Definitions and Methodology for Employment Survey, Updated Annually
POLICY SUMMARY
Carolina Small Business’s programmatic interventions help promote a range of positive socioeconomic outcomes. Job creation and retention is one result of our activities, though it is important to note it is not the primary outcome of our work. Accurate measurement of current employment, job creation, and job retention presents an array of challenges when the data is being collected from small and medium-sized businesses. Our methodology includes a longitudinal survey process which measures employment impacts at the time of intervention, 1 year after the intervention, and 2 years after the intervention.
WHY THIS MATTERS
Most community development financial institutions talk about their impact in terms of job creation and retention. But how employment impacts are defined and measured varies greatly across different organizations. Our review of the program evaluation literature shows little consensus on how employment measures should be defined, collected, and expressed. CSBDF publishes the details of its employment impact measurement process in order to help promote better accountability and transparency in the realm of community economic development.
GET MORE INFORMATION:
SUGGESTED CITATION:
Carolina Small Business Development Fund. 2022. Employment Impact Measurement: Methodology and Definitions (Effective July 2022). Raleigh, NC. https://www.carolinasmallbusiness.org/post/employment-impact.