Business
Business
Published by Youth WeekBusiness benefits when young people develop leadership skills and share their enthusiasm and unique perspectives. Businesses need young people for their energy, ideas, skills and ability to learn. Young people are also key customers for many businesses. In 2006 US teens spent approximately 150 billion dollars. In 2002 the average income for a New Zealand teenager was over 2,700.
"I truly believe that anyone marketing to young people, or providing a good or a service to young people, should have some form of youth participation within their organisation. I don't know how people can do it otherwise".
Tearaway Magazine managing editor
Ideas for business
The following are ideas for employers to get involved in Youth Week and support young people. Using thee ideas will benefit your business, and benefit young people.
Business, youth participation and schools
Youth participation check list for business
Examples of youth participation in business
•1) Create more mentorships, internships, job-shadowing, and volunteer opportunities in your workplace in order to get young people familiar with your business before they make their education decisions.
•2) Add youth from the community, or young employees, onto corporate boards, sub-committees, and workgroups.
•1) Create a workplace guide for new employees to take home and review including technical terms, acronyms, and jargon of the workplace.
•2) Train young employees on how to do a job properly and safely.
•3) Help young employees with career-planning and identifying advancement opportunities in your workplace.
•4) Create challenging work with attainable goals and measurable results.
•5) Help ensure good communication between employees and employer.
•6) Make sure all employees understand appropriate methods, channels, and tools of communication for addressing problems, obstacles, and concerns.
•7) Realise that young workers are new to the workforce and that flexibility and patience is needed to allow them to learn.
•8) Make new workers feel that their ideas are heard and valued.
Business, youth participation and schools
•1) Attend school job fairs and become involved in school events and community activities in order to make your company known to young people, not just as consumers, but as members of the community.
•2) Represent your business at high school job fairs, showing all the opportunities available in your workplace.
•3) Get involved in schools by providing real-life projects to apply to school learning. For example, speak to a relevant class (e.g. accounting, metal craft class), sponsor and organise a construction competition, or speak to a youth enterprise group.
A business youth participation check list
Youth participation
¨ is based on choice
¨ is related to issues perceived as relevant by young people
¨ involves training and skills development
¨ provides young people with a sense of belonging and ownership in relation to decision-making
¨ involves adequate resourcing including time, space, funding and information
¨ acknowledges the contribution of young people (e.g. sitting fees, reimbursement of expenses incurred, open acknowledgement of their expertise)
¨ is based on careful recruitment and selection processes
¨ provides young people with a sense of ownership and belonging to the decision- making process
¨ involves a review process to ensure that both individual young people and the business concerned have obtained the outcomes they sought from the involvement.
Examples of youth participation in business
TEARAWAY Magazine
Youth-Friendly Business
TEARAWAY Magazine is New Zealand's largest youth publication. It started publishing in 1986. The magazine's managing editor has this to say about business and youth participation: "We have to run as a business and make a profit otherwise there wouldn't be a magazine, and we rely on advertising to do that. For advertisers to see us as desirable we have to have that connection to the youth market that advertisers are targeting. We do that through youth participation. Because of our level of youth participation TEARAWAY is successful, the brand is successful, and so advertisers and people marketing to youth audiences know who we are. TEARAWAY wouldn't be the success it is without that level of participation."
The Gateway programme is an initiative designed to strengthen the pathway for students from school to workplace learning. A Gateway student typically spends one day a week during the school year at a workplace. Employers benefit through improved public relations with their local school and contribute to local needs. In the longer term, they will have the opportunity for more efficient and effective recruitment which will contribute to increased productivity and an enhanced company skill base. Let your local school know you are interested in providing on the job learning for students. If you need help or advice with taking on a Gateway student contact your Industry Training Organisation, professional association or the Tertiary Education Commission. There are no costs to you as a Gateway employer.
Eighteen year old Hayden Baird says "When I was in the seventh form I really wanted to get out into the workforce. Gateway let me." He spent one day a week at Kaitaia Tractors finding out what it would be like to be a Diesel Engineer - like his dad. "It was great. I really enjoyed it and I learnt heaps. It showed me what it was like in the workforce. It was great to be working with the other guys, and learning from them. I matured heaps while I was there." Hayden got a holiday job out of it as well. His Gateway placement helped him into a modern apprenticeship. "I knew what it was like in the workplace, and I felt really positive about doing an apprenticeship.
Youth-Friendly Business
A youth-friendly business treats teenage customers with respect, hires youth, encourages their school success and helps prepare them for future careers. In Alaska a youth-friendly business programme was established. Find out more: http://www.spiritofyouth.org/yfbprogram.html
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