We believe that as a society, we simply must do better at creating jobs that are good for workers, good for businesses, and good for communities. As part of our effort to elevate the importance of quality jobs in building wealth and opportunity for everyday Americans, PCV has engaged foundations, CDFIs, and other impact investors — as well as policymakers, community advocates, government, and business, to identify practical solutions to support the growth of good jobs nationally. PCV has conducted field-leading research around quality jobs (Moving Beyond Job Creation, 2016; and Public Policy and Investments in Quality Jobs, 2017), and in 2018 we and our CDFI partners piloted Good Jobs, Good Business: a practical toolkit to help small business owners create jobs that boost the bottom line.
The toolkit provides practical tips, guidance, and examples for reducing staff turnover and enhancing business results by creating jobs that pay higher wages, offer benefits, provide stable schedules, and help employees build both skills and wealth. We focused our pilot on the retail sector with grant funding through the Reimagine Retail Initiative, a project run by The Aspen Institute and supported by the Walmart Foundation. More than one in ten Americans work in retail — more than manufacturing, construction, or mining — and the industry has a high concentration of low-quality jobs.
We’ve seen promising results in our pilot of Good Jobs, Good Business, with small businesses implementing employee engagement strategies, training and promoting workers into management positions, and introducing retirement benefits while reporting boosts in morale, increased sales, and stronger workplace cultures. We’re incorporating the feedback the small businesses, PCV business advisors, and CDFI and workforce development partners have shared with us to improve the toolkit so it can be made available to small businesses across the country. We see tremendous potential for Good Jobs, Good Business to help small business owners improve job quality in a way that balances their business needs and bottom lines. We’re excited to share this resource publicly via a new website in the Fall of 2019, and to develop and expand partnerships with CDFIs and other small business service providers to help them use the toolkit to support small businesses in their own communities.