A focus on reducing homelessness in the UK
Recruiting people with the experience in homelessness is more than ticking an DE&I box!
Firstly, when you invite your guest onto the show and ask them about their experience of recruitment and they tell you. “I did 10 months of that – and I thought – I’m never doing that again!”. You might be forgiven for thinking… she knows this is a show about recruitment, right?
Uniquely, therein lies the beauty of Emma Freivogel. Founder and CEO of Radical Recruit. She is honest, high-energy and super passionate about her mission. A mission to secure long-term sustainable employment for individuals that have been marginalised by the traditional labour market.
A Radical, as Emma and the team refer to their candidates. Have typically come from the UK prison system, through the care system, have experienced or are still classified as homeless. Or they have come from disadvantaged backgrounds where they have been denied easy access to job opportunities owing to the perception that they may be lazy, unskilled or lacking in motivation to join the workforce.
Emma joins us to talk about why she established Radical Recruit. How meeting her first Radical, Chanel, inspired Emma to find her a job and start the process of thinking about how she could do this for other people.
Fast-forward 12-months, and Radical Recruit is about to launch a crowdfunding campaign in November. Emma hopes to expand the Radical model and continue to have a positive impact on social change with a keen focus on reducing homelessness in the UK.
I felt compelled to do something about it!
To illustrate the impact that can be made on homelessness, Emma talks to us about Radical Recruit’s pilot project in partnership with St Mungo’s. The homeless charity, and how her and the team have been working with 100+ individuals. Individuals, that have been temporarily housed by St Mungo’s owing to the Covid lockdown in the UK. She tells us, “I felt compelled to do something about it”.
As a result, this presented an opportunity to focus their energy and support these individuals sustainable employment. She told us, “I knew this (project) would need a progressive and bold approach”. Fast forward to present day, Radical Recruit have found over 25 Radicals sustainable work and they are on target to find another 10-15 employment before this initial project ends in December.
If that wasn’t enough, below you’ll hear Emma talk about:
- What is the classification of homeless people
- Breaking down stereotypes of homeless people
- Driving a real DE&I agenda
- Checking your own unconscious biases
- Don’t underestimate the power of determination
- Radicals are work-ready – give them an opportunity to shine!
Thank you to our fabulous sponsor EnterpriseAlumni
