ABOUT RMAPI AND THE EMPLOYER PLEDGE
What: RMAPI’s Employer Best Practices have been developed by RMAPI’s Employment Working Group. The best practices are based on lived experience of working group members, a review of available research, and taking RMAPI’s guiding principles into account. There is also a companion set of best practices for Workforce Preparation Organizations (WPOs).
Who: Any employer in the City of Rochester or Monroe County is invited to participate. We will particularly focus on employers with a large number of entry-level positions that are often filled by individuals coming from poverty. The pledge should be signed by someone in a leadership position – someone who can influence culture, policy, and practice at an organization.
Why: RMAPI is focused on reducing poverty and increasing self-sufficiency. Increasing income through sustainable employment is a key strategy in this work. We want to actively and productively facilitate effective partnerships between employers and WPOs to make this strategy a reality.
When: To start, we are asking for 6-month action commitments around one or more best practice(s). We know that changing policies, practices, and behaviors is hard and takes time, effort, and focus. By asking for one set of commitments to start, we will learn from each other and improve as we go. As employers sign on to the pledge, we will work to connect employers to each other and to resources in the community to learn from and connect to each other.
About RMAPI: RMAPI is a Collective Impact effort. This means that RMAPI focuses on collaboration and systems change, not programmatic efforts. The Employer Pledge is a means of fostering collaboration among employers in the area, and improving the system of how employers engage with low-income community members.
About the Guiding Principles: RMAPI’s Guiding Principles are a key aspect of its work, and infuse everything it does. Employers pledging to RMAPI’s best practices are also pledging to uphold the guiding principles.
Build and Support our Community: Help to rebuild struggling neighborhoods with quality support services to make them safe, healthy, and livable.
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Address Structural Racism: End the activities and actions that continue racial inequality in public policies, institutional practices, and other cultural norms.
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Address Trauma: Help to heal people and neighborhoods that are suffering from repeated experiences with trauma; provide support and services that are sensitive to traumatic experiences like abuse, addiction, and violence.
RMAPI EMPLOYER PLEDGE
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_____________________ [employer name] pledges to combat poverty in the community by working towards improved internal policies and practices in alignment with one or more of the following best practices:
Workplace Culture
1. Intentionally design, revamp, and implement policies that promote diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Hiring
2. Collaborate with workforce preparation organizations to meet business needs and maximize benefits for both the program participants and employers.
3. Develop recruitment and hiring practices that are responsive to the needs of the community.
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4. Engage in critical reflection about hiring practices and make changes to improve equity, provide for flexibility in job requirements, and focus on individuals’ capacity to learn.
Retention
5. Recognize barriers and common challenges to employment, such as the stress of unpredictable scheduling, and develop policies that provide consistency but allow for flexibility.
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6. Develop comprehensive onboarding processes that provide clear expectations, mitigate barriers, and support long-term employee success and retention.
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Promotion
7. Offer compensation which includes a living wage and comprehensive benefits in order to support employee well-being and alleviate the compounding effects of poverty.
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8. Structure professional development and advancement opportunities so that career pathways, expectations, competencies, timelines, and means of access are clear to all employees.
We will also promote and uphold the RMAPI Guiding Principles:
Build and Support Our Community
Address Structural Racism
Address Trauma
In signing this pledge, _____________________ [employer name] commits to engaging with RMAPI and identifying best practice areas of opportunity for improvement, participating in learning opportunities with other employers, and developing an action plan for demonstrating progress in the next six months.
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Employer Representative Name Title Signature & Date
Contact Information (email, phone, and mailing address):
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Chosen Best Practice(s) and Action Commitments (attach additional pages if needed): _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
We can provide support to other employers looking to improve in the following best practice(s):
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