Social Recruitment Advocacy Group

What is the SRAG and why is it rapidly growing?

The Social Recruitment Advocacy Group encourages employers to place greater emphasis on recruiting people who are disadvantaged in the labour market. Despite employers struggling with persistent vacancies, individuals who already face significant challenges in the labour market have fallen even further to the back of the queue.

These people are in a category beyond unemployment statistics. They are labelled 'economically inactive' – a term that masks very real challenges as a result of rising living costs, health challenges, and the intersection of multiple barriers that mean an increasing number of individuals can't even search for work.

This story is not an inevitability.

Young people, people with disabilities including mental ill health and those who have been through the criminal justice system for example, often have a great deal of talent. By taking a proactive approach, we can ensure they are not overlooked. We have grown a movement of employers who have changed the way they approach recruitment and job progression. We can change the future for generations of people who have been hampered by lack of opportunity.

The group, chaired by former Skills Minister Rt Hon Anne Milton, drives positive action to address significant employability gaps. It has an explicit goal to be action-oriented, which has established it as much more than another ‘talking shop.’

What is social recruitment and why is it important?

Social recruitment is an approach to hiring that positively impacts every part of society and the economy by moving unemployed people, who are furthest away from the labour market, into sustainable jobs. The ‘disadvantages’ or 'barriers' to employment are created by a huge range of factors. Individuals including young people not in education, employment, or training (NEET), unpaid carers, prison-leavers, single parents who lack childcare options, black and ethnic minority communities, those living in poverty and areas of multiple deprivation, and people with long-term health and disability challenges - all need support.

By encouraging to actively pursue positive action that results in more people from disadvantaged backgrounds having employment opportunities opened up to them, we will create a more inclusive and dynamic economy that contributes to stronger economic growth.

We are dealing with significant economic challenges. Now is the time to be embraced by a growing movement of employers who are committed to active social recruitment.

The group has three main outcomes:

To facilitate a strong network of employers of all sizes who come together regularly to share best experiences and learn from each other about social recruitment.
To undertake a dedicated campaign to show the benefits of social recruitment – from individual business benefits through to wider social and economic benefits.
To encourage Government to use its voice to promote social recruitment through the private and public sectors so that social recruitment is no longer seen as a ‘CSR’ activity but as a mainstream practice. Undertaking positive action to recruit those who are furthest from the labour market must simply be how good recruitment is done in the UK.

Our goals are explained on the SRAG Charter. There are Bronze, Silver, Gold and Ambassador Charter Marks, awarded following a collaborative assessment process, as described here.

‘The Social Recruitment Advocacy Group wants to break down the barriers for those who are disadvantaged in the labour market by dispelling myths about recruiting from those groups. We bring together a strong network of employers, not for profit organisations and the public sector. We want this approach to recruitment to become the norm not the exception.

Social value recruitment not only makes a tangible difference to people’s lives but also supports a more equitable society and tackles employment disadvantage and improves aspirations for future generations’
Rt Hon Anne Milton

"Social recruitment gives disadvantaged groups, including young people who are not in employment, education or training, access to life-changing opportunities, while providing organisations with access to a more diverse and sustainable talent pool which we know offers a host of benefits. Social recruitment is the right thing to do - to level the playing field for all and support the country's economic growth"
Gillian Churchill, CEO of Movement to Work

We welcome membership applications from like minded businesses.

Our Members include: