# Presentation: 387133

* **Of all the aspects of social misery,*
*   **nothing is so heartbreaking as *
*                **unemployment.** ** *
- Jane Addams, 1910

## Promoting Job Retention and Advancement among TANF Recipients by Supporting Employers to Implement Workplace Support Practices 

***Tenth Annual ACF/OPRE ***
***Welfare Research & Evaluation Conference***
***“******A Decade of Findings that Inform Welfare Policy and Practice”***** **
- June 5, 2007
- Washington, D. C.
- Anthony J. Mallon, PhD, MSW
- Virginia Commonwealth University
- School of Social Work

## Policy Context

** **_Work First, Devolution & Privatization_
- 	PRWORA mandated states to require TANF recipients to work.
- 	Recipients required/encouraged to work through use of ‘work supports’, sanctions and time limits.
- 	Quick workforce attachment with reduced emphasis on pre-employment education and training.
- 	Non-profit and for-profit organizations increasingly relied upon by state and local TANF agencies to deliver job placement services,
- 	based on the Work First approach.

## Policy Impacts: TANF Recipients

- _Success & Failure_
- 	Caseloads declined dramatically
- 	Majority of ‘leavers’ exited welfare for work
- 	Many workers remain poor
- 	Job loss often related to personal and structural ‘barriers’
- 	Returns to public assistance

## Policy Impacts: Employers

- Worksites increasingly the place where many employment barriers are
- identified and dealt with (or not).
- Job retention among welfare ‘leavers’ remains a problem.
- Private businesses may often be functioning as de facto workforce
- development organizations, but how willing and able are they to fulfill
- this role?

## Question

- Under what conditions will employers implement workplace
- support practices to promote job retention of welfare
- recipients they hire?

## Semi-structured interviews with forty-three representatives (ownership/upper 
management, human resources, middle management, line supervisors) from 
twenty businesses in the Detroit metropolitan area that ranged in the degree 
to which they engaged in ‘workplace support practices’ (WSP).   

Initial list of WSPs generated from literature and amended during data 
collection: (1) Adjustment to the Workplace; (2) Job Skills/Human Capital 
Development; and, (3) Logistic Support

Rated companies based on direct counting of the number of WSPs a firm 
engaged in and the scope of these practices.  

Inductive analysis of interviews to identify factors associated with the degree 
of WSP implementation. 

- management, human resources, middle management, line supervisors) from
- twenty businesses in the Detroit metropolitan area that ranged in the degree
- to which they engaged in ‘workplace support practices’ (WSP).
- Initial list of WSPs generated from literature and amended during data
- collection: (1) Adjustment to the Workplace; (2) Job Skills/Human Capital
- Development; and, (3) Logistic Support
- Rated companies based on direct counting of the number of WSPs a firm
- engaged in and the scope of these practices.
- Inductive analysis of interviews to identify factors associated with the degree
- of WSP implementation.

- Methods** **

## 				   				% Companies                            
Workplace Support Practice 		   	    	   Providing__

Adjustment to the Workplace 
     New employee orientation					              100%
     Mentors/buddies on-site						55%
     Paying one-to-one attention/policies to help acclimate new workers 		40%
     (Re)-training supervisors 						20%

Job Skills/Human Capital Development (HCD) 
 	OJT: Hard Skills & Soft Skills 					60%
    	Feedback, evaluations, and recognition 				60%
    	Opportunities to advance 						60%
    	Raises, cash, & gifts based on performance 				40%
    	Educational support: ESL; GED; tuition reimbursement 			25%

Logistic Support 
	Release time from work for personal obligations 			70%
	Flexible scheduling  						60%
     	Help accessing work supports 					45%
     	Employee Assistance Program  					35%
     	Transportation assistance 						35%
     	Child care							20%
     	Provide help for necessities/emergencies 				20%
     	‘Leniency’ for employees						15%

