At the end of June, 140 people from 80+ organisations came together at Centrica’s Leicester offices to discuss the ways we can support young people overcoming barriers to work.  Debbie Gordon – Head of Partnership Delivery at Movement to Work shares her thoughts following the event. It was a delight to join not my first, but second conference since being seconded to Movement to Work in December 2017 from Centrica. The event had brilliant guest speakers, the energy in the room was so positive and many new partnerships were forged.  We’ve tried our best to summarise it in some key messages below, but if you’d like to know more about what we do, or see a copy of the presentations shared during the conference, please get in touch with Rachel at Movement to Work who will be happy to support you. Just click HERE

Key facts and stats from our annual MtW conference June 2018:

• There are still 500,000 young people who are economically inactive.  James, our CEO, opened the event by sharing thoughts on the social mobility
  challenge we face and how we must all focus to support young people further from the labour market including those that are economically inactive.  Whilst youth unemployment has come down over the last five years, young people are still three-times more likely to be unemployed and little progress has been made to support those who are not at the Job Centre into the workplace.
• There are less opportunities for young people to find ways into work.  The data on Level 2 apprenticeships and work experience for young people who are NEET show a decline of 35%-53%
• Elaine Townshend from DWP, shared the latest employment statistics with us; we have record unemployment and record female employment.  The ONS stats show that there are over 800,000 job vacancies at any one time, yet we are still seeing young people at a disadvantage. Elaine called on all employers to explore how they can do more to support a more diverse set of young people from across society into work and specifically asked them all to become disability confident.
• Elisabeth Paulson from Impetus shared with us their brilliant Youth Jobs Gap analysis which has some startling take aways:
  • Disadvantaged Young People are twice as likely to be unemployed as their better off peers and this employment gap is consistent over time.
  • While half this gap can be explained by differences in qualification, half cannot.
  • Higher levels of qualifications are associated with lower NEET rates …and the proportion of low qualified young people who are NEET has barely changed in recent years, even though the proportion of young people with low qualification has fallen.
  • At all levels of qualification, disadvantaged young people are more likely to be NEET than their better off peers with similar qualifications.

• Catherine Sezen from Association of Colleges shared with us the work they are doing and talked about the opportunity to collaborate to support those learners who are struggling to find alternative ways into employment and in-work learning.
• Finally, Linsay McCulloch from Mencap shared with us the challenges that face those with alearning disability; heart-breakingly 65% of them can and want to work and only 6% do. Linsay helped to bust some of the myths around supporting people with a learning disability into work as well as sharing the economic and social benefit and also offered Mencap’s support to any organisations who would like to do more in this space.

We were also lucky enough to be inspired by Ian ‘Woody’ Woodhouse from Enthuse International Ltd, who encouraged all attendees to make sure they themselves were fuelled for the journey ahead, as well as moving us to think creatively and to try and see situations from different perspectives.

Outside of the formal session, the space was arranged into over 20 stalls manned by training providers and youth outreach organisations, with attendees free to network to discuss topics of interest. We also had demonstrations on the use of the MtW Talent Portal by Get My First Job, the MtW Communications Platform by Meet and Engage, and Accenture’s Employability Skills Curriculum.  

I’d like to say a big thank you to everyone for their support on the day and we’re sure that many more conversations are happening that can help thousands more young people across our network.  If you haven’t already, please share your experiences on your social media channels, and make sure to tag @movementtowork and use the hashtags #YoungPeopleWork and #MtWConf2019. Please follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

 

Thank you once again for your ongoing support and, in a challenging political environment with much uncertainty, our role in collectively supporting unemployed young people is more vital than ever.  The uncertainty is clearly affecting young people’s happiness and confidence – the 2019 Prince’s Trust Ebay Youth Index (a national survey that gauges young people’s happiness and confidence across a range of areas from their working life to physical and mental health) found the overall Index score has flat-lined at its lowest level in a decade at 69.

