EMPLOYERS’ GUIDE Education and employers working together for young people Education and Employers Taskforce

The case for education engagement will depend on a number of factors, including an employer's awareness of and capacity for engagement; logistical factors such as its size, location and products; and its business and CSR priorities.

When preparing a business case for education engagement, the primary objective should be to show how it will benefit business. The most effective business case will be one that specifically addresses the organisation's objectives and shows how they can be met by education engagement.

Important steps are involved when preparing a business case:

• Begin with an assessment of the organisation's awareness, capacity and objectives regarding education engagement.
• Research competitors' and partners' successful education involvement in order to learn from success stories and identify gaps in education engagement that can be filled. Looking at the case studies on this website may be useful for this purpose.
• Identify potential education engagements and how they might benefit the organisation by responding to its aims and needs.
• Although conducting an assessment is not essential, it will make it easier to develop an engagement strategy better suited to the organisation's needs: the education engagement team/manager can draw on the material generated by the assessment; they can also research what others are doing and identify potential education engagements to shape an education engagement strategy that fits the organisation's future outlook and plans.

A thorough business case should address:

• leverage points (areas where significant education advancement gains can be made)
• areas in which stakeholders might have a particular influence
• short-term and long-term aims and objectives
• estimated costs and benefits of each potential engagement
• potential risks of and obstacles to engagement
• implications for each option of new developments.

The Benefits for employers and employees page points to some potential leverage points by outlining the key benefits of education engagement. Employers may want to pinpoint one of these areas and use it to support a specific approach to education engagement.

Information adapted from: Corporate Social Responsibility: An Implementation Guide for Business, Honen and Potts (2007)

There are opportunities for engagement in education for employers with varying objectives and at all levels of preparation and commitment. The advice in this section can apply to any education-employer engagement activity, although it relates mainly to events and activities where the employee is working with a whole class or group of students.

The educational environment can be very different from some employer environments. Employers should be aware of some of the issues they might come across when dealing with schools or colleges.

Preparation

Schools and colleges usually require a lot of lead time to plan in activities, so making contact early is essential. From the employers' point of view, it is important to obtain all of the necessary information from a school or college in advance of a visit, as there will be little time on the day to run through last-minute questions. It is also essential to ensure that employees are prepared and have read all the necessary information.

Preparation within the organisation

• Provide appropriate training, time and resources for employees involved.
• Enable employees to meet together regularly to discuss the project.
• Provide all relevant information about the activities and the students to the employees involved.
• Plan with the school.

The employee should:

• contact the school (with a lot of lead time). If possible, the employee should make a visit in person to meet the teacher and see the school/college
• discuss with the teacher what they hope to achieve during the presentation, session, etc., and find out what prior work the class might have carried out (if applicable)
• make their requirements very clear
• inform the school/college how much time they will need to set up, how the session is structured and what the class will achieve (if applicable)
• find out how many students are in the class and get a list of names if possible
• make use of teaching assistants, if they are available
• talk to the teacher about the methods they use to control the class, for example, how a class is silenced and how students are invited to ask questions.
• note that he/she is not responsible for disciplinary action - this is the teacher's job.

Health and safety

Employers and employees should make sure that all activities conform to health and safety requirements and fulfil the school's duty of care.

CRB checks

Some employees may need to have CRB checks. Visit the page on CRB checks for more information.

After the event

• Allow everyone who is involved the opportunity to provide evaluation.
• Plan activities to celebrate the success.

Communicating with students

Employees who haven't worked with students before may receive some training as part of their volunteering programme. Outside of this, below are a few tips for communicating with students.

• Use praise. Something as simple as "well done" can make a huge difference to an individual, as well as encourage other students.
• Use storytelling techniques when explaining things to bring them to life.
• Make use of all of the senses to ensure that all students with different learning styles - auditory, visual and kinaesthetic - are engaged.
• Ensure that students are kept engaged by involving them in practical activities.
• Regularly check students' understanding and allow time for questions.