Beginning in 2023, Envoy partnered with Xylem to design a Fair Chance employment strategy. This included building new recruiting partnerships and modernizing its background screening and candidate assessment processes. The goal was to focus background check results on recent, job-relevant convictions while ensuring a consistent and equitable evaluation process.

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Working alongside the company's background screening provider, we helped redesign pre-adjudication criteria, including shorter look-back periods for most conviction categories. We also supported the development of a standardized individualized assessment process, ensuring candidates had the opportunity to provide context and evidence of successful reintegration to the workforce before a final hiring decision was made. In addition, we supported Xylem in identifying community-based organizations proving reentry and workforce readiness support that could serve as recruiting partners in their high-demand markets. 

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Results

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Xylem has become one of the nation's leading Fair Chance employers. They have a companywide commitment to hiring candidates with convictions, including a dedicated page on their careers site. Their best-in-class background screening practices brought hundreds more candidates into the organization. 

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• Xylem reduced its background checks that require additional review by 73% between 2023 and 2025

• Xylem decreased candidate disqualifications by 96% between 2023 and 2025

• Xylem hired 304 candidates in 2024 and 2025 who would not have advanced under previous screening policies

 

These results have created a new standard at the company that focuses its background screening on a narrow band of relevant convictions that could impact the candidate’s ability to succeed in the job. It has reduced the staff time spent on background screening and made recruitment and hiring more efficient, supporting both business success and positive community impact.