On top of this, social mobility is a real challenge, as young people from the most disadvantaged backgrounds do not have the same access to opportunity. The recent Impetus report showed that disadvantaged young people are twice as likely to be NEET as their better-off peers, and this correlation remains consistent across all levels of qualification.  Additionally,  the Social Mobility Commission’s report talked about the two-tier apprenticeship system with the lack of access across society to good quality apprenticeships, meaning that “those from lower socio-economic backgrounds are clustered in lower-returning and lower level apprenticeships, and are thus not benefitting as much as their affluent peers”. When you combine this with a 35% drop in placement availability and a 53% drop in Level 2 Apprenticeships across the UK, you uncover  a challenging landscape for unemployed young people.

As I said in my opening, the work we are doing is more important now than ever and we should be proud of the positive impact we are implementing.  The number of opportunities we created increased by 5% in 2018, with over 13,000 young people supported and over 55% of those completing placements going onto jobs or back into education. However, there is a large  opportunity set out there and we can and must do more

We’re focussing our energy on ensuring what we do has the maximum impact on social mobility. We are pushing  to make our opportunities more accessible for all, through our talent platform. We want to ensure that we are reaching into the right communities across the UK by continuing to build on our network of over 30 brilliant youth outreach and training providers, as well as making connections with local and regional authorities like  we have in the West Midlands.  By innovating to create the right offering of support for young people,  we are must ensuring that every young person we interact with moves onto a positive pathway. Supporting all of this is driving the policy changes needed to unlock funding for the youth sector.

Better connectivity, visibility and accessibility will help drive some of this change, but it will also take our focus, energy and desire to ensure that every opportunity we create can be made available to those young people most in need of our support.  It’s core to our collective mission and we are dedicated to supporting you in this.

Finally, I’d love to finish on a note of celebration. Our Social Mobility Awards are open and we’d encourage early nominations. The shortlist of nominees will be invited to parliament for our Youth Summit event in early November, with the Awards Ceremony at our Annual Celebration Event on the Tuesday 4 February 2020.

Thanks again everyone.

With a heavy heart my secondment to Movement to Work, leading our West Midlands Pilot alongside Rory Allbutt, has drawn to a close. The past six months have been a brilliant experience and it has been fantastic to be part of a collective Movement to help to change the lives of hundreds of young people in the West Midlands. In collaboration with West Midlands Combined Authority, DWP and our dedicated members across Movement to Work, we have made over 1,000 placements available for young people across 2019/20.

As I reflect on the first half of 2019 and Movement to Work looks to the next target region, here are some of my reflections on the lessons learned from working regionally:

• We are greater than the sum of our parts.
• Collaboration is critical to increasing our impact at the local level and our success in the West Midlands has only been made possible through the shared mission of local government, central government, employers, youth outreach organisations and training providers to improve the life chances of young people in the region.
• The fantastic launch event hosted by Andy Street, Mayor of the West Midlands, at the Prince’s Trust in Birmingham was a brilliant way to celebrate employers commitments and recruit new members.
• Our new youth-focussed working group convening every fortnight is helping to translate this commitment into action. In this group, WMCA, DWP (including work coach and progression coach representatives), youth outreach and programme managers from a variety of employers come together and we think this will prove key in tackling localised challenges to close the gap between supply and demand for opportunities.
• A local lens brings new insight.
• A data-driven approach has helped to understand the specific challenges facing young people in the region and has shaped our offering to young people. For example, we have seen that the majority of the 14,000 unemployed young people in the region are cycling into and out of employment, so we have taken steps to create more sustainable positive outcomes.
• We have also worked with employers to unlock regional barriers such as transport to open up new opportunities for young people.
• Mentors are key to transforming individual experience.
• We can galvanise wraparound support for young people through local interventions and new forms of mentors, from progression coaches to Youth Promise Plus and hands-on support for employers running work placements in the West Midlands.
• Progression coaches are a carefully selected group of 10 JobCentre Plus work coaches in 5 wards facing the most significant youth employment challenges. Progression coaches have a reduced case load (40% of an average work coach case load), enabling them to provide more intensive support throughout a young person’s journey to employment. The results of this new model have been  remarkable, with 96% of progression coach customers staying in work when they find it.
• Youth Promise Plus is a collaboration across Birmingham and Solihull Councils, WMCA, Prince’s Trust, University Hospital Birmingham and the West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner provides holistic personal support for tailored mentoring and specialist coaching and pathway training. This programme also helps employers to shape work environments suited to young people’s needs to ensure sustainable outcomes.
• Innovation and commitment across our network is key. Our members have helped to increase the scale and diversify the opportunities available bringing Small & Medium Enterprises into the network, from M&S’s Plan A commitment to social impact across its supply chain to BT’s original approach to integrating SMEs and other employers through work experience and careers fairs.

