Second Chance Business Coalition Reinforces Commitment to Inclusive Workforce Strategies that Include Hiring and Career Advancement Opportunities for People with a Criminal Record
We know that our business succeeds when everyone is given a chance to thrive and as part of being an Inclusive, by Design company, we are proud to be a founding member of the Second Chance Business Coalition (SCBC) through our partnership with the Business Roundtable. As the executive sponsor of this coalition, I am supportive of this initiative. It will help lower barriers to employment for people with a criminal record and support our inclusive workforce strategy.
We are sitting amongst leading companies such as Visa, Walmart, The Home Depot, Verizon, and PepsiCo. The Coalition will help employers like ourselves tap into a talent pool that includes the nearly 70 million Americans, or one in three adults, who have a criminal record, by:
- Developing best practices and enabling companies like ours to share approaches and experiences, learning from subject-matter experts, and deploying tools to improve second chance recruitment, retention, manager training, performance, and satisfaction.
- Launching pilot initiatives to test new approaches to second chance hiring and advancement practices. This effort will include partnerships with community service organizations and providers and will use metrics to guide decision-making.
Here is a breakdown on how this new coalition will change our workforce strategy.
- Where we’ve been:
- Gap Inc. believes that every single applicant deserves an opportunity at a career with our company. A few years ago, we started to refine what this work meant as we assessed the procedures after a failed background screen.
- The background screening program currently partners with local organizations to help usher candidates through the individualized assessment process after a failed background screen. Additionally, the background screening program helps sponsor participants from these independent organizations serve as change agents serving those at the margins of society in their communities, whether they be people leaving prison, formerly gang-involved or those who have been trafficked.
- What is happening right now:
- We are currently engaging with community partners who specialize in re-entry work to roll out hiring initiatives for their clients within our Customer Experience Centers. We are excited to push forward with a strategy for community hiring that supports everyone, including those that may be affected by a criminal background. We look forward to sharing our learnings from this journey with the coalition.
- What’s to come:
- As an extension of our commitment to creating multiple pathways for access and opportunity with the support of Business Roundtable, we felt it was important to join the Second Chance Business Coalition. This allows us to lead where we have strengths from our established work with second chance hiring and learn from other major business players to further enhance our work.
- As we prepare to implement this program within our stores, distribution centers and call centers, we will make sure to set up processes that continue to provide a safe environment for our employees and customers. Only individuals who successfully pass an Individualized Assessment will be hired.