Partnering with business leaders to advance the adoption of inclusive practices in their workplaces that empower employees, the community and their businesses to thrive.
Our Pledge
We believe the Cincinnati region can be a beacon of inclusion and economic success for employees of all kinds resulting in long-term financial achievement, innovation, and sustainability for employers and thereby our community. To realize this vision, it will take our collective effort, resources, and honest commitment to strengthen policies and practices that enable our region’s talent and businesses to thrive.
Empowering Businesses to Adopt Inclusive Practices
Are you looking for holistic and inclusive solutions to support your business and employees, or do you want to apply to be a consultant?
In today’s economy in the midst of a global pandemic and an increased awareness of racial disparities across society, companies are looking for ways to embody what capitalism was originally designed to be – a force for positive change in the world supporting employees, customers, communities and businesses to achieve success.
The need for companies to understand their current workforce needs and trends, as well as which practices could improve their companies to make them more inclusive has taken on a heightened urgency to drive long-term, sustainable decisions.
News & Announcements
Free Tax Prep Services
Free Tax Prep, an initiative of United Way of Greater Cincinnati, provides free income tax preparation and filing services. Funded by the IRS and powered by volunteers. We offer services including preparing and filing your taxes on your...
A Framework for Inclusive Capitalism
For decades, business practices and economic policies adopted by both parties have favored capital over labor, but the crises of the past year have created new urgency to reverse these trends and address the financial insecurity of workers and their families....
Hamilton County Cares
Hamilton County Commissioners awarded three separate contracts last week to help Hamilton County renters stay in their homes and keep the lights on during the COVID-19-pandemic. The Hamilton County CARES Rent and Utility Relief Program draws on CARES Act funds to...
WHY ENGAGE WITH THE WORKFORCE INNOVATION CENTER?
RETAIN + ATTRACT TALENT
Increase employee satisfaction and productivity while expanding your talent pipeline.
CREATE VALUE FOR YOUR BUSINESS
Don’t leave money on the table. A diverse and equitable workforce helps to see the whole picture and create new opportunities for your business growth.
ADAPT IN A CHANGING WORLD
Vibrant businesses reflect modern best practices for talent and operations – be a part of the future.
Practice Recommendations
The Workforce Innovation Center has built upon the success of the Employer Toolkit 2.0, launched by the Women’s Fund of the Greater Cincinnati Foundation in spring of 2020. As part of the What Works Cities Economic Mobility Initiative, the Behavioral Insights Team conducted additional research on evidence-based practices. These practices are mapped to the assessment services conducted by the Workforce Innovation Center.
Services
Use our tools individually or collectively to establish baseline data about your company and enable you to track progress over time.
Get started with our Consulting Services. Contact Audrey Treasure to learn more about our custom solutions and pricing.
Employee Survey
The Workforce Innovation Center deploys a comprehensive survey as an independent third party. Our survey covers 11 different domains including the following:
- Work history and current work experiences
- Health insurance, PTO and other benefits
- Diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging
- Promotions, advancements and pay increases
- Employees’ personal status – financial, dependent care, housing, etc. This section includes questions from the National Fund for Workforce Solution’s Guide to Employee Financial Wellness.
- Survey results presented to company for review and depending on size of company, can be analyzed by race, gender, and wage bands.
Policy and Practice Review
For this service we take a holistic approach by requesting a company’s Employee Handbook/Policy Manual as well as other related documents, data and/or information that may provide context to the work the company is already stewarding with regards to its workforce and talent strategy.
The following is a list of recommended items that we request to see as a part of this service. Companies are welcome to share any additional information that may not be listed here but may illuminate the efforts of your organization.
- Employee Handbook and/or Policy Manual
- Onboarding Guidance / Plans
- Recruitment Process (including job description templates, hiring rubrics, typical job boards used, etc.)
- Organizational and/or departmental competencies
- Data dashboards
- Engagement or Culture Survey data
- Overview of internal or external professional development offered through your company (for all levels of the organization)
- Any other relevant data, trends, or organizational audits
Analysis of Employee Data with Working Metrics
Measure job quality & job equity with the Working Metrics platform
- WM uses readily accessible and reliable employee data from a company’s HR system including
- Employee wage data
- Diversity data
- Benefits plan data
- Measures company performance benchmarked against industry and regional peers using Bureau of Labor Statistics and US Census data across in categories of retention, earnings, and job growth
- Evaluates progress over time
- Easy, fast and secure
- Working Metrics was launched out of the Aspen Institute’s Economic Opportunities Program and the Good Companies/Good Jobs Initiative
Featured Initiative
In 2019 and 2020, the Workforce Innovation Center is pleased to partner with Mayor John Cranley and the City of Cincinnati’s Office of Performance and Data Analytics to be named as one of 9 cities participating in the What Works Cities Economic Mobility Initiative, funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies, The Gates Foundation and Ballmer Group. The award provides technical assistance to The Center and the City of Cincinnati from a variety of partners including Results for America, the Behavioral Insights Team, Opportunity Insights, the Harvard Kennedy School Government Performance Lab, The Center for Government Excellence (GovEx) at Johns Hopkins University and the Sunlight Foundation.
A summary of the intervention to provide an engagement strategy to work with companies can be found in this blog post from the Behavioral Insights Team and in this Medium post about the Workforce Innovation’s Center’s approach pre-pandemic.
Local and national stories about the award can be found here:
The 10 Cities getting a philanthropic boost for economic mobility
Cincinnati picked for new Bloomberg Philanthropies national initiative to improve economic mobility
A Word
From Our Executive Director
“The Workforce Innovation Center is a service to the Cincinnati Region to support companies to grow and succeed by adopting more inclusive practices. We already have a tremendous business community that helps to create opportunities for their employees and vibrancy across the region. We are excited to offer these services and resources to companies to encourage their ongoing success. We are also pleased to be able to serve as a connector to the many excellent talent and workforce organizations supporting individuals to develop themselves professionally and to remove barriers. Our work collectively will yield strong returns that will enable our region to thrive.”
Engaging Employees Directly: Partnership with Cohear
Cohear is a community engagement and strategy company that connects leaders to the everyday experts – the people who live the issues – in the communities they serve. In partnership with WIC, Cohear has organized and facilitated five community conversations with employees in a range of industries, as well as people struggling to find employment – both before and since the start of the pandemic. These meetings have focused on a range of topics, including childcare, unemployment, upward mobility for entry level positions, and various new challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Get In Touch
Location: 3 E. 4th Street, Suite 200 Cincinnati, Ohio 45202
Telephone: (513) 579-3111
Tell us about your needs
Are you looking for holistic and inclusive solutions to support your business and employees, or do you want to apply to be a consultant?
