With almost 1 million young people out of work, a new CIPD research report highlights how business-supported youth volunteering initiatives are helping to break down the barriers between young people and employers. Published ahead of the Step Up To Serve campaign, the report, ‘Youth social action and transitions into work: what role for employers?’, outlines the importance of volunteer programmes that are enhancing young people’s employability. By supporting these initiatives, businesses are contributing to the success of the future workforce, making youth volunteering a HR, as well as CSR, issue.
Current estimates suggest that 29 per cent of young people are already active in their communities but the Step Up To Serve campaign aims to double this figure to over 50 per cent by 2020. The latest CIPD report demonstrates that businesses have a crucial role in helping to achieve this goal, either through financial support or by offering employee time to help facilitate projects. The schemes already being undertaken by organisations including Telefonica UK and The Co-Operative Group also illustrate the business gains to be made by supporting youth volunteering, not least helping to develop a generation of young people who are equipped with the skills businesses need to succeed.
To accompany the report, the CIPD has published a guide for young people, ‘Employment, top tips & guidance from the people who recruit’, which explains how volunteering can help them overcome the no experience, no job, cycle and how to ‘sell’ the skills gained to future employers.
Pledging the CIPD’s support for the Step Up To Serve campaign, Peter Cheese, Chief Executive of the CIPD, said: “It’s clear that by volunteering in their local communities, young people are able to develop many of the skills that employers value. Our research highlights that participation in high quality social action projects gives young people the opportunity to develop team working, communication and leadership skills, as well as a resilient attitude. Some employers complain that these traits are lacking in the young people they meet, but by supporting youth volunteering projects businesses can help tackle this issue while also giving something back to their local communities. There are also numerous other organisational benefits to be made, including increased learning and development opportunities for staff and greater employee motivation. This is why supporting youth volunteering is a matter for HR departments, just as much as it is for CSR teams.”
In support of Step Up To Serve, the CIPD has pledged a number of commitments it will make to support the initiative, including:
- Facilitating a 2014 Council of senior HR leaders in the UK to leverage their expertise on embedding youth social action in core HR policies and processes.
- Promoting the benefits of youth social action to our membership of 130,000 employers.
- Proving a good practice guide on how to support youth social action through employee volunteering and community engagement.
- Building the evidence base for the "double benefit”, to employers and young people, of supporting youth social action.
The CIPD’s work on youth volunteering forms part of the Learning to Work programme, an action focused programme led by the CIPD to promote the role of employers in reducing youth unemployment. The overall aim of the Learning to Work programme is to promote the business case for investing in the future workforce and to increase the number of opportunities for young people to engage with the world of work. For more information please visit: www.cipd.co.uk/learningtowork