_**Workplace Support Practice **__**	**__**	**__**   **__**	**__**    **__**	**__**   Providing__**_
**Adjustment to the Workplace **
-      New employee orientation					              100%
-      Mentors/buddies on-site						55%
-      Paying one-to-one attention/policies to help acclimate new workers 		40%
-      (Re)-training supervisors 						20%
**Job Skills/Human Capital Development (HCD) **
-  	OJT: Hard Skills & Soft Skills 					60%
-     	Feedback, evaluations, and recognition 				60%
-     	Opportunities to advance 						60%
-     	Raises, cash, & gifts based on performance 				40%
-     	Educational support: ESL; GED; tuition reimbursement 			25%
**Logistic Support **
- 	Release time from work for personal obligations 			70%
- 	Flexible scheduling  						60%
-      	Help accessing work supports 					45%
-      	Employee Assistance Program  					35%
-      	Transportation assistance 						35%
-      	Child care							20%
-      	Provide help for necessities/emergencies 				20%
-      	‘Leniency’ for employees						15%

## Employers’ WSP Rating

**Very High** (2): Large Hotel, Medium Auto Parts Manufacturer
**High** (5):         Large Retail Concessions, Small Wireless Retail,
- 		          Small Industrial Maintenance, Small Residential Maintenance
- 		          Medium Linen Supply
**Mid** (6):          Small Home Health Care, Large Cable, Large Iron Manuf.,
-                       Med. Construction, Small Res. Maintenance, Small Grocery
**Low** (5):         Large Entertainment Complex, Med. Res. Health Care,
- 		         Large Retail Grocery, Med. Auto Parts Manuf., Med. Industrial Staffing
**Very Low** (2): Med. Industrial Staffing, Med. Industrial Staffing
- Small = 1-99 employees, Mid = 100-499 employees, and Large = More than 500 employees.
- Avg. wages:   **Very High- **$7.63; High-$6.90; Mid- $9.45; Low- $7.16, Very Low- $5.50
-  		    **Large- **$8.95; Mid-$7.27; Small-$7.54
- 		    **Manuf.- **$8.15; Sales- $8.07; Retail-$6.87.

## Sample Representation

**	****	****     ****Service****	****   Retail****	****Manufacturing     Temp/**
**	****	****	****	****	****	****	****	****	****Other**
- 	Study	45% 		20% 		20%		15%
- 	*National	46%		24%		14%		16%
- *Richer, Savner, Greenberg (2001); Acs and Loprest (2004).

## Findings

- Extent that firm leadership committed to promoting job retention of
- 	entry-level workers in general
- (2) 	Level of awareness/empathy about TANF recipient work barriers
- (3) 	Availability of organizational resources (financial, informational, and technical) for implementing WSPs
*Wildcard:*	Strong ties, based on mutual expectations of reciprocal 			communication and effort, between employers and workforce 		development organizations.

## Organizational Commitment

_**VERY HIGH**_
**[Avian HR/Operations Director]**
- 	Paul (owner name) had a real strong interest in hiring the prior convicted felons.  He had a family member who was wrongly convicted and he has struggled ever since being released from prison in getting his life back on track.  He said, ‘We need to be open-minded.  People make mistakes.’  And if this is an opportunity where we can help people out, then we need to do it.  And so our giveback to the community is to hire people who might otherwise be overlooked for a job because of lack of experience or prior felony convictions.
**	**
**	**When I hire a new manager, supervisor, whatever, they’re told, ‘We use prior welfare recipients, prior convicted felons.  If you’re not comfortable with that, this isn’t the place for you to work.’  That happens in the interview process because what that means to you as a supervisor is you have to train more.  You have to mentor more.  You have to cut a little slack here and there.  They have to follow the rules, but let’s give people an opportunity to conform to the system.
**	**

## VERY HIGH

[Worldwide Resorts - HR Supervisor]

	It’s top-down.  It’s definitely something that it’s almost, you know, you need to have this mindset, this attitude to be successful in this company. I mean, yeah it’s one of our business goals.  Training is one of our business goals.  Recruiting, training, and retention are our business goals... and that comes from (corporate headquarters).   

[WR Housekeeping Supervisor]
	Well, I haven’t been with Worldwide Resorts (Detroit property) very long, but what I’ve seen from other managers that come from different Worldwide Resorts is the way that they...they are family-oriented.  The first thing is our associates (employees).  And if we take care of our associates, our associates will take care of our guests.  So that’s really our logo is that if we take good care of our associates, our associates will take good care of our guests.  

