To assess where you are in terms of meeting your employees’ needs, creating great experiences for your customers, and driving operational performance, the Good Jobs Scorecard developed by the Good Jobs Institute is a fantastic place to start and will provide you with a comprehensive picture of where your business currently stands.
Once you’re ready to get started with the toolkit, we suggest you ask two important questions to guide which sections will be most useful to you in offering good jobs and strengthening your business.
Ask yourself:
“What are your two or three biggest challenges regarding your workforce, human resources, or benefits at your company?”
Pinpointing the greatest challenges your business is facing will help you identify which area(s) of the toolkit to focus on first. Comparing your answer to your employees’ responses to the question below can also provide helpful perspective on which dimensions of job quality to prioritize.
Ask your employees:
“What changes to your job would be the most valuable to you and why?”
While you may not be able to address everything your employees would like, due to resource, financial, and other considerations, it’s important to identify what’s most important to them so that you can provide valuable plans, design effective programs, and develop meaningful engagement strategies.
While businesses differ based on size and challenges, below are some examples:
“ My employees want to feel more engaged and valued.” Start with Employee Engagement and check out Employee Compensation.
“ I have high employee turnover, which drives up my costs.” Start with Hiring, Training, and Professional Development and Employee Engagement.
“ I want to provide benefits, but it’s too costly and I’m not sure how to select the plan that makes the most sense for my business.” Start with Health Benefits and Retirement Savings and Other Wealth- Building Strategies.
If you’re not sure where to begin, check out the free tools from the Good Jobs Institute, which assesses current practices and identifies opportunities for improvement. There are pro-bono business advisors available here through Pacific Community Ventures who happy to work with you to use this toolkit.