When people aren’t working, the community is suffering, according to Joe Kenner, Vice President of Programs and Partnerships at Greyston Bakery, an organization founded on an open hiring philosophy. From Greyston’s earliest beginnings, they’ve been hiring populations that many would deem unemployable, using a first come first serve approach.
As VP of Programs and Partnerships, Joe Kenner is responsible for directing Greyston’s workforce development and community wellness strategies and activities. He’s joined in today’s conversation by Sara Marcus, Partnerships Manager at Greyston’s Center for Open Hiring. She oversees partnerships with employers, non-profit partners, and funders with the ultimate goal of fostering a wider adoption of open hiring among businesses.
In this episode, Joe explains Greyston’s humble beginnings, as well as origin of the company’s open hiring policy - a strategy implemented by Greyston’s founder, Bernie Glassman, as a way to help the Yonkers community thrive. He and Sara take a deeper dive on what exactly open hiring entails, as well as the additional support Greyston provides for its employees’ success.
They share some of the benefits of open hiring, including a lower rate of turnover and a reallocation of funds into keeping employees rather than hiring them. Joe also discusses some personal stories of employees' lives changed as a result of Greyston’s open hiring.
Finally, Sara discusses the process of helping other companies move toward an open hiring model, including the Greyston Learning Lab where companies are invited to Greyston to get a first hand look at facility and how fewer barriers in the hiring process might work for them. Lastly, both Joe and Sara leave us with a final thought that employers can take away.
Don’t forget to share this episode on LinkedIn, tag Jen, and let her know what you learned from this episode for a chance to win a membership to the National Wellness Institute.
This episode is sponsored by Realize Wellbeing.
Realize Wellbeing is a corporate wellness consulting and training powerhouse on a mission to help companies understand how they're impacting their own employees' wellbeing. They are dedicated to transforming workplaces into businesses that exude energy and innovation through their vibrant, thriving people.
Owner, Maggie Gough gets a lot of requests from workplace wellness and HR practitioners who want a fresh perspective on their work and increased capacity for organizational change. In order for Maggie to reach more organizations, she is now offering a brand new Train the Trainer program.
This 4-week course equips you to bring their innovative strategy to your workplace and also help you expand your efforts beyond health promotion. This course will help you develop new strategies for your company, using the science of self-determination theory and micro-influence. With this new offer, you’ll receive two trainings to deliver to your employees, two fully developed campaigns, a measurement tool, plus four 1:1 coaching sessions with Maggie to support you in implementation.
The April session has limited availability, sign up today! Go to www.RealizeWellbeing.com or contact Maggie directly at mgough@realizewellbeing.com
For links mentioned in today's episode visit: http://bit.ly/Redesignpod
