On this page, there are various tools, templates, and tips for hiring and onboaring new employees. Resources can help recruiters or managers decide what they need in a new employee, mitigate bias during the hiring process, create a recruiting strategy, and properly onboard new hires. All resources can be downloaded and include estimate reading times. This page also includes links to paid training from the Management Center for social justice and educational equity leaders. All the other free resources on this page, however, can be helpful for HR professionals, recruiters, or managers in any industry.

Announcements of a big employer moving to town, or a large infrastructure project, can often spark excitement. Local communities see the potential for big benefits, including new and better jobs and other investment in community needs. Too often, however, these benefits do not materialize. Community Benefits Agreements (CBAs), binding agreements created between community groups and organizations like real estate developers or large employers, are a powerful alternative that ensure people have a real say in shaping the outcomes these new investments will create for their communities.

Jobs to Move America (JMA) is a national leader in leveraging CBAs to improve jobs and provide opportunities for historically disadvantaged communities and workers. CBAs have allowed JMA to build consensus between affected workers and employers on policies that would benefit the community — from reformed hiring practices to improved training and protecting workers from discrimination. In this webinar, co-hosted by JMA and the Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program (EOP), we’ll hear from experts and practitioners about their experiences implementing CBAs and leveraging them to improve job quality in their communities. This event is part of EOP’s Job Quality in Practice series, which examines the strategies and approaches practitioners are using to improve job quality and expand economic opportunity.

This guide outlines how employers can create an onboarding process that gives employees all the information they need to be productive. The guide draws from HR experts and provides additional resources on creating on onboarding program and an optimal first day for new employees. It also details how human resource teams and upper management can evaluate the onboarding process and shift to employee retention and satisfaction. This guide is intended for employers, human resource leaders, and managers across industries looking to hire new employees for the first time or who are revamping existing onboarding processes.

This guide was prepared as part of the Shared Success project, through which the Aspen Economic Opportunities Program has been working with a cohort of 11 community development financial institutions (CDFIs) on strategies to advance good jobs. Through this work, have consistently heard that small businesses are facing ongoing hurdles navigating and staying up to date on relevant compliance requirements at the local, state, and federal levels.

This resource guide is intended to help spur ideas for how small businesses can overcome compliance hurdles and navigate quickly evolving regulatory landscapes. The guide is also designed to help advisors or entities working with small business owners, such as CDFIs, facilitate access to potential partners to help their clients effectively address these matters in a more timely, high-quality, and consistent manner. This document is not meant to be legal advice or an exhaustive list of organizations, but rather a snapshot of potential regional and national resources where organizations could seek guidance and further partnership or support.

The “Guide to Combatting Harassment in the Construction Industry” by the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) provides an overview of what constitutes harassment in the workplace, including the definition of sex- and gender-based harassment. The guide is most relevant for employers and workers in the construction sector. It defines harassment (unwelcome conduct based on a protected characteristic) and sexual harassment, as well as offering promising practices to prevent and remedy harassment, such as providing and posting EEO policy statements, developing formal complaint procedures, and promoting apprenticeship programs accessible to all individuals. While the guide was created for the construction industry, and contains best practices and strategies for employers in this industry, the content may be helpful to those in other industries as well.

This is part of a collection of resources created by the Department of Labor and other federal agencies, relating to job quality and implementing good jobs priorities through federal investments and beyond. Many of these resources are no longer publicly available on government websites, though they were all at one point public and shared with the intent of preserving these resources for public use.

Please note that we cannot guarantee that information contained in these resources related to specific programs, policies, and processes remains accurate, though many best practices and examples remain useful. In addition, many of these resources link out to government websites that do not exist anymore. You may be able to find these linked resources in the archive itself by searching the Overview document. For more resources, please visit the Data Rescue Project website, at https://www.datarescueproject.org/

This tool from the U.S. Department of Labor and Department of Commerce helps employers adopt and implement skills-first hiring, a strategy that prioritizes a worker’s actual skills and knowledge over traditional credentials like a college degree. Skills-first hiring promotes job quality by expanding access to high-quality jobs for skilled workers often overlooked due to non-traditional backgrounds. Employers benefit from this model by tapping into a broader, more diverse talent pool, which can lead to reduced time-to-hire, lower costs, and higher employee retention.

The kit provides a practical, step-by-step roadmap for implementation, advising employers to clearly identify their hiring goal, select a simple job role, break a job into “core” versus “great-to-have” skills, develop a scoring rubric, and use multiple, accessible evaluation methods beyond the resume, such as structured interviews and hands-on assessments. Finally, the guide emphasizes the importance of transparent recruiting and inclusive onboarding that addresses skill gaps, provides mentorship, and ensures the new hire is paid fairly based on their actual skills, not previous salary history.

This is part of a collection of resources created by the Department of Labor and other federal agencies, relating to job quality and implementing good jobs priorities through federal investments and beyond. Many of these resources are no longer publicly available on government websites, though they were all at one point public and shared with the intent of preserving these resources for public use.

Please note that we cannot guarantee that information contained in these resources related to specific programs, policies, and processes remains accurate, though many best practices and examples remain useful. In addition, many of these resources link out to government websites that do not exist anymore. You may be able to find these linked resources in the archive itself by searching the Overview document. For more resources, please visit the Data Rescue Project website, at https://www.datarescueproject.org/

This brief set of 13 tips for managers and supervisors offers a framework by which to address scheduling flexibility. Each tip provides useful considerations to keep in mind when discussing flexible remote work options with employees. HR professionals, managers, and supervisors interested in creating work environments that support flexible working schedules may find this resource helpful. Additionally, workforce development and worker advocacy professionals may find it helpful to send this set of tips to employers with whom they work.

This guide contains frameworks and case studies designed to help employers support mental health in the workplace. Included are checklists to assess workplace practices, develop a workplace ecosystem that supports mental health, and implement new initiatives focused on mental health. There is also a case study focused on implementing mental health days for employees. Although written for employers, those who partner with employers may also find it beneficial to use or share this tool. Visitors can download the guide by scrolling down and filling out a brief sign-up form.

This website includes resources to support pregnant and breastfeeding workers. Resources are designed to educate employees about their workplace rights, for employers to adopt family-friendly policies and ensure compliance with state and federal laws, and for policymakers and advocates to support pregnant and breastfeeding employees. Tools include a model policy that reflects current legal requirements, a webinar for employee training, and a chart of workplace accommodations for common pregnancy-related conditions. In addition to workers, employers, and policymakers, workforce development professionals who support workers may also find this resource guide useful.

This training curriculum supports direct care supervisors to strengthen communication, critical thinking, teamwork, and problem-solving skills. Curriculum content includes improving active listening, learning how to ask questions, and giving and receiving feedback. While designed for direct care organizations, this curriculum has applications for practitioners across fields seeking to encourage supportive supervisory practices that are critical to job quality.