Thanks to all who have been part of this incredible journey – your efforts have been instrumental in amplifying our impact on the lives of young people in the West Midlands!

 

Keep in touch with Molly via LinkedIn.

We have had the pleasure of working with Matt Dronfield, Head of Debt Free London, at Movement to Work. Over the last few years we’ve had his expertise on the youth sector and youth work helping to guide our strategy and action. So when he moved over to Toynbee Hall to lead Debt Free London we’ve been keeping an eye on the work they are doing to see how we can support more young people across the UK together. Collaboration is at the heart of what we do and whilst this might seem like a tangent from our purpose understanding what we need to do to drive the right action comes from a very similar place and one more thing is for certain, if we can support people into meaningful work they are much more likely to be able to break the cycle of debt they are in.

 

The vision of Debt Free London is to make getting out of debt no more complicated than getting into it, over 9 million people are over indebted in the UK with 1.6 million in London which is the focus for Matt and the team. Their recent Working for a Debt Free London report noted that the Tower Hamlets, Newham and Hackney are the areas where Local Authorities are facing the highest level of child poverty, if you look beyond the top three there is a correlation between this, the unemployment ratio and attainment at 19 years old. Once again it is people being in a cycle without the right support which is a waste of talent and potential, breaking these cycles is a must if we are to impact social mobility.

 

At Movement to Work we are focussed on supporting unemployed young people (18-30 year olds), especially those most in need of support, into meaningful employment through work placements but also direct into employment. For employers across our network who are undertaking this work in London it’s important that we direct our youth outreach, mentoring and work placements into those communities who most need the support. Our hope is that we can work with Debt free London as they build their service to provide more pathways to work, lifting young people out of debt and setting them up to fulfil their potential.

 

You can read more from Matt and Debt Free London over on his blog.

Data from Trust for London.

 

James Ashall, CEO Movement to Work

James Ashall, CEO Movement to Work, attended the APPG on Apprenticeships for the launch of their annual report; here are his reflections on the case for change in the apprenticeships system.

I had the pleasure of joining the APPG on Apprenticeships this week at the launch of their APPG annual report. I met some inspirational young people who shared their experience, and the value of good quality apprenticeships could not be clearer. In my conversations with them one theme came through strongly: we must do more to tackle social mobility and ensure that these opportunities are available for all.

Focussing in on the report there were two elements called out that could start to address this in the short-term around parity of pay and qualifications:

• The report calls for parity of pay for apprenticeships – this is critical if young people who do not have a stable home are going to be able to access all apprenticeships. Right now some of them will not be able to afford to get onto that Level 2 apprenticeship ladder
• It also talked about a flex in Levy funding to support young people to gain the qualifications needed to get onto apprenticeships – specifically in Maths, English and Digital. It is something employers are asking for so they can support more young people into great careers – a small change here could make a massive difference in supporting those for whom the education system has not worked.

Moving on from the APPG report there are two other recent publications that highlight the challenges faced.

Firstly the Social mobility in Great Britain – State of the Nation 2018 to 2019 report illustrated the lack of access across society to good quality apprenticeships, meaning that “those from lower socio-economic backgrounds are clustered in lower-returning and lower level apprenticeships, and are thus not benefitting as much as their affluent peers”.

Finally pulling in data from the recent Establishing the Employment Gap, Impetus report we see that the picture is even bleaker for those young people further from the labour market, we must ensure that we create more sustainable successful pathways for young people from disadvantaged backgrounds into apprenticeships and good work:

• Disadvantaged young people are twice as likely to be NEET as their better-off peers
• The Employment Gap is consistent over time
• In all regions, the proportion of NEETs who are from disadvantaged backgrounds is higher than the levels of disadvantage in the population.
• At all levels of qualification, disadvantaged young people are more likely to be NEET than their better-off peers with similar qualifications

On top of these challenges the volume of opportunities are dropping, starts at Level 2 and Level 3, which offer a stepping stone into work and are part of a critical pathway for those young people we support at Movement to Work, have decreased by 16% and 38% respectively since 2016/17. When coupled with the steep drop in sector based work academies and traineeships the ladder of opportunity is being eroded significantly.