**[Worldwide Resorts - HR Supervisor]**
- 	It’s top-down.  It’s definitely something that it’s almost, you know, you need to have this mindset, this attitude to be successful in this company. I mean, yeah it’s one of our business goals.  Training is one of our business goals.  Recruiting, training, and retention are our business goals... and that comes from (corporate headquarters).
**[WR Housekeeping Supervisor]**
- 	Well, I haven’t been with Worldwide Resorts (Detroit property) very long, but what I’ve seen from other managers that come from different Worldwide Resorts is the way that they...they are family-oriented.  The first thing is our associates (employees).  And if we take care of our associates, our associates will take care of our guests.  So that’s really our logo is that if we take good care of our associates, our associates will take good care of our guests.

- Organizational Commitment

## Organizational Commitment

_**HIGH**_
**[Quality Linen Operations Supervisor]**
- 	I’ve got one (worker hired from TANF) down there now like that (needing flexible scheduling).  I won’t say her name but she’s been here now 7 or 8 years.  She had two young boys her first job.  She rode the bus.  Our starting time is 5:00, well, where she lived at, the bus doesn’t get her here until 6:00.  So what we do in that case is, ‘Bring me your bus schedule.  Let me see.  This is where you have to come from and there’s no way you can get here.’  So she’s been coming at 6:00 for years. . .. . . well, see usually if I set it up, as long as I* *accepted it, management was ok with it.** **
**	**
**[QL Owner]**
- 	These people, they don’t understand discipline.  They don’t understand coming to work every day.  If it’s cold out, you know, any excuse (chuckles) not to come to work, ok?  They need the money and they need the support for themselves and their families, but it takes a certain amount of self-discipline, and they don’t have that in their upbringing or their background or whatever.  And how do you...how do you develop that?

## Organizational Commitment

_**MID**_
**[United Maid Service Owner ]**
- 	It started, actually, when we first started in 1984.  And we currently hire through the Michigan Work First agencies.  That’s how we get a lot of our people now. . . you know, they need to work also.  They need to work.  They need to have a chance.  And that is the reason why we hire them, to give them a chance.
**[UMS Housekeeping Supervisor]**
- 	HS:		I find it hard to hire ‘regular’ people, maybe people with 		education or something, because of the money.
- 	Interviewer:	So this was a group whom you thought might take the 		work and other people wouldn’t.
- 	HS:		Right.

## Organizational Commitment

_**MID**_
**[Caring Angels’ Supervisor]**
**	****I** have watched kids before.  Yes, I have.  We have an aid whose son is handicapped.  And she didn’t have a babysitter.  I have watched children before.
- 	I did it about a month ago. . . There’s really nobody here, because again we’re not really involved with the community.  We **should** be, but we’re not.  I want to be more involved with it, but there’s only so much I can do.  It’s like they don’t care.
**[Arena Facilities’ HR Assistant]**
- 	(Our company) found it hard to try to place some of our different custodial-type
- 	positions in our organization, particularly our housekeeping department...
- 	...they get here to work in our organization for a paycheck and then, they can do
- 	whatever they want, they can not call in, not show up one day and come in the next and say, ‘Oh, I was sick,’ or whatever. . . no big deal.  And they play that game here and there for eternity, if they can.  And it’s just unfortunate because **we’re not here as a training ground**.  We’re here to get the business done, to get work done.  We’re here because we provide a service for people.  We’re here to make money.  One of our goals is **not** to take people in society and train them and build them up.”

## Relationships: Reciprocal

**[Avian ****Office Manager****]**
- 	It’s nice, say I need two people, one for midnights and one for days or
- 	something, I can call them (WDO).  I work with either usually Keith or Bonnie.  She would come up.  We’ll set up a time like tomorrow morning and bring both
- 	candidates here.  Usually the number I want.  Then I give them the talk about
- 	Avian and everything.  Then I interview them separately and then I usually
- 	hire them.
**[Avian Plant Manager] **
- 	One of the benefits we have is a coordinator like (Keith), who works very closely (with us).  We are his biggest employer, so he has a huge interest in maintaining a good relationship with Avian because we will take candidates from him very readily.  We were having a huge issue and he worked out with the City of Detroit and got transportation provided on all three shifts in my New Baltimore facility.  They pick up at the Woodward Center at a certain time and drop them right in my parking lot every day.

