... Open communication and multiple contacts within these companies ensure lasting relationships. A formal commitment to hiring, outlined in our agreements, allows for precise planning and progress tracking. This mix of engaged leadership, transparency, and mutual goals underpins our strongest partnerships." Pam Tully, President and COO, Skills for Chicagoland’s Future
Connecting with those who've walked the talk and successfully implemented similar programs can be a game-changer. So, don't be shy—reach out, swap stories, and pick up valuable insights.
Responsibility Chart
Here's a tool you can use to help plan the launch of your expanded talent program. A "RACI" or "ARCI" chart lets you assign levels of responsibility to various tasks.
A=Accountable: Is charged with ensuring the task Is completed successfully (one and only one person should be accountable for each task)
R=Responsible: Executes the task
C=Consulted: Is consulted about the best way to go about executing the task
I=Informed: Is provided with information about the task
Here is a sample RACI chart for the Launch and Build phase of your expanded talent strategy.
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