By Dallas FitzPatrick, Global Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Manager at Majorel

Impact-sourced employees will look different from location to location. A group that may be at a socioeconomic disadvantage in one country may be in a totally different situation in another. For instance, candidates in some labor markets could be victims of age-based discrimination, while in other markets employees in more rural areas or with less education may be at a disadvantage. Having a pulse on the labor market in the area will help your impact sourcing framework make a difference.

To truly make a difference where your organization has set up shop, you should speak with local nonprofits, advocacy groups, and disability associations to properly determine where you can support individuals in need. If you don’t talk to the people closest to disadvantaged individuals, they may be overlooked once again, which goes against the very foundation of impact sourcing. In addition, your organization should make sure to be familiar with the Impact Sourcing Standard, the first globally recognized standard for impact sourcing, so you’re up to date on best practices.

It’s essential to delve into the “why” behind your organization’s commitment to impact sourcing. Ask questions such as: Why is impact sourcing important to us? What objectives do we aim to achieve through impact sourcing? How will we measure our progress and impact?

Once you have a clear direction in place for who you want to hire, you should identify someone internally or build a team who will be focused on tracking your impact sourcing framework. This could be someone from your internal HR team who is charged with holding your organization accountable for meeting goals and making sure the new hires brought on by impact sourcing have the tools they need to succeed. Without internal support, new hires could still find themselves at a whole new kind of disadvantage, so a dedicated impact sourcing professional should oversee proper training and onboarding processes, setting new employees up with a support system within the organization.

At Majorel, we have always sought to go beyond normal hiring processes and cast a wide net in our search for employees. Aligning with our environmental, social, and governance and corporate responsibility goals, impact sourcing helps us identify career development opportunities for people who otherwise have limited prospects for formal employment. By actively supporting disadvantaged communities and creating economic opportunities, we’re able to contribute to social development and promote equitable practices, attracting socially conscious customers and investors who value organizations committed to making a difference.