The Dignity of Work

A single word can sometimes change everything.

I worked with Greyston Bakery—the benefit corporation that created the practice of Open Hiring™ policies—on a subtle yet strategic shift in language that had a powerful impact.

Greyston has done amazing work for decades to help create job opportunities for people who are often considered unemployable. Many of them are returning citizens (whom we cavalierly call “ex-cons,” as if they did not have a life prior to being imprisoned).

For many years, Greyston described this mission as helping people WITH obstacles to employment.

But that one word—‘with’—frames the problem as if it belongs solely to those seeking jobs  rather than those seeking to hire.

It suggests the obstacle is something that returning citizens and others carry—something inherent to who they are

As part of an overall communications strategy, we worked with the incredible leaders of this unique bakery (like Mike Brady) to change ‘with’ to FACING—making it “helping people facing obstacles to employment.”

People have their history, no question. But we, not they, have traditionally defined those obstacles to employment. These are obstacles they face, and these obstacles are often structural—background checks, systemic bias, and policies that prioritize exclusion over opportunity.

This wording change does more than clarify. It reassigns responsibility. It tells a deeper truth.

Language is an incredibly powerful toolkit we can draw from to help us reshape narratives, challenge assumptions, and build more equitable systems. But we need to make sure we use the right tools.

Within a communications strategy that has a clear intent and audience, even the smallest edit can change people’s understanding of a problem—as well as the mindset needed to overcome it.