Workforce partnerships are a critical tool to our state’s economic success as we continue to see record low unemployment and high job vacancies. At our latest Workforce Wednesday discussion, we heard a panel of employers and nonprofits share how they leverage their collective resources and expertise to support recruitment and retention efforts for youth, individuals with refugee status, and justice-involved talent pools. 

What are some challenges that you have worked through together with your partnerships? 

Courtney Dugstad – Executive Director, Next Chapter Ministries 

One thing people think when working with the justice-involved population is the potential for a worker to relapse and have an unsuccessful job experience. Employers need to consider a potential candidate as someone who wants to succeed versus somebody who is waiting to fail.  

Hosea Hargrett – Owner, H2 Real Estate Solutions  

Normally when I meet with candidates, the first question they ask is ‘do you want to know my background?’ and my reply is always ‘no, your past is your past, what I want to know is what do you want going forward?’ and that helps build a level of trust that shows that I’m not going to judge them based on criminal history.  

Alan Wedrickas – Account Recruiting Manager, Aerotek 

A few times early in the partnership, our staff wasn’t aware of Muslim culture such as prayer times, so we had some issues of Muslim employees not being comfortable praying at work. From that experience, we worked to create designated prayer rooms, so employees don’t have to pray out in the open.  

Ahmed (Jaffar) Mohamud – Team Coordinator, Minnesota Council of Churches Mankato Refugee Services 

I was helping one client fill out an application and there was an issue to the drug test portion of the application. They wanted to take a hair sample of the female applicant, but in the Islamic faith, women need to keep their heads covered. She initially refused this request, but after talking with her and the drug tester, we came to a solution where it would be okay to take a small sample of her hair from either the forehead or back of the neck so that her head covering can stay on. After that she was able to continue the application process.  

Mike Postma – Rice & Steele County Area Manager, Workforce Development In. (WDI) 

In reference to Steele Co Works, a workforce partnership collaboration of WDI, the United Way, and the Owatonna Area Chamber of Commerce: 

For us and our partnerships, we’re three organizations with different missions, but we know where we overlap so we’re able to play to our strengths. For us it’s just talking through it and asking what do we need and how do we get there? 

What is one key takeaway that employers should know about partnerships? 

Ahmed (Jaffar) Mohamud – Team Coordinator, Minnesota Council of Churches Mankato Refugee Services 

With the populations I serve, I work with clients who are bilingual and even trilingual, but English might not be one of those languages. I think employers should eliminate English requirements for certain jobs, especially entry-level positions, because the populations I serve are quick learners and can learn English skills while on the job.  

Alan Wedrickas – Account Recruiting Manager, Aerotek 

Just keep an open mind. Imagine yourself in their shoes coming to a new country with completely different rules and a different language and trying to find a new career. Just because somebody doesn’t speak your same language, doesn’t mean they’re not qualified to work at your company.  

Brad Meier – President, Owatonna Area Chamber of Commerce & Tourism  

It’s a lot of work to bring students into job shadows, tours and internships so good relationships with local businesses and the school districts is key in finding success.  

Mike Postma – Rice & Steele County Area Manager, Workforce Development In. (WDI) 

We can be guilty of living in silos, so don’t be afraid to reach out to different people and shake it up a bit. This model works because we brought in partners that hadn’t worked together in this way before.  

Courtney Dugstad – Executive Director, Next Chapter Ministries  

One out of four people in Minnesota has a criminal history and one out of six households are impacted by the cycle of incarceration. Justice-involved populations might be underrepresented in your workforce, but they aren’t underrepresented in the community. If we really want to open our candidate pool that means your company might need to change systemic policies in place to successfully hire justice-involved folks.  

Hosea Hargrett – Owner, H2 Real Estate Solutions  

If you’re company that has a small HR department and doesn’t know where to start with hiring justice-involved populations, I’d suggest you work with organizations who’ve done the work so you can save time with the hiring process.  

View a recording of August’s session and other past sessions, plus find related resources you can download and use, on the Workforce Wednesday page on CareerForceMN.com.