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August 31st - 2010
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Business in the Community gives inspiration for employers at Big Conversation on work experience
Employers from 50 of Yorkshire and Humber’s top companies have signed up to make work experience inspiring for young people, and a better preparation for the world of work.
One-to-one conversations between business leaders and young people took place at Leeds Metropolitan University as part of a national ‘Work Inspiration’ campaign www.workinspiration.com Businesses of all sizes and types, across all sectors, are being encouraged to commit to making a change by reviewing or improving the work experience they offer to help bridge the gap between the classroom and the world of work.
The campaign is spearheaded by BiTC in partnership with the education foundation Edge and the Talent and Enterprise Taskforce. With the support of Yorkshire Forward, Young People’s Enterprise Forum (YPEF) and the regional education and business partnerships, Yorkshire is the first region in the UK to take the initiative forward.
The Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) in collaboration with BiTC held the ‘Big Conversation’ in Leeds so that businesses and young people that took part in new style work experience trials could share their experiences as part of the Big Conversation event.
Craig Cooper, a student at from Garforth Community College who took part in the trials, said his work experience at DLA Piper had caused him to rethink his career plan.
“Before the work experience I was looking into the possibility of taking up personal fitness training as a career but now I know I would much prefer to work closely with a business or multiple businesses to help them increase efficiency by using IT.
“Being part of the Big Conversation is a great way for me to help other businesses understand how they might make a change to somebody like me.”
The campaign led by Sir Stuart Rose, executive chairman of Marks & Spencer and chairman of BiTC, has also launched a website for businesses to sign up to the campaign, find out more information and to download the employer toolkit.
Around 265 organisations, have already agreed to support the campaign and these include Yorkshire Bank, Northern Foods and Harrogate Hospital.
Speaking at the event Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families Ed Balls said:
"We know that work experience can make a real difference to young people, offering them the crucial skills and experience they need to prepare for the world of work. Employers also have a lot to gain because they are helping to build a skilled workforce for the future.
"I'd like to say a special thank you to Northern Foods, Kingston Communications, Yorkshire Bank, Marshalls and Harrogate Hospital for the work they've been doing with Business in the Community to help shape relevant and inspiring work experience for young people. I hope the ‘Big Conversation' in Leeds will encourage many more employers to get involved across the region."
Employers are taken through three easy steps to help them improve their own work experience activities, starting with a one-to-one conversation between the young person and a senior manager; looking behind the scenes of a business so a young person can see how their abilities and skills relate to different jobs in a workplace; and letting them meet a range of work colleagues to learn of their varying career paths within a particular organisation.
Suzy Alderson, executive director of YPEF, said: “Businesses that succeed in giving young people a broader understanding of the different roles within an organisation are helping to create a more confident and ‘job ready’ generation which can only be a good thing for business.”
Business can find out more and sign up to the campaign at www.workinspiration.com.
