#RecruitWithConviction is an enlightened philosophy which works all over the world.

There is an elite untapped resource of people with criminal records who have skills employers need but can’t find work because they are discriminated against.

Of course there are social benefits to society too but I’ll always argue that to recruit with conviction allows you to reach untapped potential and the comment presented below is typical of enlightened employers.

Division of Labor: Out of Prison, Out of Work | DCentric

……Curtin has had positive experiences with his staff; about half are former inmates. “They have a greater understanding of the value of a job,” he said……

via Division of Labor: Out of Prison, Out of Work | DCentric.

Employing former prisoners might be counter-intuitive but it does make sense

…..

Davina Tanner is the General Manager of Chapelfield and devised the Custody and Community Project.

“For the Chapelfield Custody and Community Project to have been recognised as one of the top two work inclusion initiatives in the UK really is incredible,” says Davina. “It shows that innovative and impactful work inclusion projects can be delivered by any organisation of any size and recognises the hard work and commitment that everyone connected with the project, including our partner Norwich Prison, has put in.  We have achieved very exciting results so far and the project is developing all the time.  Importantly, we are engaging with lots of other local businesses that are now employing prisoners.  It’s this engagement that will ensure the project is sustainable.”

Trevor Pereira, commercial director of Capital Shopping Centres said:  “Taking a sustained approach to corporate responsibility, and integrating it into our business strategy, is pivotal to the way that every centre within Capital Shopping Centres operates.  We know that we can’t build a successful business without constantly showing our commitment to being a better business.”….

“Our shopping centres are at the heart of their communities, and we are always looking for opportunities to provide positive benefits back into these communities. The Chapelfield team have really embraced this project, resulting in business benefits to the centre, real opportunities for prisoners and reduced crime for the community,” adds Trevor.

http://www.bitc.org.uk/resources/case_studies/afe2823_1.html

…..Pret has long given food and financial support to the homeless in the UK and we were looking for a new, innovative way to really break the cycle of homelessness once and for all. So, in an effort to help break that cycle, the Pret Foundation has set up an apprenticeship scheme. Named after our dear colleague who passed away – Simon Hargraves; there are now up to 30 places a year available for ex-offenders or homeless people to get a 3-month work placement in the Pret business…..

http://www.pret.com/pret_foundation_trust/simon_hargraves_apprenticeship.htm

Related articles

• Pret hires the homeless in apprenticeship drive (telegraph.co.uk)
• Cooking up a fresh start as a Pret A Manger barista through their Foundation Trust (mirror.co.uk)

Visionaries and Entrepreneurs!

An open letter to the FT from:

Marc Bolland, Chief Executive, Marks & Spencer; Richard Branson, Chairman, Virgin Group; Matthew Davies, Chief Executive, Pets at Home; Steve Halliday, Chief Executive, National Grid; Ian Sarson, Group Managing Director, Compass Group UK and Ireland; James Reed, Chairman, Reed; Malcolm Walker, Chief Executive, Iceland Foods; James Timpson, Chief Executive, Timpson and Chair of the Employers Forum for Reducing Reoffending

…Our experience shows that people from prison, if properly selected, will prove to be just as reliable as recruits who come from elsewhere. It is their personality that matters most. Within the prison population of 84,000 there is a large number of potential superstars who get ignored by employers because of their criminal record. It makes sense for UK companies to recruit these individuals and to make use of their skills and enthusiasm….

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/945de7b6-eb5b-11e0-9a41-00144feab49a.html#axzz1dyVoYdjy

Quotes from Guardian Article 16/11/2011

..he is actively encouraging his Virgin group of companies to employ people freshly released from prison, and even some who are still inside and working towards release. “Everybody deserves a second chance,“…

….”A lot of people end up in there [prison] because they’ve had a lot of bad luck in their lives.”…

…For the last two years, one of the UK’s wealthiest and most high-profile businessmen has been suggesting to the managing directors of hundreds of Virgin companies that they take on ex-offenders….

…He met representatives from Australian transport company Toll, which over the past decade has employed about 460 ex-prisoners, none of whom are known to have reoffended so far. Branson was deeply impressed. “As soon as I got back to England, I contacted the MDs of Virgin companies and said to them that we must do the same; to try to take on as many ex-convicts as possible,” he recalls….

…He adds: “I’ve had people at Virgin who have been caught stealing and I’ve given them a second chance. We had one kid who was taking albums sent to us by record companies and selling them to a secondhand record shop. By giving him a second chance he became one of the best employees we ever had.…

…”It’s about awareness, they [the government] have to make employers aware of the positives of taking on people who have been in prison.”…

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/nov/15/richard-branson-champions-employment-ex-offenders?newsfeed=true

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2h_GIP019c]