For Employers
You need employees you can count on. Professional, trainable people who show up on time ready to work, day in and day out. People who will be with you for the long haul.
You depend on your team, and you expect great things from them.
We help harder-to-employ people learn how to expect great things from themselves.
Through hope, high expectations and holistic support, we get people ready to enter the workforce, help them overcome obstacles and support them every step of the way on their journey to self-sufficiency.
You can be part of that journey.
How We Work
How we prepare and encourage motivated individuals:
- Participants are empowered to achieve stability in employment
- Foundational preparation includes job skills, life skills and restoration of human dignity
- Advancement programs provide pathways to higher paying jobs
- Intensive support is provided throughout the process
Understanding Employee Trauma
What is trauma? How does it affect your employees? How can you help your employees thrive?
“Bringing Trauma to Work” is our free, downloadable guide — a powerful tool to help you understand and manage workers who come to the job with unresolved trauma.
It’s also a podcast on Spotify and Apple, with extended expert interviews available on YouTube.
Our Members go through a holistic, steady and continual process to get ready for the workforce, find employment and advance in their chosen careers. Here’s how we work:
Assessment
We take the time to understand where people are now and where they want to go. What are their strengths? Where do they need improvement? What are their career goals? How do they define success?
Barrier Identification and Remedy
What are the obstacles in their way, and how can they overcome them?
Some common barriers are:
• Drug / alcohol addiction
• Mental illness/depression
• Homelessness/unstable housing
• Spiritual brokenness/lack of self-esteem
• Criminal record
• Lack of education/low basic skills
• Legal issues
• Transportation
• Childcare
• Trauma
Our staff and partner organizations continuously work with our Members to address these issues.
Life Skills Training
The past does not determine the future. During an initial two-week, job readiness workshop, we teach participants how to redefine their lives.
Participants work on building confidence, resolving conflicts, making and keeping commitments, developing positive attitudes, understanding and meeting employer expectations, identifying and living by a set of values and maintaining personal health and wellness.
They also learn how to complete employment applications, provide references and practice interview skills.
JobsWork MKE has mentor and volunteer opportunities. You can help harder-to-employ people succeed in the workforce.
Spiritual Renewal and Motivation
Every person is worthy, entitled to respect, and capable of achieving their goals. But often, chronically unemployed and underemployed people lose hope.
We help them see themselves in a new light, recognize their own dignity and self-worth and motivate them to achieve success.
Stability & Advancement
Entry Level or Transitional Employment
After the preparation phase, we create a custom Employment Development Plan for each participant.
We assist with the job search, including filling out applications and interview preparation.
Members will typically find employment with one of our core “stability” employers. These jobs help build an employment track record and references.
The goal: to keep the same job for at least one year, a key step in achieving employment stability.
Advancement: Skills, Education & Training and Advanced Job Placement
Once they have achieved stable employment, we help them “move up” to a job that pays at least 200% of the federal poverty rate. This often requires additional training and the removal of any remaining barriers.
Post Employment Support
Unlike some workforce development programs, we don’t stop when our Members get a job.
We hold regular meetings and phone calls with Members and their employers to check on progress. Achieving stable employment is like learning to swim. You can’t throw people in the deep end and hope they don’t drown. That’s why we visit the job site, meet their direct managers, celebrate their successes and work through any challenges.
Over time, issues might come up that affect their status. We try to predict and prevent them. But should they arise, we’ll help participants and their employers find resolutions.
When our Members win, your business wins. It’s that simple.
If you have questions, if you’re interested in volunteering, or you’re interested in hiring quality people through JobsWork MKE, please reach out at 414-249-5948.
Pathways to Healthcare Careers
With several of the anchor institutions in healthcare, and because of the growing need for employees in this field, JobsWork MKE has developed a new program — Pathways to Healthcare Careers — to benefit our participants and anchor partners.
JobsWork MKE places many participants in healthcare jobs. Often, they start in high-demand, high-turnover roles that don’t require experience or education. The Pathways program aims to help these workers transition into higher level employment—from “low skill” to “middle skill.”
The program helps them move up by developing their foundational skills, such as math and reading, technical skills, career readiness and by offering one-on-one coaching. The employers — anchor institutions in the collective — provide the opportunities for long-term growth and sustainability.
Apply to be a participant!
This is not only a powerful way to provide family-sustaining jobs to people in need, but helps healthcare partners meet their workforce demands.
Community Partners
We can’t address the challenges faced by our Members alone. So we partner with community organizations to find individuals who could benefit from our program. And we work with organizations that specialize in the issues that have held our participants back, such as addiction and homelessness.
