YONKERS: It was not long ago when inclusive hiring (sometimes called second-chance hiring) was all the rage across the U.S.
In February, U.S. unemployment was at 3.5 percent, the nation was reckoning with its mass incarceration problem, and various business organizations were busting myths about what’s involved with hiring people who have criminal records.
The Ban the Box campaign, around since 2003, was also gaining more supporters.
Fast forward a few months and now, almost no one is talking about inclusive hiring. And speaking of rage, there’s currently a different form of it sweeping across the U.S.
One company that has not shied away from inclusive hiring despite the current crises is Greyston Bakery, which has long been churning out brownies in Yonkers, New York, and includes Ben & Jerry’s amongst its customers.
For Joseph Kenner, who has been with Greyston since early 2018 and was named CEO of the company this past April. no other employee engagement option exists other than inclusive hiring.
From Kenner’s point of view, the convergence of COVID-19, the protests stemming from the murders of Black Americans including George Floyd, and the current economic crisis makes hiring the most vulnerable even more of an imperative, especially since many people with criminal justice histories never got a “first chance” at employment in the first place.
Greyston has already gone above and beyond its mission of employing the last hired and first fired to bake brownies. Two years ago, the company opened the eponymous Center for Open Hiring, a space where business leaders can learn more about the “open hiring” human resources model. Greyston and the staff running the center are spreading the word on inclusive hiring however they can. Next, they’ll host a seminar on Tuesday, July 14. The event has the goal to show leaders the value of investing in employees, “rather than screening them out.”
Open hiring seeks to turn the human resources model on its head. Most companies expend their resources screening out people. But with open hiring, companies commit to training, learning, development, benefits and a culture of support.
The process is simple: In Greyston’s case, applicants are asked for the name, contact information and if they can stand on their feet for a full day’s shift.
Plus, Greyston employees need to be able to lift 50 pounds, as baking 8 million or so pounds of brownies and blondies a year requires moving around lots of huge bags of flour and sugar.
At a time when companies are making bold statements about standing with Black Americans and promising to build more diverse workforces, Joseph Kenner and his company doesn’t have to pledge anything – it is hiring now.
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