OVERVIEW
The Challenge
Nearly one in four of our country’s adult working age population has a criminal record. Many companies automatically disqualify anyone with a record and lose the opportunity to get to know a candidate. That’s a lot of people that could be a good fit for a company in every other respect. The National Employment Law Project and the San Francisco Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights sought to change this employment practice in Alameda County.
Approach
MDC collaborated with these leading advocates to plan and implement a campaign to shift attitudes and change behavior of hiring professionals. A Good Hire: Resources for Finding Undiscovered Talent shared information and real stories from employers and HR professionals who hired qualified people with prior arrests or convictions. Through posts and videos on LinkedIn, A Good Hire “connects you to how new practices can bring undiscovered talent to your door.”
Results
MDC developed the campaign strategy, strategic communications plan and executed the A Good Hire campaign on LinkedIn. Hundreds of HR managers and professionals shared insights, videos and HR advice on ways to hire and support people with criminal records.
Details
This video tells the story of a successful business owner and her employee, a convicted felon. It shows her deep feelings about making this good hire and giving someone a second a chance.
By telling this longer story, rather the usual format of connected snippets, viewers have a more of chance to connect with the protagonist and experience how it feels to make a good hire.
MDC collaborated with our team to create a targeted approach–appealing directly to what matters most to those who hire, making a good hire for their company. MDC created and effectively shepherded this new campaign strategy on LinkedIn where we reached almost a half a million viewers and engaged more than two thousand HR professionals who never engaged with us before. We loved working with Melissa–her smarts, energy, attention and creativity – were infectious.
Candice Francis, Communications Director, Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area (former)