April is second chance month—a nationwide effort to shine a spotlight on the struggles that formerly incarcerated people face when they reenter society. Finding a job is often a major obstacle for this group, despite their potential as a huge untapped labor force.
But one Ohio company is leading the charge on second chance hiring. Nehemiah Manufacturing—which produces products like Tide to-go pens, laundry stain remover, and detergent—employs about 170 formerly incarcerated workers, who make up nearly 70% of staffers. The company started hiring people coming out of the justice system in 2011, and hasn’t looked back since—it says the choice has led to a turnover rate of just 15%, far below the manufacturing industry standard of around 40%.
“When you treat people with love, dignity, respect, you get twice that in return,” Dan Meyer, chief executive officer at Nehemiah Manufacturing, told Fortune. “And what does that mean for a manufacturing company? That means people showing up on time, highly motivated, highly productive. That translates to a lower turnover rate, which is significant.”
But Nehemiah doesn’t just hire formerly incarcerated people and leave it at that. Meyer credits most of the success of his second chance strategy on company-backed social services—a facet he says is essential to any companies undertaking this initiative. The company offers employees affordable housing options, first-time homebuyer matching programs, tax filing assistance, free transportation services, educational services in partnership with the University of Cincinnati, an “in-house AA” resource group that facilitates conversations around what workers are struggling with, and bi-monthly grill-outs, when staffers can connect. Workers also have easy access to the entire social service team.
“I think what we do uniquely is this whole social service team. We knew HR, but didn’t know social workers. And that is a game changer,” he says. “I didn’t even know what the hell a social worker really was. Someone said [we] oughta hire one when we were losing folks early on. It’s removing these barriers. That was the ‘aha!’ moment.”
Meyer adds that these benefits pay for themselves with the quality of work produced and strong staff retention. He estimates the low turnover saves the company between $315,000 to $525,000 annually in onboarding costs, and the average worker tenure is around seven years, compared to a sector average of around five.
But he couldn’t hire every person coming out of the system, so he started the Beacon of Hope Business Alliance 12 years ago: a coalition of business employers who are committed to maximizing second chance programs and talent. The alliance currently has 66 member companies that employ hundreds of formerly incarcerated people. Former Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow and his wife Demi recently signed a multi-year partnership with Nehemiah to bolster the cause.
Meyer says that the motto at Nehemiah is “make a difference every day, one person, one day at a time. Be purposeful in what you’re doing, cause you can make that difference.”
Emma Burleigh
emma.burleigh@fortune.com
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