Putting Inner Cities To Work (cont.)

The company has more than 800 employees, many from inner city neighborhoods, 15 percent of whom are currently borrowing from the no-interest loan program. Brightside also partners with a “rent-to-own” company that allows workers to put down 5 percent of the cost of a house, rent the home for a year, and then use part of the year’s rent plus the 5 percent initial payment to make a down payment for the purchase of the home. Brightside may even lend employees the 5 percent down payment. The initiative has allowed the company’s low-income families to own their own homes – which in turn has created loyal, motivated employees. In an industry with a turnover rate of 36 percent or more, Brightside enjoys a low employee turnover rate of just 15 percent a year.

Hiring immigrants

Belkin Components, a manufacturer of computer peripherals and accessories, needs employees that can “pick, pack and ship” orders containing hundreds of computer parts in just 30 minutes. The company requires a large workforce with specific skills such as good hand-eye coordination.

For the last 10 years, the company has depended on Los Angeles’ Refugee Employment Training Program (RETP) to access a steady stream of such employees. RETP often places Vietnamese or Cambodian immigrants at Belkin.Many immigrants had professional careers before coming to the United States, and though they might have language barriers, they possess the assembly and visual skills that Belkin requires. RETP prescreens applicants for their suitability and prepares candidates based on Belkin’s interview and testing procedures; new hires then are monitored for 90 days. Belkin encourages language training and employees are able to work their way up to jobs with higher pay and more opportunity.

Flexible timing

Direct marketing services firm Lone Star Direct, based in Austin, Tex., uses personality tests to find employees who fit the job.

Recognizing that many of its inner city employees have pressures at home that make fixed, full-time hours difficult, Lone Star Direct has developed a unique program that allows employees to work full-time hours on a flexible schedule.

The Austin, Texas-based company is one of the nation’s leading marketing and direct fulfillment firms that promises to fill orders “any time, any where, any how.” To ensure that performance remains at top standards, the company has developed a team-based flextime program that starts with grouping employees into six teams of three to five people. Employees called ‘fillers’ float among teams whenever a project requires extra hands on deck. Two teams work 20 hours a week; two other part-time teams work 30-38 hours a week; and two teams work 40 hours a week plus overtime when required. Each team has a different schedule of days and hours, set by the team on a weekly basis, based on the needs of each team’s members. The company found that because it goes out of its way to accommodate employee needs, employees are eager to return the favor; it’s not unusual for the entire staff to offer to work late in the evening or come in on weekends to help finish a project.

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