Making work work for everyone

Manpower holds employment summit

by Julie Fanselow

January 2, 2008 | | Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Sherryon Cooper (center) talks about her search for meaningful work during the Manpower summit.

Harambee is the Swahili word for “pulling together,” and it’s the name of a neighborhood north of downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Harambee was noted for its breweries, and for its mostly African-American population. But lately, it’s been gentrifying with lofts, condos, and upscale businesses favored by middle-class whites. The lower end of the neighborhood no longer bears its historic name. It’s been gentrified, too, to Brewers Hill.

But the spirit of Harambee lives on. The international staffing service and employment company Manpower moved its headquarters from suburban Milwaukee to the Harambee-Brewers Hill neighborhood in September 2007, and it recently launched an initiative – called Accelerate Employment Circles - to help people in the immediate area talk about finding “A Place for Everyone in the World of Work.”

Addressing the December 17 gathering, Manpower CEO Jeff Joerres explained how – while the company is helping solve thorny staffing issues in China, India, France, and Mexico – unemployment remains high right in its own back yard. “We want to take the good things happening in this neighborhood, see if we can accelerate them, and take time and thoughtfulness to do so,” he said.

About 100 people attended the mid-December summit, and about 60 people – including a dozen or so members of the city-sanctioned Workforce Investment Board – spent three hours talking about what it would mean if everyone in the neighborhood had meaningful work. Using a guide developed by Manpower with the help of the Study Circles Resource Center (soon to be renamed Everyday Democracy), participants were asked to imagine a backpack containing the most important things people would need “to help them choose, prepare for, and obtain the right job for their talents and interests.” Items mentioned included opportunity, education, knowledge, self-awareness, trust, support, financial skills, and time-management skills. In one dialogue, participants noted the lack of a safety net of help with childcare, transportation, or simply the ability to take time off for an emergency.

For some people in the dialogues, the exercise wasn’t hypothetical. Milwaukee residents Sherryon Cooper and Kathy Lyle are working with the Milwaukee Urban League to find new jobs. Both are educated and experienced; Cooper has computer skills and Lyle is working toward a master’s degree in public administration for health care. “We are proactive,” Lyle says. “We are looking for work every day.” But neither is having much luck landing a job, and they hoped that information gleaned and connections made at the summit might help their efforts.

 

Jim Nuttle of AlphaChimp provided graphic facilitation for the summit. Courtesy: Julie Fanselow

As the circles worked, facilitators made written lists of ideas and observations, and graphic facilitator Jim Nuttle from AlphaChimp.com rendered the conversations into words and pictures. People spoke of barriers including racism, inadequate public transit, inflexible employers, the need for a living wage (working at or near the minimum wage is hardly worth it, some said), and the lack of gathering places where diverse people can meet and network. But they also spoke of assets including schools, the Milwaukee Area Technical College (whose president took part in a dialogue), non-profit organizations, and forward-thinking businesses.

After the dialogues ended, participants gathered to prioritize the action items proposed using keypad technology provided by Padgett Communications. The top vote-getters included:

• Break down policies that are barriers to employment.
• Build partnerships that leverage the strengths of the community.
• Keep job seekers at the discussion table.
• Encourage employers to commit to potential employees.
• Let people know that it's OK to pursue careers that don't require a four-year degree.
• Invest more in education.

What’s next? Wendy Seronko, regional manager for workforce development at Manpower, says the results and recommendations collected at the summit will be passed on to the Workforce Investment Board and other community-based organizations that help connect people to jobs. Manpower’s circles planning team also expects to hold a full round of circles to build on the ideas raised at the summit.

“A full round of circles typically meets four or five times for two-hour sessions,” Seronko adds. “Our half-day event was only a taste of that process, and we feel it showed a strong readiness of our community to utilize a full process.” Manpower may also take the idea to other communities through its field offices.

Learn more: Neighborhoods