Hiring a Non-Traditional Workforce

(avg: 4.75 of 5)

We’ve all heard the stories: one mistake can ruin your life if you wind up with a criminal record. From misdemeanors like possession of marijuana, to more serious crimes like assault and battery, those who err may not just end up in prison, but they will forever have to check off the “offender” box on job applications, all but guaranteeing their application is bypassed.

In Baltimore, the incarceration rate has become profound. When released, failure to become gainfully employed often leads these ex-offenders back to a life of crime.

Johns Hopkins Medical (JHM) took note of this phenomenon: each year, there are as many ex-offenders released from Maryland’s prisons as are the number of people employed at the entire Johns Hopkins medical complex in East Baltimore. If JHM could find a way to reintegrate these people back in to society though meaningful employment at the anchor institution, it would certainly help reduce the rates of recidivism. 

Moreover, JHM was struggling with its own employment situation: after the human resources department analyzed employment projections, they realized that there would soon not be enough workers for the jobs they needed to fill. Thus, they developed a new employee recruitment strategy: the hiring on non-traditional employees, including ex-offenders.

Of course, there was some pushback from university employees. Would hiring an ex-offender be safe? Could these employees be reliable at work? Were they more likely than other employees to steal from the job, from other workers?

All of these questions are valid. To get the buy in from everyone, the human resources department had to spend some time educating the JHM staff. Furthermore, the human resources department created strict guidelines for the hiring of ex-offenders, including thorough background checks to determine the infraction, severity and time elapsed since the person committed the crime.

Some may ask why JHM would spearhead such an initiative, especially now during an economic downturn where so many other qualified employees struggle to find work. Shouldn’t unemployed workers without criminal records be considered first?

To be clear, the JHM ex-offender initiative is by no means an affirmative action policy. Instead, it is a strategy where ex-offenders are not automatically ruled out as prospective employees given their criminal histories. The offenders must be able to show that they are at least equally qualified for employment as the other candidates applying for jobs with the Hospital.

What’s more, once hired, the ex-offenders records are sealed so that nobody outside of HR and security are aware that the new employee has a criminal record. Not even managers are aware that an ex-offender has been placed on their team. While it may seem counter intuitive at first, it has helped to curb prejudice and has kept the initiative’s integrity intact.

This workforce strategy has been heralded as a major success within the Baltimore community. In 2010 alone, 5% of all JHM’s new hires have some sort of criminal background. By being open with the public about the initiative, it has led to myriad new referrals for ex-offenders looking for work.

The ex-offenders seem to appreciate being given a second chance: one-year retention rates are at least as strong as traditional employees (80%). The initiative is looking to hire a full-time career coach for the ex-offenders to help them move up the career ladder at JHM as well.

Pamela Paulk, VP of human resources at JHM, explains the importance of anchor institutions finding strategic ways to engage their local communities by creating shared value. “As an anchor institution in East Baltimore, we must provide stability to our entire community, and keeping ex-offenders employed clearly benefits the community….If more of those returning prisoners were trained and earning a living, our streets would be safer and our communities would be stronger," she writes.

Thinking outside the box is paying dividens to JHM. More anchor institutions should follow suit: perhaps hiring ex-offenders wouldn't work for all businesses, but it shows us that other non-traditional workers can be good for the bottom line.

BY Amanda Maher on February 10th, 2012

TAGS: johns hopkins | baltimore | workforce | shared value | anchors | community development