SERCO
SERCO is a nonprofit organization. Learn more at https://centralstatesser.org/employer-services/
Introductory Conversations and Assessment
How organizations conduct initial needs assessment with employers, introduce workforce development in general as well as their own organization’s programs, and gauge whether an employer could benefit from workforce development programs.
Learning About Employers' Needs
- The initial interaction with employers is typically a virtual or in-person meeting. BSRs are intentional about not asking for too much information in the first interaction to reduce any worries that employers may have about excessive paperwork.
- Immediately following an initial meeting with an employer, BSRs send a 15-question Request for Information, which gathers the basic organizational data that is needed to determine the employer’s eligibility for various programs.
This content is based on interviews or email correspondence with Ana Granados in 2025. This content has NOT yet been signed off by the organization.
Introducing Your Organization
BSRs establish credibility with employers by being very responsive by email, continuously providing support to employers with recruitment services, and reducing the administrative burden that comes along with being a grant recipient.
This content is based on interviews or email correspondence with Ana Granados in 2025. This content has NOT yet been signed off by the organization.
Evaluating Employer Suitability
To ensure employer partnerships align with the agency’s goal of securing long-term employment for job seekers, BSRs carefully evaluate employers’ behavior. The most important factor is the employer’s capacity to provide secure, permanent roles. BSRs actively monitor hiring patterns and employee retention rates; if an employer frequently hires and lays off workers within a very short turnaround time, they are determined not to be a good fit.
This content is based on interviews or email correspondence with Ana Granados in 2025. This content has NOT yet been signed off by the organization.
Establishing Employer Relationships
Ways that organizations follow up or otherwise build relationships with potential employer partners. How do organizations keep employers’ interest and stay top of mind, despite how busy they may be?
Following Up via Phone and/or Email
- Immediately following the first meeting, BSRs send a follow up email that includes flyers that explain the various services that are available and a 15-question Request for Information, which gathers basic organizational data necessary to determine the employer’s eligibility for different programs.
- BSRs communicate eligibility to employers as soon as possible. If an employer is not eligible for a grant program, BSRs will notify them by email. BSRs prioritize timely communication with employers to establish trust and credibility.
This content is based on interviews or email correspondence with Ana Granados in 2025. This content has NOT yet been signed off by the organization.
Employer Visits to Service Provider Locations
- BSRs rotate the opportunity to host specialized hiring events for employers monthly. These events can be hosted at the employer’s location or at an American Job Center.
- For these events, BSRs create and distribute promotional flyers within the community, encouraging job seekers to attend. The BSR team provides support by assisting attendees in completing applications and facilitating direct interactions between the job seekers and the company.
This content is based on interviews or email correspondence with Ana Granados in 2025. This content has NOT yet been signed off by the organization.
Service Provider Visits to Employer Workplace
- BSRs tour employer workplaces as a standard practice to gain a better understanding of the environment. Touring the workplace allows a BSR to get a better sense of what the job will entail for prospective job seekers. BSRs can assess the volume of work, how the workplace is structured, and what parking and transportation options are available, for example.
- Occasionally, BSRs accompany job seekers on a tour of an employer’s workplace, allowing job seekers to assess the work environment for themselves.
This content is based on interviews or email correspondence with Ana Granados in 2025. This content has NOT yet been signed off by the organization.
Job Fairs and Hiring Events
- BSRs rotate the opportunity to host specialized hiring events for employers monthly. These events can be hosted at the employer’s location or at an American Job Center. This approach promotes continuous engagement with employers beyond large job fairs.
- BSRs share job fair data with employers to demonstrate the high number of prospective job seekers that an employer can access through a partnership.
This content is based on interviews or email correspondence with Ana Granados in 2025. This content has NOT yet been signed off by the organization.
Metrics and Financial Factors
How organizations collect and share information about expected outcomes and potential financial rewards and incentives.
Sharing Metrics and Return on Investment with Employers
- BSRs have certain metrics that are shared regularly with employers to establish credibility and demonstrate the impact of the partnership. Specifically, BSRs share data on the attendance and reach of our job fairs, highlighting the significant volume of qualified individuals who attend. They also quantify the financial benefit by sharing the approximate total funding reimbursed to employer partners who utilized our On-the-Job Training (OJT) program, for example, and by sharing the agency’s 98% successful outcome rate in program placements.
- The agency’s high success rate is directly attributed to the agency’s focus on candidate suitability, not just basic eligibility, which demonstrates the dependable, high-quality workforce pipeline the agency provides through the partnership.
This content is based on interviews or email correspondence with Ana Granados in 2025. This content has NOT yet been signed off by the organization.
Explaining Subsidies and Tax Credits
During the initial interaction with employers, BSRs explain briefly the various programs, subsidies, and tax credits that an employer may be eligible for. BSRs provide flyers by email that provide further details.
