Recruitment
Employers are working with schools and colleges to help young people make informed choices about the career choices open to them, and as a means of recruiting better people at a lower cost. By working with schools, an enterprise can become more attractive to potential employees of all ages and backgrounds. And by working with employers, teachers can help young people get the employability skills most valued in the work place.
Helping young people to think about the career options open to them
"The success of our business depends acutely on the quality of the young people we bring into the profession. Working with schools and colleges is a brilliant way of grabbing the attention of the kids, getting them to think seriously about hospitality careers and of spotting some of the best new recruits." Alison Keate, Q Hotels
"The Council has an aging workforce and a large number of them are going to retire over the next few years. It's hugely important to bring enthusiast and committed young people into the workforce. Working with schools and colleges is now a core part of our plan for workforce succession." Mark Porter, Workforce Strategy Manager, London Borough of Havering
Employers are passionate about their industry and are frequently frustrated by how difficult it has been to excite the next generation about the opportunities their sector has to offer.
Eighty-nine percent of employers surveyed by the CBI in 2007 saw work experience as an opportunity to promote interest among students of relevant careers or industrial sectors and half listed recruitment as a key benefit of such collaboration.
Because of the reforms now being introduced to secondary education, it has never been easier for employers to work with teaching staff to help young people make informed decisions about their future careers.
"With knowledge of the local employment opportunities, including those in small and micro businesses, school leavers can make informed decisions as to their career path and the qualifications they need." Colin Willman, Federation of Small Businesses
Many thousands of employers are offering work experience, and getting involved with the teaching of the Diplomas, or Young Apprenticeships, as a means of raising awareness of careers in their sector, and to give young people a better understanding of the reality of working life.
Saving on recruitment costs
Recruitment is often difficult, costly and timely. It can be hard to attract candidates with the skills, knowledge and attitudes needed to be effective in the role. Too often, recruits don't fully understand what working in any given sector entails. The wrong decisions are made and mutual dissatisfaction can lead to wasted investment on both sides. Recruitment is costly, averaging £4,000 per appointee. Both employment agency fees and advertising costs can be prohibitive especially to smaller employers. Many employers work with schools and colleges offering work experience or hosting workplace visits, as a means to encourage job applications from interested young people they have already got to know.
Helping young people to prepare better for their working lives
"As an employer I really value the opportunity to have a positive influence on young people's attitude to work. Some of our best known entrepreneurs and businessmen may have been seen as disengaged or high energy individuals that disrupted classes. But it's more likely that the current system in schools did not motivate them in a way that engaged with their creativity or talent or help them to find meaning and purpose in learning. Sometimes the focus is too much on the how but not the why and we don't take account of people's dreams, aspirations or values." Joe Constant, Director, Kick Start Enterprise Ltd.
The CBI's research with employers that engage in work experience shows that they strongly believe it helps young people develop the generic employability skills (self-management, problem-solving, oral and written communication) which are essential to careers in any sector. Teachers agree that work experience and other activities that involve employers such as enterprise activities help young people get the skills they need to go into working life with confidence.
The independent schools inspectorate, Ofsted, has described how young people benefit from working closely and regularly with employers in new school-based qualifications - Young Apprenticeships and the Diploma.
The Ofsted review of 56 pilot Young Apprenticeship courses found:
"Employers.. identified benefits in the programme for their own organisations. In young apprentices they saw young people who were developing the skills and aptitude to progress in their industry. The young apprentices would join the labour market with desirable skills and an understanding of different aspects of the vocational area. These would enable them to make a fuller contribution to an organisation when they entered full- time employment. Employers in some vocational areas saw the programme as a means of introducing more able students to vocational areas which they might not otherwise have considered. …Some employers also used the programme for assessing and recruiting potential employees. Young apprentices have gained employment as a result of successful work placements."
Employers are also welcoming the opportunities presented by the Diploma for them to work with schools and colleges to better prepared young people for their working live.
"Because the Diploma was designed by employers, it places a high emphasis on the skills and attitudes which are deeply valued by all workplaces (applied numeracy and literacy as well as the interpersonal skills that make someone effective at work) as well as providing the knowledge needed to understand and thrive in specific industrial sectors." John McNamara, Chief Executive, Alliance of Sector Skills Councils
Engaging with schools and colleges is also relevant to employers who exclusively recruit graduates or older workers as it helps to make them become a more desirable place to work. Employees get great satisfaction from working with children and young people.
In a 2005 Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development Survey, 63% of graduates said that an employer's ethical and environmental stance would influence their decision on whether or not to apply for a specific job.