Recruiters with a cause
GEELONG recruitment firm People@Work has become Social Traders certified, recognising the not-for-profit organisation’s commitment to the community and improving its prospects of securing work with the State Government.
The certification recognises People@Work, part of the GForce Group, as a social enterprise through Australia’s first trademark defining the rapidly growing sector.
People@Work stakeholder engagement manager Brenden Caligari said buying from a social enterprise was one of the easiest and most effective ways of breaking the cycle of disadvantage.
“People@Work became Social Traders certified following an extensive audit and verification process,” Mr Caligari said.
“The process saw our organisation demonstrate that we are driven by a public or community cause, derive our income from trade, not donations or grants, and use the majority (at least 50 per cent) of our profits to work towards our social mission.”
In recent years, People@Work has contributed to many local notfor-profit causes including Give Where You Live, Barwon Health, Lazarus Community Centre, Regional Industry Sector Employment Program (RISE) and L2P Mentor Program.
People@Work is one of only six Geelong-based organisations to have Social Traders certification, with others including GenU Business Services and My Maintenance Crew.
The certification allows organsitions to compete under the State Government’s new Social Procurement Framework which aims to use the government’s buying power to bolster social enterprises.
Social Traders aims to create jobs for disadvantaged Australians by linking business and government to social enterprises.
By 2021, Social Traders goal is to generate 1500 jobs for disadvantaged Australians by facilitating $105 million in procurement spend.
Social Traders will host a Social Procurement forum in Geelong on March 28.
The session will include an overview of the certification process and advice on business strategy.
For more information go the events section fo the socialtraders website.