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Sign upCreating social value through diverse hiring
News / 14.02.2022
Diverse hiring is increasingly on the agenda of many construction and property firms. As is social value. The events of the past two years, including the Black Lives Matter movement and Covid-19, have highlighted growing inequalities in the world and led to a lot of reflection. Businesses, now more than ever, are focusing heavily on making a wider social impact. But creating systemic change is not a simple task, so how can businesses do it?
To start with, there’s a huge untapped pool of disadvantaged talent who are ready and willing to start work, and employers are missing out. One of those individuals is 25-year-old Rimantas, who like so many others, lost his job due to the pandemic and fell into arrears with rent. Despite having worked in construction since leaving school, he was unable to find work and joined the UK’s growing homeless population.
But what if there was a way for people like Rimantas to be connected with a pool of employers facing skills shortages, so they could get back on their feet and leave homelessness for good?
That’s where Beam comes in. Beam is an award-winning social enterprise creating equality of opportunity at scale. Beam works with top UK employers to provide access to a new talent pool of people living in temporary accommodation, women’s refuges and hostels. Beam also uses crowdfunding to remove the financial barriers facing people experiencing such hardship, with funds going towards job training, work tools and other essentials. To date, Beam has supported over 500+ disadvantaged people into employment and was recently named Best Technology Social Enterprise in the UK.
Rimantas was referred to Beam by his local council and they helped him raise £1,555 for Site Management Training, a CSCS Card, a laptop and travel. This came from 10 generous supporters, all invested in helping him get back into construction and regain his independence. With support from his Beam caseworker, Rimantas completed his training and got a full-time job as a road construction worker.
A key part of Beam’s model is partnering with the right employers: so far Beam has helped people start work with Mizen, HS2 as well as some major Crossrail projects. On top of that, our personalised support model ensures people sustain work for the long-term: 83% of people who use Beam sustain work for at least three months.
Given the current recruitment crisis, it’s more important than ever to use new methods that broaden your talent pool. Employers work with Beam to diversify their talent pool, and gain access to completely untapped talent who are highly skilled and motivated.
If you’re interested in finding more about Beam, please do get in touch with yasmina@beam.org. Beam is hosting a roundtable discussion on ‘Bringing everyone on board with a social impact agenda’ on 3rd March, 8.30 - 10.15am. Email events@beam.org to RSVP.