This content is based on interviews or email correspondence with Ana Granados in 2025. This content has NOT yet been signed off by the organization.
Gathering Data to Track Employer Metrics
BSRs use Career Connect to track the employer information. The BSR team also maintains master spreadsheets with employer information, such as the name of the company, contact person, and other details.
This content is based on interviews or email correspondence with Ana Granados in 2025. This content has NOT yet been signed off by the organization.
Organizational Level Considerations
How organizations are set up to build partnerships with employers, and how they leverage relationships with other organizations for better outcomes.
Organizational Structure, Resourcing, and Staffing
- There is a team of 10 Business Services Representatives (BSR) who work together to service individuals at the North Riverside, Little Village, and Malcolm X West Campus American Job Centers. BSRs are responsible for networking with employers and developing new business relationships.
- There are 2 BSRs at the North Riverside location. These representatives serve justice-involved participants, youth aged 16 to 24, and adults aged 18 years or older.
- There are 6 BSRs at the Little Village location. There is 1 BSR works under the DHS Program, 1 BSR works with the WIOA Program, assisting youth and adults, and the remaining BSRs staff the Pathways to Peace program. Pathways to Peace is a privately funded program that assists in the employment of individuals who are justice-involved or gang-affiliated within the Little Village community.
- There is 1 BSR at the Malcolm X West Side Campus that serves both youth and adult participants through the WIOA program.
This content is based on interviews or email correspondence with Ana Granados in 2025. This content has NOT yet been signed off by the organization.
Collaborating with Other Organizations
- BSRs collaborate frequently with other organizations to facilitate shared placements.
- Shared placements can originate from a number of sources. Some organizations have a distribution list that is shared widely. Sector Center collaboration is also frequent.
- When making a shared placement, BSRs connect with the other organization directly, sending a resume over to the organization that is managing the recruitment opportunity.
This content is based on interviews or email correspondence with Ana Granados in 2025. This content has NOT yet been signed off by the organization.
Challenges
Common challenges and how organizations typically respond to them.
Ensuring Compliance with Progammatic and Funding Requirements
BSRs support employers by using the information received in the Request for Information form to pre-fill the paperwork that is required for reimbursement and to meet funding requirements.
This content is based on interviews or email correspondence with Ana Granados in 2025. This content has NOT yet been signed off by the organization.
Handling Objections from Employers
- A primary question employers raise is whether referred individuals are authorized to work. Since most grants are government-funded, all individuals are confirmed to be legally authorized to work.
- Employers often inquire about the volume of available candidates, sometimes expecting immediate, large-scale staffing solutions. BSRs clarify that the organization is not a staffing agency and cannot provide a high volume of individuals on short notice. The focus is on quality matching and recruitment assistance, not high-volume placement.
- Employers frequently ask about the experience level of referred candidates. BSRs explain that some individuals may have experience, while other participants are seeking to enter or re-enter the workforce and may lack current experience. BSRs highlight available training programs that can offset the employer’s cost to train new hires.
This content is based on interviews or email correspondence with Ana Granados in 2025. This content has NOT yet been signed off by the organization.
Handling Challenges
- To encourage and foster long-term relationships with employers, the agency has implemented a formal employer appreciation practice. Annually, the agency compiles a list of top employer partners and delivers appreciation gifts, such as baskets or a celebratory lunch event, at the end of the year. This initiative ensures that partners who consistently accept referred participants, actively work with the team, answer inquiries, and participate in events, never go unnoticed. This effort to engage and connect with employers when not requesting new hires helps sustain the partnership, ensuring outreach is not solely focused on immediate staffing needs.
- To provide additional opportunities to network with employers, the agency hosts on-site coffee or brunch networking events. This allows employer partners to network with BSRs and receive continuous support through the partnership.
- Employers often assume that partnering will introduce significant, time-consuming administrative work, leading to the belief that the agency is there to create more work rather than streamline processes.
- The agency addresses these challenges by immediately communicating that the goal is to make the employer’s life easier and by providing hands-on support, providing forms and templates, and completing necessary documentation in collaboration with the employer.
- The primary ongoing challenge in maintaining partnerships is poor communication from employer partners. Employers sometimes overlook the need for consistent communication, which complicates essential follow-up activities.
- Lack of communication makes it difficult for the agency to accurately track participant progress, and it hinders the ability of a BSR to promptly intervene when participants encounter issues like excessive absences. If an employer fails to notify the agency immediately about performance or attendance problems, the organization is prevented from providing the necessary support to address the barrier and help the individual succeed.
This content is based on interviews or email correspondence with Ana Granados in 2025. This content has NOT yet been signed off by the organization.
