American Red Cross and LinkedIn:
How They Are Recruiting for Good
Now, more than ever, a collaborative and adaptive approach can produce meaningful outcomes. One of the Global Keynotes from Impact 2020 brought Gabe Naftolin, Talent Acquisition Manager from LinkedIn, together with Jennifer Adrio, CEO American Red Cross for the Northern Coastal California Region. During the session, the two explored the ways their partnership has evolved and how it benefits both organizations and the community in ways neither could have imagined.
As an employee-led program supporting non-profits in their recruiting efforts, the LinkedIn Recruiting For Good program was already in existence when COVID-19 hit. In response to the pandemic, LinkedIn offered free job postings across healthcare and essential services under this program, helping more than 100 organizations recruit for urgent frontline COVID-related positions.
American Red Cross was one of the organizations, who was suddenly faced with a severe shortage of volunteer resources. To help meet the need, LinkedIn deployed 150 talent acquisition professionals to this project globally, each coming from diverse backgrounds such as marketing communications, sales, corporate functions and engineering.
To date, over 7,000 people have volunteered to help as part of these efforts, and for many, their journey of discovery has mirrored Jennifer’s own: “Personally, I never thought that I would be able to respond to disasters, but the Red Cross pushed me in ways I never thought possible. They found a way to take my skills and use them in a disaster response.”
Volunteering for a non-profit has not only given people a new focus, but helped them develop their skills and contribute to the community.
How can you volunteer your time to make an impact?
● Be open and flexible: The people who helped make this happen never thought they’d be using their skills to feed school children or supporting families of those who were diagnosed with COVID-19
● Step outside your comfort zone: The old adage of “you never know until you try” remains as true as ever. Volunteering for an initiative you have no experience in can be uncomfortable, but it is one of the most rewarding things a person can do.
● Reach out to other departments: If you have a social impact team, engage with them. If you don’t, that doesn’t mean you can’t build partnerships in your local community, your workforce will have a diverse range of skills, think about how you can connect talent on a large and small scale to drive positive change
Get the rest of the story in our free, on-demand conference. Once you finish, don’t forget to explore the full LinkedIn Impact 2020 Series for insights on talent acquisition and strategies in the new world of work.
*Please note these sessions were pre-recorded ahead of June 4th.
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