At Kier, we believe that everyone deserves the opportunity to rebuild their lives and fulfil their potential. Through our award-winning Making Ground programme, we have spent several years creating pathways into employment for people with convictions, supporting more than 250 individuals through various routes since 2020.
While Making Ground has created significant impact across the criminal justice system, we recognised that women leaving prison often face additional and unique barriers to employment. Women account for only a small proportion of the prison population, yet are disproportionately impacted by trauma, domestic abuse, mental ill-health, caring responsibilities and housing insecurity. These challenges can make rebuilding confidence and securing meaningful work even more difficult.
In response, Kier developed Tools for Tomorrow, a first-of-its-kind mentoring programme for women in custody led by a construction employer. Designed in collaboration with criminal justice partners, the programme supports women through confidence building, employability skills, disclosure guidance, practical release planning and one-to-one mentoring tailored to their individual circumstances and aspirations.
Through structured workshops and mentoring conversations, participants received support on topics including CV writing, personal development and preparing for life after release. Every participant also retained access to mentoring support following release and received assistance to access employment opportunities.
Partnering with Working Chance
A key part of our approach has been our partnership with Working Chance, the UK's only employment charity dedicated exclusively to supporting women with convictions into employment, education and training. Kier was the first construction company Working Chance actively partnered with to support women with lived experience of the criminal justice system.
Through this partnership, Working Chance clients can access opportunities through Kier’s recruitment processes and our Making Ground talent pipeline. Equally important, the partnership has helped us strengthen our understanding of the specific barriers women with convictions face when seeking employment, enabling us to create a more trauma-informed, supportive and inclusive recruitment experience.
Influencing Beyond Kier
Our commitment to creating change extends beyond our own organisation. Alongside Working Chance, Kier has helped influence wider employer practice by sharing our experiences and encouraging other organisations to consider the benefits of inclusive
hiring. We have been featured as an employer case study in Working Chance’s Hiring With Conviction guide (guidance for employers in every sector on how and why to proactively recruit and support people with convictions) and contributed practical insights on how employers can confidently do this work.
We have also sponsored and supported conferences and events alongside Working Chance, using our platform to advocate for inclusive hiring and share best practice with employers, HR professionals and industry leaders. These events have provided opportunities to challenge misconceptions, showcase the positive impact of prison employment programmes and encourage more employers to create opportunities for people with convictions.
Building Capability Internally
Creating sustainable opportunities requires more than opening vacancies. It also requires ensuring recruitment professionals and hiring managers have the confidence and knowledge to support candidates with lived experience effectively.
As part of our ongoing partnership, Kier is investing in specialist training delivered by Working Chance for our Talent Acquisition team. The training will focus on supporting people with lived experience, particularly women with convictions, helping recruiters better understand trauma-informed approaches, challenge assumptions, remove barriers and create positive candidate experiences.
This complements the guidance, processes and support already embedded through Making Ground and reflects our commitment to continually improving our approach to inclusive recruitment.
Richard Rowley, Deputy Chief Executive, Working ChanceKier’s commitment to inclusive recruitment is clearly demonstrated through its Making Ground programme. As a partner, Working Chance has seen first-hand the positive impact this approach has on people seeking to rebuild their lives for themselves and their families. Kier has consistently shown a willingness to listen, learn and adapt, particularly in its efforts to better understand the specific barriers faced by women. Their investment in creating supportive pathways into employment, combined with a genuine commitment to removing barriers, is making a real difference for the women we support. Kier continues to lead by example, demonstrating how employers can create opportunities that not only change the lives of women and their communities, but also their workforce and industry.