Signposting positive destinations for young people is key to job success

REFLECTING ON THAT POINT IN THE SUMMER WHERE YOUNG PEOPLE RECEIVED THEIR EXAM RESULTS AND MADE IMPORTANT DECISIONS ABOUT THE DIRECTION OF THEIR FUTURES. SOME WILL HAVE HAD A VERY CLEAR VIEW ON THE ROUTE THEY TAKE TO GET THERE, OTHERS, WHO PERHAPS DID NOT GET THE GRADES THEY HOPED FOR OR WHO FEEL THAT FURTHER TIME IN AN ACADEMIC ENVIRONMENT IS NOT FOR THEM, WILL HAVE BEEN LESS SURE.

However they performed at GCSE and A Level, young people need the right advice and guidance on the destinations available to them. But unlocking their potential is about so much more than filling a job vacancy or a university place. It’s about educating, informing and advising them about their employment options, some of which will not have existed in the labour market before. It’s about providing hands-on experience of being in the workplace and of individual jobs and departments. It’s also about equipping them with the updated skills that will not only meet a particular job specification but also make those skills transferable to meet the demands of a greener, high tech labour market. The best employers can connect talent with opportunity by delivering positive destinations for young people. Many businesses are deeply rooted in the communities they serve and are therefore well-placed to fulfil that role. It often starts with the outreach work they do upstream with local schools. It’s particularly important to reach those young people from families with little experience of the world of work who will not have the personal contacts to get advice or placements. That relationship can start as early as primary school, providing information but also inspiration.

It develops as they move up the school and start making decisions about which subjects to take, whether to take an academic route to university or to follow a more vocational route that will allow them to earn as they learn. Real-life experience in a workplace is crucial to making the right choices. As the first distribution network operator to partner with the Purpose Coalition, UK Power Networks published an Action Plan to assess the work that it was already doing to drive social mobility, demonstrating impact in at least five of the key areas covered by the Purpose Goals framework.

The Plan proposed a number of ways that the company could go even further. Much of that focus was on improving its community impact through school, youth and adult programmes with clear outcomes. It continues to leverage its best practice to extend its work in delivering social impact towards specific opportunity gaps that the Purpose Coalition identified in the communities it serves.

The provision of a range of realistic work placements is a vital element of that. Its Powering Potential programme is specifically aimed at Year 12 students who come from backgrounds where they may not have had contact or exposure to professional working environments. The two-week placement focuses on a set project with clear objectives which helps participants to develop their employability skills and broaden their understanding of the world of work.

UK Power Networks was recently rated “Good” with two areas of “Outstanding” by OFSTED and deliverers over 100 apprenticeships at any one time enabling access to traditional and emerging careers. It offers three levels of apprenticeships, achieving very high standards alongside great satisfaction results. Its recruitment team works hard to make them as accessible as possible, targeting schools in the most deprived areas and looking at harder to reach groups such as NEETS and those from underrepresented groups. It has a real ambition to introduce a culture change in its apprenticeship offering to include digital and technology, helping the company to enable the transition to Net Zero. That ambition also extends to getting more girls interested in the STEM subjects that are the foundation of many of the new employment options available to young people. Historically less informed and less attracted to these careers, businesses like UK Power Networks recognises that it makes good business sense to tap into all the talent that is available. It is showing positive results with 75% of the most recent cohort on the Powering Potential programme female.

The world is an uncertain place at the moment with domestic and global issues that will challenge everyone. With the pressures of the pandemic and the growing cost of living crisis impacting young people in particular, there has never been a more important time to work towards a more positive future, equipped with up-to-date skills and practical knowledge that will prove an asset in today’s labour market. Purpose-led businesses like UK Power Networks can lead the way in creating the opportunities that will help them get there.