‘The Importance of Recruiting Young Talent’

“Equipping young people for life is not just a noble endeavour. It’s a business imperative”. - John May

Peter Cobrin

The Benefits to Society of Recruiting Young Talent

• Eliminates the persistent youth unemployment that has been embedded in our system over

decades• Ends the vicious circle of no work experience, no work• Transforms the transition from education into work

• Ends the curse of low life-time earnings, poorer health outcomes and long term unemployment for

thousands

• Slashes the cost of youth unemployment estimated at £28 billion by 2024

• Ends the appalling social cost of wasted lives, wasted opportunities

• Creates a growing talent pool for the needs of our businesses

The Kent Challenge• To raise attainment and skill levels

• To extend and improve technical education, training and apprenticeships

• To increase participation and employment

• To target support to vulnerable young people

• To ensure parity of understanding and esteem between technical and academic

education and qualifications

• Identifying priority sectors and upskilling focused at these sector e.g.• Tourism, hospitality and Transport• Health and social care• Logistics• Land Based Environment• Construction and the Built Environment• Creative and Digital Media• Engineering and Manufacturing

The Kent Conundrum

Board responses to the survey prove that employers are the key………..

But they have the longest journey to make. The Board’s success depends on supporting and

facilitating this journey

• Commercial barriers: there is a perceived or real cost to changing the recruitment policies

of a company in favour of young people. Time spent or any youth engagement programme

equals a real money cost

• Structural barriers: education and training is perceived as a specialist and closed shop

dominated by “experts”, resistant to change, full of vested interests

• School barriers: schools too often function behind their educational barricades

• Ignorance barriers: employers simply do not know what, how, why and where they can

make a difference

Each of these must be overcome and appropriate support mechanisms put in place to

achieve this

What employers and providers must contribute at their local levelRaising Attainment

• By demonstrating how technical learning enhances “academic” achievement

• By supporting a technical offer within schools

• By using the technical offer in schools to provide alternative routes to functional skills at level C and above

• Providing role models and mentors

Improving and Extending

Technical Education, Training

and Apprenticeships

• By ensuring there is a

technical offer available to

all 14 year olds and above,

regardless of the make-up

of the local school/s

• By providing opportunities

for experiencing the world

of work

• By demonstrating how

technical learning pathways

support progression into

local employment

Increasing Participation and Employment

• By ensuring employability, entrepreneurship and enterprise skills are taught effectively as part of the curriculum

Targeting Support to Vulnerable Young People

• Companies that already employ vulnerable young people providing support and guidance to other employers

• By agreeing to be fully DDA compliant

• By supporting young offenders schemes

• By working with the judicial system to support excluded young people into work

1 A call to action: what can local businesses do?

In the Schools

Engaging in school governance

Becoming governors, mentoring support, business know-how, supporting careers within the curriculum

Career TalksThe talk might be sector or career specific, or simply telling your own story as an example of what can be achieved.

Visits Inviting young people to visit your organisation.

Mentoring Supporting a young person with their academic and/or career journey

Mock Interviews Visiting a school to provide interview experience as an employer

Enterprise Events Supporting local authority or regional events

Real Work Challenges

Sponsoring school-based projects

Career Events Exhibit at a Careers Fair

Work ExperienceOffering work experience placements to students, graduates and young unemployed people from a week to longer periods.

Financial SupportSponsoring/supporting careers education, events and activities, library and other learning resources

2 A call to action: what can local businesses do?

In the Workplace

Work Experience/shadowing

Offering work experience placements to students, graduates and young unemployed people from a week to longer periods.

Supporting vulnerable learners

Supporting disability access, providing role models, equal opportunity recruitment

Internships Developing a quality internship programme for graduates/young people

Volunteering Developing a quality voluntary programme for young people

Traineeships Six weeks supervised work placement

Apprenticeships Developing a quality apprenticeship programme for young people

Advertising vacancies

Find a platform to advertise your vacancies to young people

The Benefits to Your Business of Recruiting Young Talent

• Helps productivity, morale, employee retention

• Develops skilled, qualified and loyal employees

• Promotes your business in the local community

• Extends the talent pool for the needs of your

businesses

• Why buy in talent when you can grow your own?

• Multiple funded pathways available

• Reduces recruitment costs

• Can attract government incentives

96%of employers who take on an apprentice see at least one benefit to their business

72% 69% 64%

Experienced improved

productivity

Had seen increased employee

morale

Found it brought new ideas to the organisation

The Evidence: Business Benefits

96% Of employers who take on an apprentice see at least one benefit to their business

72% 69% 64%Experienced

improved productivity

Had seen increased employee morale

Found it brought new ideas to the

organisation

The Evidence: Business Benefits

The Evidence: Business Benefits

Meeting the Challenges of Recruiting Young Talent

How One Business Met This Challenge

• In April 2012 they threw their recruitment rule book away as part of their CSR agenda

• No formal qualifications or prior work experience required

• Recruited on energy, passion and commitment

• Initial 5 week employability progamme leading to:

• Fully salaried 12 month programme for 16-24 year old NEETs

• To date 1,000+ in UK branches, contact & operation centres

• Real job with a real salary and a Level 2/3 qualification

• Diverse, eager, motivated and loyal team

• Award winning and overall great success -- 85% retention!

Conclusions and Next Steps

• Review recruitment strategies from a youth perspective

• Acknowledge the demographic and social imperative

• Commit to a youth-friendly focus

• Talk to organisations that have developed youth-engagement strategies

Thanks for your kind attention!

peter.cobrin@employmentpathways.org.uk

@petertheteacher