Whether you’re an employer or industry association competing for talent in the job market, a foundation or governmental organization looking to apply your community impact funds to their best use, a community-based organization trying to coordinate your efforts with others in the community, or a potential employee with specific barriers to employment, CAW helps you work together with others around a common vision for making a collective impact in the Richmond region.

Keep reading to understand more about how the Communities At Work Framework is designed to meet the needs of a wide variety of stakeholders.

 

SEEKING A HEALTHY COLLABORATIVE

Communities At Work knows that healthy collaborative relationships flourish in the right environment. We’re working to create the kind of environment that will nurture high levels of collaboration by subscribing to these attributes of a healthy collaborative.

  • We work with people we respect and trust.
  • We create something entirely new together (initiative, concept, movement, story, mission).
  • We embrace risk as an essential part of collaboration, while striving to meet and exceed goals; we get it wrong, and we get back on track.
  • We adopt a spirit of generosity, humility, humor, experimentation, and intellectual curiosity.
  • We share lessons, best practices, and data with as broad a network as possible.
  • We let go of the need to retain complete control of brand or narrative.

 

BENEFITS TO SPECIFIC STAKEHOLDERS

The Communities At Work Framework is designed to meet the needs of a wide variety of stakeholders by helping them work together with other stakeholders around a common vision for making a collective impact in the Richmond region. Indeed, specific stakeholder groups are likely to experience tangible benefits by engaging with the CAW Framework.

  • Employers are likely to experience higher loyalty and longer tenure among employees, employees with extraordinary problem solving skills, increased employee retention, higher productivity, a more inclusive environment, recognition as a community advocate, and higher profits.
  • Candidates who become employees of CAW-associated employers are likely to experience steady income, leading to lower levels of stress related to income insecurity.
  • Community-based service organizations are likely to experience greater levels of cooperation with other community-based organizations as well as higher levels of engagement with their respective organizational missions.
  • Private foundations and governmental organizations who provide funding for workforce development activities are likely to experience higher levels of results through more effective and efficient application of their community impact funds.
  • Local businesses are likely to experience higher revenues and profits as more employees make more purchases in the community.
  • State and local governments are likely to experience higher levels of income and sales taxes revenue.

 

ACTIVE INDUSTRY SECTORS

Several industry sectors in the Richmond area are already active in developing the Communities At Work Framework to meet their unique needs.

  • The Manufacturing and Energy sectors (including Logistics and Light Industrial businesses) are launching a workforce awareness, training, and transition program to target the entry of young adults into mid- to high-skill career pathways specific to their industries.
  • The Construction and Trades sectors are using large-city capital projects to fund an integrated workforce development and transition pipeline from untapped talent sources.
  • The Information Technology sector has multiple programs underway using an employer focused, sector-back approach.
  • The Customer Service and Business Administration sectors (including Call Center businesses) are developing an intentional intake program to rapidly train and certify for entry-level roles where further training is available on the job.

Will your industry sector be next?

 

A GROWING NETWORK OF ALLIANCES

When you join the Communities At Work movement, you’ll come alongside a growing network of community leaders who have already engaged with the CAW vision.

  • Capital Region Collaborative
  • United Way Greater Richmond and Petersburg
  • Virginia Trade Associations (AGCVA/ABC/VMA/VEWC)
  • Goodwill of Central and Coastal Virginia
  • Capital Region Workforce Partnership/Workforce Development Board
  • Virginia Community College System/Community College Workforce Alliance
  • Greater Richmond Workforce Partnership
  • Points of Life Connections

 

CONSIDERING MAKING A COMMITMENT TO CAW?

If you’ve begun to see how CAW’s key principles and the unique nature of the CAW Framework align with your company’s needs or your organization’s mission, allow us to invite you make a commitment of your time, talent, and treasure to help us bring the Communities At Work vision to life. Click here to learn how you can take the next step.