Empower Work: Help for work challenges, at your fingertips

Empower Work provides confidential, immediate support for tough work situations via text. 

Challenging work experiences are universal, but resources to navigate them are not. This perpetuates income inequality, increases stress, and has damaging implications for the well-being and rights of people, not to mention companies and the larger economy. 

Empower Work is the first confidential, immediate, third-party support that puts the employee first. Anyone in the U.S. can talk with a trained peer counselor about a challenging situation via text or web chat.

The model is premised on changing both sides of the conversation. Our text line provides support for users and improves the skills of volunteer peer counselors who utilize their training not just on the line, but in workplaces across the U.S. In addition, the anonymized, aggregate data can inform new workplace approaches, organizing, tools, and policy. 

We have a theory that our intervention could have an outsized impact not just on individual's economic opportunity and career trajectory, which is critical, but on inclusion, diversity, ethics and more within workplaces across the country.

Three components make us particularly innovative:

1. SMS support

2. Training and network

3. National workplace data

First, we meet people where they are: SMS provides privacy and convenience (e.g., unlikely to be heard at work and 71% surveyed indicated immediacy was critical).

Second, our model improves outcomes of volunteers. Peer counselors build interpersonal, communications, and management skills they use in workplace interactions and create more opportunities to grow in their careers. They also have a network of support among volunteers.

Third, anonymous, aggregate data can show trends across the modern workscape in ways not currently captured (e.g., are microaggressions rising?).

Our technology decisions are driven by two questions: 1) what best meets the needs of users and 2) what best meets the needs of volunteers? Our technology supports reach and scale while also ensuring quality oversight. Nearly everyone has access to texts and it’s part of habits already. On the volunteer side, our system allows for use anywhere, multiple conversation support, security, analysis, and quality control. We can also leverage automation for certain aspects of the conversation and follow up, and as we scale, we use AI to analyze the data and conversations.

We have a theory that our text line could have an outsized impact during a particularly vulnerable work moment.

Our two key metrics: 1) texters not only feel feel heard and supported during a conversation, but take an action that works for them and 2) that volunteers learn new skills and use them in their workplaces.

If we see that those two key metrics are on track, our top goals: 1) grow to 500 trained volunteers 2) support 1,200+ conversations a week with positive outcomes 2) measure the longer term impact with a research partner.

We envision a world where every person can have an accessible advocate to support their professional journey and equip them with the skills to successfully handle complex work challenges.

Over 90% of texters say they not only feel better after a conversation, they took an action that resulted in a desired outcome. 

In five years, we plan to be serving tens of thousands of individuals with thousands of volunteers using technology as the means to connect individuals to counselors and scale, with both immediate positive results and longer term impact (e.g., salary growth, improved job prospects, better skills for work challenges).

We reach texters through trusted partnerships. Trust is critical, particularly for underserved communities. From Year Up to YNPN to Tech Ladies, we work with national professional, affinity, workforce training and community groups. We also work with company partners, providing an opportunity for employee engagement where their employees can use their skills for good, plus learn new tools and approaches that they use in their workplace.

We plan to be serving 1,200 people a month by the end of 2019. We are already measuring immediate impact and that a few weeks out -- that people not only feel better but take an action that results in an outcome they want. That action could be asking for a pay raise, negotiating a severance, or going for a walk before they start work. It's varied and personal. The longer term impact we want to see is cumulative well-being -- from emotional to financial. From early data, we see positive early trends.

Our team, advisors, and board includes seasoned professionals from long-time executive coaches and trainers to workforce development experts; labor attorneys to HR executives; UX and data scientists to career counselors. We have galvanized volunteers and experts across the country who see and know the need -- and understand the value that Empower Work could bring to employees across the country.

Visibility, feedback, input, partnership, and expertise would be a significant value add in being part of Solve.