## Relationships: Reciprocal

**[Worldwide Resorts HR Supervisor]**
-      Well, I guess it started out kind of slow.  I guess you could say sort of slowly.
-      You know, what I do with the agencies, kind of partner with them.  I kind of get
-      to know them.  I would go and sit in on some of their classes.  We just form a
-      relationship with our participants and with the instructors.  I spend a lot of time
-      at (name of WDO) investing in that relationship.  They knew what I was
-      looking for in someone.  I felt like I could trust them to tell me, you 	know, like
-      maybe there was someone who didn’t stand out. But they would say, ‘Actually,
-      so-and-so is really responsible and looking for a job.’  I’d say, ‘Ok.  I’ll take
-      your person and give them a shot.’
-     If I call them and say, “So-and-so hasn’t been to work in two days.”  They say,
-    ‘Oh my gosh!  I’ll call them right now.’  They call them and find out what’s
-     going on and resolve it.

## Relationships: One-sided

**[Pristine Cleaning Operations Supervisor] - High**
- 	I don’t work specifically with working on that (retention) issue.  You
- 	know, I might call them (WDO) back and say, ‘This is not working out.
- 	Can you send me somebody else?’
**[Homebuilders HR Director] - Mid**
- 	When I call them (WDO) and tell them I need certain individuals with
- 	certain types of job experience, they will get me people to interview
- 	right away.  In manufacturing, it’s very difficult to get people right  away.
- 	I mean, that’s my big thing.  I like that they do pre-screen for you.  It’s
- 	very beneficial.

## Relationships: Unsatisfactory

**[Quality Linen HR Director] - High**
- 	I mean, not to dog any specific agency, but you know, you get calls,  you might
- 	get calls looking for feedback on how an employee was doing and the person had been gone for (chuckles) for 30 or 40 days.  You know, that was poor.
**[Diamond Housekeeping Operations Manager] - High**
- 	They (WDO) follow up probably every now and then to see if they’re still here.  Yes, they do.  They do.  But that’s all they ask, ‘Is she still employed?’  They don’t want to know, you know, how well she’s doing or anything of that nature
**[Arena Facilities HR Supervisor]**** - Low**
- 	You might call them (WDO) and say, so-and-so didn’t show up for work today or whatever but you don’t hear from **them**.

## Slide 21

| Employer Typology Regarding Willingness and Ability to Implement Workplace Support Practices

                                               Retention as a Company Goal                                  
HIGH                                                                                                                                                        LOW |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
|              

           WSPs as a Strategy

LOW | 
Willing & Able 
(WA) 

Employer provides WSPs and could implement more with guidance from a WDO. 

                                                   |                                         
Unwilling but Able 
(UA)

Employer responds to communication, facilitated by a WDO, from other employers. |
|  |                                               
 Willing but Unable 
(WU) 

Employer requires financial and technical assistance to develop and implement WSPs.
 |           
Unwilling & Unable 
(UU)

WDO determines that it is not feasible to engage with such employers.
 |

## Conclusion: Engaging Employers as Partners

- Identify employers that demonstrate an organizational commitment to hiring
- and retaining workers with ‘barriers’ to employment.
- Cultivate relationships with various individuals within the company based on
- reciprocity and shared goals.
- Intervene to facilitate WSP implementation by employers (e.g. identify or
- provide resources, educate on cost benefits of lowering retention, facilitate
- communication with other employers’ successes, require reciprocity on the part of
- employers).

## Implications for Policy Practice & Research 

- Recognition that employers are key stakeholders in implementing TANF and occupy an important place in the service delivery network of public-private organizations.
- Better understanding of employers’ perspective on employee hiring and retention and their needs with respect to skills and aptitude.
- Better preparation in terms of meeting TANF recipients’ challenges regarding employment, before and after job placement.
- Preparedness of WDO staff and clients to interact with companies in a professional manner and communicate in a consistent and reciprocal way regarding employment challenges and potential solutions.
- Flexibility and willingness to ‘require’ employer reciprocation in working with WDOs.
- Governance mechanisms that promote partnering relationships between WDOs
- 	and employers (may mean relaxing ‘Work First’ emphasis).
- Determine the actual effectiveness of various WSPs on retention.
- Further analysis of the relationships between WDOs and Employers.

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## Discussion