1. Getting the culture right
Start with some free advice
There are a handful of great organisations in this space all willing to give free advice to employers. Be sure to make the most of this offer on your journey. See Employment and ex offenders | TUC
What does success look like?
You feel confident in hiring people with convictions
You have a relationship with an organisation that is happy to answer any question in confidence around hiring people with convictions
You have access to a range of opinions by contacting multiple organisations
You have a diverse workforce of mutually supportive people who accept that we all can make mistakes and need the chance to rebuild our lives and move on.
How would Offploy do it?
Develop a clear set of questions you want to ask about hiring people with convictions. You have clearly made the decision to recruit ex-offenders, otherwise you wouldn’t be reading this but there is a great presentation setting out the benefits here: The Exceptionals - The Case
Identify organisations that can provide this support. There are many organisations like Offploy who offer advice such as Home - Unlock and We See Your Future, Whatever The Past | Nacro
Contact the ones that seem to resonate with you the most.
Ensure the calls and advice will be confidential.
Take copious notes.
Go back for clarification on any points you don’t understand or after you have spoken with your team
Consider donating or contracting these organisations if you will think you will need their advice in the future.
Examples in Practice
Start by reading this article which highlights lots of key stats and examples of companies doing this already: Could hiring ex-offenders offer a solution to the recruitment crisis? - Raconteur
Nothing to see here... yet.
We're still putting the finishing touches on our new Employing With Conviction Guide.