In 2015 I was hit head on by the talent shortage crisis. As the head of human resources for a hospitality company, I could not explain to operations why we were unable to staff house keepers. The result was uncleaned rooms, which meant turning away paying customers who needed a place to stay. I decided to understand the issue at the root cause, which meant leaving my office and engaging with hotel management.
We started developing a relationship with an immigrant settlement agency and found a wealth of untapped resources. The agency was willing to use our training to teach English language and job skills; host job fairs; and accompany candidates via public transportation to map out routes to potential places of employment. We planned for day in a life interviews where realistic job previews allowed candidates and family members to understand the work that would be required. We made the process easier by introducing a legally compliant applicant process that allowed for data entry support into our applicant tracking system.
Fast forward to 2017. The company I worked for was acquired. As all of you know who have been through layoffs, acquisitions, mergers, downsizing, and all manner of other ways that one ends up seeking employment, I found myself at a cross roads. Having been part of corporate America for over 25 years and having delayed the idea of developing ready now talent within our immigrant communities for some time, I needed to decide if I was bold enough to strike out on my own and bring the concept to life.
In spring of 2018, I founded Prosperity Ready. We exist to develop the vast potential of immigrants to help overcome our talent shortage crisis, and to enable organizations to reflect the communities in which they serve. Keep reading about our start up journey as a nonprofit. Our next blog features Fiscal Sponsors – the secret sauce for getting your nonprofit up and running!
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