FCE: Working with Employers

Working With Employers

And finding employment is much the same as usual, with some enhancements
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Business Case

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Understand Requirements

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Employment Services

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Leveraging Connections

Family-Centered Employers

While many employers will say they are family-centered employers, most will not immediately value family-centered employment approaches and they will not employ family-centered support as identified in this toolkit. 

Employers will likely be focused on activities that increase the quality of job candidates and improve the retention of their employees. Some will value diversity and some will support their employees better than others. These are areas that most employers identify as having a direct impact on their financial and operational outcomes and, therefore, must be an important part of an FCE program’s employment outcomes

 

  • Leverage this toolkit’s “ FCE Business Case for Employers ” and WKKF’s employer toolkit (once released) to help employers understand how this helps them and become interested in FCE activities

 


Employer candidates for FCE-related discussions could include 

 

  • WDB Board members
  • Employers that have implemented flexible schedules and locations
  • Local offices of national employers that have embraced FCE practices
  • and Employers identified as family-friendly or best places to work. 

 

While it isn’t required that an employer implement FCE practices to benefit from an FCE program, in many instances, it will help improve employment outcomes



It will help employers’ willingness to try new practices if the local government has already implemented them. Work with your government as an employer to help them implement FCE practices


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Understand Requirements

Understand the requirements of a job/employer and how that fits into the job seeker’s family situation. This is important to create long-term employment success. An example is ensuring child care is available to support shift work. 

Walking through an employer’s job postings with them, identifying potential requirements, and understanding which are must haves and which are optional is a good way to help them understand how FCE works. 

Another option is calling them about a candidate that you know would be a good employee, but has some family-related limitations, such as work schedule, to determine whether or not the limitation is a showstopper. 

Employment Strategies

These approaches fit in well with sector-based employment strategies. If your WDB is not already using them, review the “Promoting Two-Generation Strategies: A Getting-Started Guide for State and Local Policy Makers”.
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