Adopting some of the changes in the report will be a good first step, but the education system must be better incentivised to support students through vocational pathways. There is also a role for employers to ensure that the opportunities we offer are accessible to those young people across the UK irrespective of background and socio-economic group.

There is a significant opportunity here to shape the future for young people and, if we can find the right ways to collaborate, there is a lot we can do collectively to tackle the injustice that exists today.

James Ashall, CEO Movement to Work

We’ve all been given an opportunity by someone at some time.  If you reflect back and think about it I’m sure you can all remember when you got that first bit of work experience, when someone took a chance on you for a job.  For many of the young people we aim to support through Movement to Work that person to take a chance on them and support them is missing, or they don’t have the knowledge or access to support themselves to fulfil their ambitions or even realise their ambitions.

Being given that chance is a small but important facet of mentoring, that point where trust is built and a young person can see that someone believes in them and is willing to take a risk to support them with their development. I’ve been fortunate to have many people I can call mentors through my life and from each of these relationships I’ve learnt something different. Be they formal in-work mentors, family mentors or professional coaches.  I’ve also had the privilege of mentoring some inspirational people and it truly is a two-way street; the reward and learning from being a mentor is so powerful and something that I believe has really supported my life development.

Movement to Work is so focussed on mentorship because we know the difference it makes to the young people we are supporting.  Having a person who believes in them, will support them through good and bad, will listen and provide an honest insight is invaluable and this is born out statistically in our data.  Those employers, training providers and charity partners who invest the most in mentoring, in many different ways, deliver better positive outcomes for the young people they support; more get into jobs or education (upwards of 70% vs our average of 56%).

The reason for this is two-fold.  Firstly it boosts their confidence: someone is investing in their development, listening to them as an individual, answering the questions they may have, removing uncertainty and making them feel part of a family in the work place.  Secondly, there is a relationship that can transcend an employability programme, if they are not successful first time that mentor knows them and can help them with what’s next. This ongoing relationship means they are more likely to find the job they are looking for, and when they do are likely to announce joyfully to their mentor that they have secured it, closing the feedback loop.

The employers and partners across our programmes deliver mentorship in many different ways but the two real types we see are the ‘work mentor’ and the ‘life mentor’.  The former is often a ‘buddy’ from within and employer who spends time with a candidate before the programme, and support them through their work. They can answer all of those questions that have obvious answers to us having been in the workplace for years. The latter is usually a professional working in youth training or youth charity work, their relationships with a young person usually starts long before a work placement and, where the right funding is in place, they continue to support them through that placement.  That pastoral support can make the difference between someone completing the programme and getting a job with prospects or dropping out part of the way through.  One of the key elements in structuring and funding employability programmes is to ensure that there is enough provision for that ongoing mentoring support.

All of the above said, the benefit to the mentor must not be overlooked.  As well the rich experience of being a mentor data from both M&S and Diageo shows that those who become mentors or buddies through their employability programmes have higher engagement with their employers, and we know employee engagement correlates with customer satisfaction and Earnings per Share.

We’ve spent much time over the last few months talking to our Steering Group members and senior business leaders, mentors and mentees about the benefits of employability programmes and specifically mentoring to them and their businesses. Below you can see four brilliant case studies where programme graduates from M&S, Marriot, BT and Accenture have interviewed their mentors.  One thing that didn’t come through in the videos was a message we heard loud and clear from the young people we support.  If you’re going to agree to mentor make sure you are in for the duration and that everyone has the same expectations.  If you get that right it can be the most rewarding part of any job.

We know that if more organisations get this right, the success rate across Movement to Work will increase further, there will be many more engage employees and critically we will be able to many more young people into employment.

And one final thought from me, if you are looking for a mentor, find that person who you admire who you think could be great and ask them for some time to chat, they’re more than likely to say yes. People love to help.

Sacha Berendji, retail, operations and property director at Marks and Spencer is passionate about the benefits of providing placements for young people who need extra help getting on the career ladder, and how this and mentoring has helped put further ‘heart and soul’ into M&S!

