Businesswoman smiling
Businesswoman smiling

Introducing:

Building
Blocks

Your journey, your goals. This isn’t a one-size fits all solution; you have the power to make it your own. 

Each path to becoming an Impact Employer looks different, but everyone benefits when businesses know where to invest their time and resources.

Introduction and Overview

What are they?

The fundamental Building Blocks are 5 no-regrets moves that allow you to tailor your Impact Employer journey according to areas that matters most to your organization.  

building blocks

Why are they important?

Knowing exactly where to invest your time and resources can be challenging, especially when aiming to serve workers faced with barriers to advancement.

The Building Blocks make the Impact Employer journey simple by taking that burden from you. They show you where to invest in talent practices to move the needle for all workers.

And yes, we’ll say it: they put the ‘impact’ in Impact Employer.

Where do they fit in the framework? 

When you’re at the very beginning of your journey, these fundamental Building Blocks can highlight the initiatives that will move the needle most on upward economic advancement for your employees, helping you prioritize.

The Impact Employer Model (IEM) is an integrated toolkit that takes a holistic approach to talent management, using these Building Blocks as the through-line for employer action and ultimately, impact.

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Building Blocks
Talent Management Levers
Practices & Field Examples
Maturity Model

The Building Blocks

The Building Blocks

 
Design Quality Jobs

Quality jobs go beyond offering a living wage. They support flexibility, autonomy, stability, and advancement opportunities.

As an Impact Employer, you’ll design high-quality jobs that boost recruitment, performance, engagement, and retention.

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Wages
Provide at least a living wage to all employees.
Comprehensive Benefits
Offer holistic and essential benefits.
Paid Leave
Maximize flexible, robust paid leave.
Skills Development
Invest in employee learning and development.
Work-Life Integration
Create flexibility and predictability to promote balance.
Offboarding
Enable smooth transitions with supportive policies.
 
Foster Career Mobility

Adopting skills-first talent practices, addressing biases in hiring and promotions, and investing in supportive strategies create upward career mobility for all. These efforts lead to reduced turnover, a broader talent pool, and greater workforce resilience.

As an Impact Employer, you’ll build an environment where everyone can advance and succeed.

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Transparent Career Pathways
Foster career advancement with clear pathways.
Skills-Based Talent Practices
Transform hiring and advancement by putting skills first.
Fair Chance Talent Practices
Expand talent pools through fair chance practices.
Workforce Assessment and Evaluation
Plan with data-driven, holistic insights.
Learning and Development
Provide professional development opportunities to all employees
Ethical Technology
Ensure ethical use of and access to new technologies for all employees.
Social Capital
Cultivate social capital for career growth.
Offboarding
Actively support employees through their next step.
 
Act on Employee Voice

Amplifying worker voices and involving employees in decision-making boosts their well-being and performance, fuels innovation, increases retention, and enhances business agility. Without it, companies risk outdated, ineffective policies that don’t meet workforce needs.

As an Impact Employer, you’ll listen to employees and act on their insights, creating a welcoming environment and fair workplace.

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Psychological Safety
Actively encourage and listen to feedback.
Feedback Mechanisms
Implement robust and varied feedback channels.
Emphasis on Fair Opportunity
Build a leadership team with dedicated resources to support fair and transparent work environments.
Decision-Making
Prioritize front-line and entry-level engagement and input.
Peer-to-Peer Connections
Encourage and invest in forums for peer engagement.
Empowerment
Foster employee collaboration and engagement.
Transparency
Ensure transparent results through clear and open communication.
 
Build a Culture of Opportunity

A supportive work culture boosts innovation, resilience, and overall performance. By prioritizing supportive leadership, employee well-being, and belonging, companies break down barriers to economic advancement while improving business performance.

As an Impact Employer, you’ll support leaders at all levels, fostering a culture where everyone feels valued and empowered to succeed.

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Vision and Values
Lead with purpose-driven values a supportive culture.
Supportive Leadership
Invest in developing supportive leaders across all levels.
Organization-Wide Communication
Communicate often and proactively on employee opportunity commitments.
Employee well-being
Prioritize holistic well-being for all employees.
Ethics and Integrity
Promote integrity, psychological safety, and accountability.
Belonging and Community
Cultivate an environment of connection and collaboration.
 
Center Accountability and Long-Term Commitment

To bridge the gap between intentions and actions on building fair opportunities, employers must commit to sustained improvements in employee well-being and advancement. Doing so has proven to boost business outcomes.

As an Impact Employer, you’ll focus on measurable outcomes and long-term employee opportunity goals.

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Setting Targets and Goals
Establish job quality and employee opportunity metrics across all talent management functions.
Measurement and 
Accountability
Track, measure, and report on employee opportunity and job quality metrics.
Public Commitment
Reinforce accountability with public commitments and progress reports.
Investments in Data Infrastructure
Develop the data capabilities to track progress.
Transparency
Build trust with continuous, accurate reporting.

Making change can feel daunting, but focusing on workers’ needs benefits both the workforce and the bottom line. The five Building Blocks provide a foundation for supporting talent and achieving business success.

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Continue your journey

Next up, we’ll show you where to invest your efforts within your organization. Let’s explore the talent management Levers.