CorpComms Magazine

Oscar Wilde is perhaps the only person known to have found Reading Gaol an inspiring place, but Dr Mary Harris' revelation must come a close second.

Harris, an engineer for National Grid, was driving past Reading Young Offenders' Institution one morning and pondering what the firm could do about its shortage of skilled labourers. 'It was one of those, Ah! moments,' she recalls. 'I thought, There are 400 young men in that prison, surely we can use 50 of them?' She has surpassed that initial objective.

National Grid's Young Offender Programme, which Harris still runs, has now helped over 600 people from prison into jobs. They are not just working for National Grid - which runs the high voltage power lines that crisscross Britain - but also for other electricity companies, building companies and logistics businesses.

The programme has won a number of accolades, including a National Training award, a Business in the Community award for excellence and a Utility Week award. It has also won acclamation from the government: Gordon Brown, in his 2003 Budget speech, gave National Grid chairman Sir John Parker the job of rolling out the programme to other companies and industries.

Win-win situation

Home Office minister Paul Goggins describes the programme as playing 'a vital role in our effort to reduce reoffending. Giving young offenders the chance to gain an educational qualification like this, with a guaranteed job on release, gives them an excellent opportunity to make a new start in life and put something back into the community.'

Of course, the programme has also helped with National Grid's skills shortage, giving the company large numbers of motivated employees, many of whom have gone on to win prestigious awards. 'They are excellent employees,' say Harris. 'We don't give any advantages to prisoners - they compete for jobs with people from more traditional routes. As a company we have to make profits responsibly.'

The Young Offenders Programme is an example of how business can make corporate and social responsibility (CSR) programmes more than just an awkward add-on to business as usual. Peter Knight, founder of corporate responsibility and communications consultancy Context, says it is often programmes like these in less than glamorous areas that are the most successful.

'CSR programmes can help enhance a company's reputation - even if it is just people who go out painting schools in their spare time,' he explains. 'But what really works is well thought-out programmes in not very glamorous areas; these create more value than glitzy types of programmes. And the Young Offenders scheme seems to be a well thought-out programme.'

Saving graces

Employing young offenders can be risky as well as rewarding for a company's reputation, however. Harris is keen to point out that National Grid has developed a number of checks and balances in order to make sure it is getting the right candidates for the jobs.

The company, and other businesses now involved in the programme, train staff during their last year in prison. They then guarantee the prisoners a job on release, which Harris says is crucial to keeping them motivated.

Jobs working for National Grid and other energy businesses are exactly what the prisoners want, Harris adds, because they are flexible and relatively portable, and not just temporary contracts - which are often all that is on offer to recently released prisoners.

Recidivism rates for ex-prisoners taken onto the programme are surprisingly low: just 7 percent reoffend, compared with a fairly horrific 80 percent among young offenders as a whole.

'We would love to say the reoffending rate was 0 percent but, sadly, reoffending does happen,' Harris says. She is at pains to point out that most of these offences are not things most of us would class as crimes, but are instead breaches of conditions laid down on release. Whatever the offence, however, there are no second chances.

'There are other people waiting to come onto the programme,' Harris points out. 'It wouldn't be fair to stop them from getting a chance. This is an incredible opportunity for people to turn their lives around. It would be unrealistic to expect to get another go at it.' National Grid maximises its chances of getting the right employees by asking the prison governor to recommend people it can interview for jobs. Indeed, because training takes place while the prisoner serves his or her sentence, the governor must grant a temporary licence. But the governor also has a vested interest in promoting the right person.

'If the prisoner commits any offences, the governor has to report it to the Home Secretary,' explains Harris. 'That could adversely affect the governor's career - so we are asking the prison to identify the people who are safe.' The programme now works in 20 prisons. 'We have an incredibly clear relationship with the governors. That relationship is what makes this work,' says Harris.

Once young offenders are trained and in jobs, they can make very good employees. 'They tend to rise to superior levels quite quickly,' Harris adds. 'There are incredibly good people in prison who have had disturbances in their lives. Maybe their mother died and there was nobody there to pick up the pieces. You end up thinking, There but for the grace of God go I.'

No funding

Despite the government's ringing endorsement of the National Grid programme, it receives no funding from the Treasury, and Harris is adamant that the companies involved would not want to take handouts from government. 'Industry was doing this before the chancellor mentioned it,' she says. 'We are very pleased that he said what he did, but we pay for our own training - just as we would with a graduate trainee programme.' National Grid went gently when involving other businesses in the programme, and works closely with them until they are confident they have worked out what to do for themselves. 'We will come alongside them and start very, very small, and work with them,' explains Harris. 'We have the reputation of our company to consider and they have to do it to the same sort of standard as us. It is in our interest to make sure they are completely confident.' Companies joining the programme include building firm Amec, logistics group DHL and cement giant Cemex.

Harris is adamant that the company started the Young Of fenders Programme to deal with its skills shortage, not to enhance its reputation. However, she admits that it does not do any harm to National Grid's reputation to be seen as a diverse employer.

'We would not necessarily be seen as a natural employer for women engineers or ethnic minorities, but if you're in prison and there is only one employer going in, you are seen as a preferred employer,' she notes. 'It helps us with diversity. For example, there are women coming into the programme as engineers. Awards we win raise the profile of the company, because we are seen to employ these people - and being seen as a diverse employer is good.'

Knight says the reason why the National Grid programme is so positive for the company's reputation is that the whole business is totally engaged; it is not just bolted on. 'People will look at your reasons for doing something like this and, unless there is total engagement, you risk not enhancing your reputation,' he warns. 'People are more critical if things are just symbolic.'

The employees themselves are testament to the fact that National Grid's programme is more than that. Chris, who served his sentence in Rochester and Reading young offenders institutions and is now employed by Mor rison Utility Services, says: 'It was a fantastic opportunity to turn my life around. It has given me a skill for life in an industry where there is a great demand for skilled employees. I am proud that I have an NVQ qualification and didn't just waste my time in prison. I feel I left with my head held high.'

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