Are you committed to racial equity, but unsure of what your role is or where to begin? Are you struggling to adapt your business and frontline workforce to the changing nature of work? Our current health, economic, and racial justice crises offer an opportunity for HR leaders in the Inland Empire to examine their talent practices and build a more resilient company where humanity and economy boosting jobs allow frontline employees to thrive.
The Opportunity
In partnership with the Center for Social Innovation at the University of California, Riverside and Voice Media Ventures, we invite Inland Empire-based employers to participate in a virtual Rewire Accelerator. The Accelerator is an interactive, applied-learning experience that combines 1-on-1 coaching with peer learning to help you navigate your most pressing talent challenges.
Through our time together, you’ll learn the tools and skills needed to pilot evidenced-based solutions to achieve your business goals and help your frontline employees thrive in this new world of work.
Whether you have been tinkering with your talent practices and racial equity goals for years or are just getting started, the Accelerator provides the structure, space, and support you need to spark new ways of thinking.
How it Works
The Accelerator combines 1-on-1 coaching support with a small cohort of 5-7 other like-minded companies for a unique learning experience based on the principles of Design Thinking and User Centered Design.
1-on-1 Coaching Support
Before joining the employer cohort of the Accelerator, your company will receive individualized coaching support to identify and examine your talent data and walk-through your results from the Opportunity Navigator assessment.
Timing: Coaching begins in March leading up to the cohort portion in April.
Employer Cohort Modules
The bulk of the Accelerator is made up of 5, two-hour interactive virtual sessions that bring employers together to learn best practices, share ideas, support one another, and identify solutions to your most pressing challenges.
Timing: Modules take place every Tuesday beginning April 13 and running through May 11.
Modules at a Glance
- Module 1: Understand how community dynamics impact your frontline employees
- Module 2: Assess your internal policies and practices to identify areas where you have the most potential for impact
- Module 3: Develop your vision for the future that addresses your most pressing talent needs
- Module 4: Test your vision with frontline employees and individuals who have experienced barriers to employment
- Module 5: Refine your vision and create an action plan to bring it to life
Innovation Fund
Upon completion of the Accelerator, employers will be eligible to apply for seed funding to implement their pilot program. As part of this process you’ll receive additional coaching support from the Talent Rewire team to help get clear on next steps, build buy-in from senior leaders, and get access to resources needed to make your pilot a success.
Join a growing community of employers dedicated to
helping their frontline employees thrive.
“Being a part of the Lab has been incredibly energizing for me personally and for my team. Our work with Talent Rewire has given my team greater purpose and clarified how we can make our business goals around diversity and inclusion a reality.”
– Jonathan Heckert, Entergy
Are you a Good Fit?
The Rewire Accelerator is designed for HR, CSR, and Operations leaders who are passionate about creating equitable workplaces that offer their frontline employees pathways for equitable economic mobility. Given the unique structure of the Rewire Accelerator, participating employers:
- Have “frontline roles.” These are low-barrier roles including, but not limited to distribution, warehousing, assembly, manufacturing, call centers, delivery and retail
- Have a CHRO or senior leader who is either able to participate or supportive of staff participation and can sign an MOU regarding expectations for participating and testing a talent practice change
- Must send a minimum of two representatives (ideally a combination of HR, CSR, and/or Operations) who can complete all pre-work and attend all five sessions for the duration and who are able and willing to dig into the company’s workforce data
- Should have identified a business need or opportunity related to their frontline workforce they’d like to address through a pilot (big or small!)
- Are interested in innovating new talent practices or policies to address racial equity, changing demographics, the future of work, and/or income inequality
- Have a personal commitment and/or interest in equitable systems change
- Can access Zoom for video calls and Mural and the Google Suite for collaboration
What’s Expected of You
The Rewire Accelerator is generously funded by the James Irvine Foundation so there is no cost to employers. To get the most out of your experience and prepare you to make change at your company, participants are expected to:
- Dig into your employee data. Reviewing internal data can help you see the potential for change. We’ll ask you to disaggregate employee data by race and gender in order to better understand who you are hiring and retaining. You don’t need to share the data directly with us, but you’ll need to be able to discuss the implications and high-level findings.
- Test a new approach to support your frontline employees. This could be a small shift to your policies or practices (i.e. surveying your frontline employees to understand their experience better or finding ways to communicate your benefits package) to something bigger (i.e. developing career pathways).
- Share your story about your pilot. Our belief is that once more employers try new practices and can document the business value, then other employers will be more likely to implement those same practices. We’ll help you get your story out through a brief case study, blogs, webinars and conference placements.
Apply Today!
If you’re interested in participating please complete the interest form below by Friday, February 26. Please note this does not guarantee participation in the Accelerator. Upon submission of your interest form, Talent Rewire will reach out to schedule a conversation to explore your interest, frontline challenges, and assess your overall fit. And if you have any questions please reach out to us at talentrewire@fsg.org.