M&S has been committed to providing opportunities for young unemployed people for over 15 years. Working with Movement to Work, The Prince’s Trust, Remploy and Business in the Community, we’ve supported over 20,000 young people through our ‘Marks & Start’ employability scheme, providing employability skills, on the job training and a chance to get a job with prospects.

Participants spend two to four weeks on a training placement and during that time, each person is paired with a buddy. Their buddy gives everyday support and helps participants with any questions they have while on their placement. If an individual successfully finishes and passes the training, they can apply for any M&S vacancy in any store within a six-month period, without having to apply online or be assessed; their placement is a more-than-adequate assessment of their capability. This removes one of the biggest barriers to employment these individuals face.

Mentoring is good for M&S

Marks & Start also offers development opportunities for existing employees. They develop business critical skills such as communication, leadership, teamwork and resilience through ‘buddy’ mentoring roles; 87% of buddies say the programme boosts their skills, loyalty and pride in working for M&S.

Ongoing evaluation shows that 99% of buddies feel motivated by involvement in the scheme and 98% say it makes M&S a better place to work. Employees feel a pride and passion that their employer cares and go out of its way to support disadvantaged people in the community.

And 90% of the participants say that the programme changed their lives, giving them the confidence to get back to or into work. Over 90% say that they now had a greater understanding of the world of work and have improved self-esteem and the confidence they needed to get back into work.

Heart and soul!

The young people I’ve met on our Marks & Start programme have been very engaging and unbelievably positive about the opportunity they’ve been given, and our retail teams love to see people so eager to learn, progress and be part of the M&S family.

Over the last 10 years around 40% of participants have gone into employment with M&S or another employer, with this reaching over 50% during some years. With over 10,000 people having passed through the programme we continue to celebrate the diversity to our workforce this brings, and the moving life stories that sit behind the figures; one of our recent participants said: “It’s changed my life, I thought I’d never get a job, that no one would employee me, Marks & Start has turned my life around.”

I love working in the hospitality industry. Why? Because it’s a people-business and I love meeting new people every day. In our hotels, we open our doors to guests from around the globe and we employ an equally diverse workforce to deliver excellent service every day.

Throughout my personal journey with Marriott International, I have benefitted from other colleagues mentoring me.  I would say that many of my career decisions were formed through intense conversations and discussions with the mentors that I have had.  This has inspired me to not only become a mentor to others, but to also support the engagement Marriott has with initiatives such as Movement To Work.

I think mentoring is a crucial tool that helps us to support young associates who aspire to a career in the industry and help them achieve their personal goals and aspirations.  Marriott needs young people to join our workforce so we can develop and nurture them to take on leadership positions in the future and supporting them on their journey with Marriott enables us to do so.

For our young associates, mentoring can be an important step to discovering the numerous roles and opportunities that are available within the company and also provide them with the insights they might not yet have on how best to progress within a global corporation.

We often don’t see the wood for all the trees.  This can be so true when it comes to career choices. Many times we think a career path needs to be a straight-line and is mapped out the moment we start in one position.  Through the eyes of a mentor, other possibilities can suddenly present themselves as a great choice of career move.  For me, it’s incredibly satisfying to see one of my mentees move on within the company and succeed in their development.  #Marriott #Serve360 #Empower #YoungPeopleWork

Mentoring.  It’s an interesting word.  The dictionary definition is “an experienced and trusted advisor.”   But it can mean quite different things to different people.

Mentoring can be a deep, long-term commitment.  For example, @AmyCaton who leads BT’s Work Ready employability programme has been supporting a local initiative run by MAPS Mentoring where she’s been working for a year with a young person she meets weekly. These meetings are a safe space for her mentee to talk and be listened to.

Mentoring can also be much shorter, focused interactions.  It’s important not to let the ‘M’ word be too daunting.  It’s simply inviting someone you trust to offer advice based on their experience.

Writing this blog got me thinking about the people who’ve played a pivotal role in my personal and professional development.  Lots of people came to mind, often situation based.  For example, the senior leader who, when I was pregnant in my twenties, shared with me her insights as a working mother, including the nugget:  “Your kids don’t need you any less when they go to school, they just need you in different ways and at different times.”  Her words stayed with me and helped me shape the kind of working mum I wanted to be.  And the colleagues that challenged me to see myself differently and throw my hat in the ring and apply to be Chair of the Good Things Foundation. Many more examples came to mind, but there’s no-one that I can point to and say: “they were my mentor.”

I don’t see that as a bad thing.  Now I come to think about it in more depth, I realise it also reflects how I approach mentoring with others.  I can’t think of any relationship that has been formally labelled as me being someone’s mentor. I can, however, think of lots of people in whom I take a personal interest and enjoy wonderful conversations on a regular basis about what they are doing and the challenges they face.  I can also think of many one-off conversations where hopefully I’ve been able to add value to someone else’s thinking about themselves.

What’s also striking is just how much I get from those interactions.  I love hearing what others are working on, the things that are on their mind and, if I can offer some additional perspective that they find helpful, then that’s a brilliant feeling.  But it doesn’t only feel good; normally I learn something along the way.

Trusted advisors (or mentors!) are key to schemes run by BT and other Movement to Work employer members. I love seeing the reaction from young people on our Work Ready programme, who may not have had great role models to draw on, when one of our bright, sparky apprentices talks from the heart.   Suddenly they have someone they can identify with, who provides that important source of inspiration and aspiration.    And what I also hear so often is the effect that these young people have on their ‘mentors’, and others around them. Many have been through tough challenges, and yet have managed to set themselves on a positive road to employment.    ‘Inspiring’ is a word that can be used too often, but it may not be strong enough when the very people who are being mentored become ‘accidental mentors’ themselves.

Mentoring – don’t let the word put you off or have some fixed idea what it should mean. You can find mentors – people who will help and advise you – at every turn if you’re open to  the opportunity.

 

Find out more about BT’s Work Ready programme www.bt.com/workready.

From my own personal experience, I’ve had a lot of mentors during my time at Accenture and throughout my career, and in turn have had the chance to be a mentor to others.

The first mentor I had many years ago was integral in giving me the confidence that I could do ‘more’ with my career, and is someone whose advice I still value to this day. In turn, there are people I’ve been lucky enough to mentor both within Accenture – people who have worked for me and still come back for advice when they want a neutral view – and externally. For example, one of the instructors at my local gym is someone who I was able to advise to hone in on his ambitions and aspirations. The result being he has now moved into the career in financial services that he always wanted, but the downside is that he is no longer able to teach at my gym!

As you can imagine for a global company like Accenture, inclusion and diversity are fundamental to our core values. Our rich diversity makes us strong and more innovative, competitive and creative, helping us better serve our clients and communities.

We’re are actually aiming to be the most inclusive and diverse organisation in the world, with a workforce that reflects our clients and community. With this in mind, we are constantly thinking about how we can continue to build a workforce where everyone feels included, respected, and able to bring their whole selves to work. Whether that’s initiatives like our Mental Health Allies programme, LGBT inclusion, Accelerate programme for our BAME employees, apprenticeship schemes and more, we strive to create a truly human environment where people can be who they are and be their best selves – professionally and personally.

How do we manage it? One key factor is recruitment. We co-founded Movement to Work (MTW), the work-placement charity, to provide opportunities for young people from diverse backgrounds who want to work, but perhaps aren’t sure where to start. We’ve seen some incredible achievements by people who join us with few qualifications, who would otherwise might have not been considered for apprenticeships or any other roles, many of whom are now working for Accenture and studying for degrees.

As part of this programme, a mentoring scheme has been put in place, where current Accenture employees can guide apprentices on their career journeys, using their own experience to help more recent Accenture joiners. We’ve seen a strong and positive impact on our existing employees who have taken up these roles through their engagement and leadership. Everyone has the opportunity to fulfil their potential.  You can see a great example of the successful mentoring within this programme by watching our short film above about Rob and Faisal, both MTW mentee and mentor respectively.

I see mentoring as crucial in helping a number of people from a range of backgrounds obtain, identify and progress into meaningful employment. Systems like ours and our partnership with Movement to Work provide people throughout the business ecosystem with the relationships they can use to raise their aspirations, build their confidence and develop the soft skills required to help mentees shape and achieve their goals.

I’m proud to be part of this, and to have such a range of colleagues with whom I can both advise and learn from. Mentoring plays such a big part in many people’s careers, and lives.