Will Britain's young save the British economy?

This article appears in the
influential HR & Training Journal

In the wake of the riots that wreaked havoc in our towns and cities, what should the nation do? How are we going to instil a greater sense of personal and civic purpose in our children and young people? What more can be done to give them the kinds of skills and attitudes that will enhance their employability and get them ready for the world of work? And what is to be done to address the recent Confederation of British Industry's (CBI) survey where 69% of firms said young people have inadequate business and customer awareness, and over half (55%) said they lack personal management skills such as attendance, punctuality and motivation? A key conclusion has already become clear: the education system must concern itself with a lot more than simply exam results.

One organisation working to address these needs is Young Enterprise, the UK's largest business and enterprise education charity. Young Enterprise commissioned its own research to assess the scale of the employability crisis identified by the CBI. We asked the FreshMinds consultancy to draw up a comprehensive, in-depth online survey. It was conducted among business leaders from 28 of the most important and influential UK employers.

The survey respondent group was drawn from Young Enterprise's corporate supporters. This group included Cadbury, HSBC, BT, GKN, P&G, General Electric, Cisco, Citi, Santander and the chartered institutes of accounting and marketing. Together, the survey group accounted for 700,000 employees or members, a hefty 2.4% chunk of the British economy. The results showed the employability crisis looms large in employers' minds:
•21 major companies (approximately 75%) felt that the British education system is not equipping young people with the right skills for them to enter the workforce;
•16 (59%) felt that the education system was poor at developing young people's entrepreneurial skills;
•18 (64%) thought that the education system was poor at developing financial skills among young people;
•17 (61%) said they felt Young Enterprise's activities made a significant difference in filling these gaps and preparing young people for the future;
•24 (89%) said they thought it was 'very important' for business to be involved in young people's education.

When asked what, if any, skills young people lacked that they needed to be employable comments included:
'Too many to list. Commercial awareness, written and spoken English to a high enough level, technical skills, interpersonal skills, you name it.'
'Practical application skills to link what they learn academically at school with real-life skills in the commercial world.'

'The soft skills to enable them to think outside the box. They need mentors and role models to see why people are successful.'
'Acceptance of hierarchy…attention to detail, willingness to be of service to others.'
'The skills that Young Enterprise provides.'

Young Enterprise chairman Ian Smith said: "With a million young people unemployed in this country, this powerful Young Enterprise research is a wake-up call.

Young recruits are presenting themselves for interview without the vital employability skills that employers look for – such as attendance, punctuality, motivation and a general 'can do' attitude. Too many businesses are using this lack as an excuse to employ foreign workers or shift work abroad. The situation is getting worse because the Department of Education is adopting an alarmingly narrow focus on academic skills and exams that will make it less likely that students emerge from education with these employability skills.

"We believe the government needs to adjust its approach. It should put enterprise education on the formal National Curriculum. Ministers should also encourage businesses to send staff into schools to help young people learn the world of work. If we do, we can create a step change in the quality of recruits our schools are turning out.''

So why does Young Enterprise believe it can create an enterprise generation?
With 50 years of experience behind us, every year we help 250,000 young people aged four to 25 learn about business and the world of work in classrooms, colleges and universities. They do this under the guidance of 5,000 business volunteers from 3,500 companies. We work in every area of the country, including many of the most deprived neighbourhoods. Through our work, young people 'learn by doing' in ways that could never be achieved by academic approaches alone. Young Enterprise programmes start with 'Ourselves', which takes students on an engaging story-based journey exploring the world of work, saving, earning, decision-making and teamwork. They culminate in our flagship 'Company' and 'Start-up' programmes that enable 30,000 15-25 year olds to run their own real companies for a year with help from business mentors. Many of the scheme's alumni have gone on to outstanding business success.

The passion and commitment our work provokes in young people convinces us we have the mechanism for producing the innovative and enterprising young people the UK needs to ensure its future prosperity. The only questions are, is it big enough? And is the government prepared to broaden the excessively tight focus it has adopted on academic skills and exams? These questions are vital because the new government's approach lacks a grip on the skills, attitudes and behaviours that young people actually need in their working lives and that employers look for when hiring young recruits.

But does Young Enterprise work? The most authoritative voice in educational standards, Ofsted, says yes. It wrote in a report entitled 'Economics, business and enterprise education' in June 2011: 'Extra-curricular activities, such as Young Enterprise…were a feature of those schools where the curriculum was judged to be good or outstanding.'

The young people also seem to think so. Members of the 'Tripz n Tipz' Young Enterprise team from the John Spence Community High School, a comprehensive in the North East of England, are convinced. Their company, making travel packs to entertain children on holiday flights, has done a deal with Thomson Travel. 'Our journey with Young Enterprise has been absolutely fabulous. We would recommend Young Enterprise to anyone.'

Sahar Khan, Managing Director of Young Enterprise company 'Cook-it GB', from Sir Thomas Picton School in Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire agreed: "We have many high achievers in our team from people with high grades to Welsh champion athletes. But unanimously Young Enterprise beat all these hands down."

Aaron Callaghan, Managing Director of Young Enterprise group 'Generations', a record company from Wallace High School, Lisburn said: "We have had so many opportunities we would never have had if we hadn't taken part in Young Enterprise. It has been brilliant."

Neil Makin, Chairman of the Cadbury Foundation said: "Over the past 50 years, Young Enterprise has deservedly earned its reputation as the first name in enterprise education in the UK. Cadbury has been proud to work with it."

Peter Bull, Head of HSBC in the Community said: "HSBC is proud to have been working with Young Enterprise for over 25 years. Its work fits in perfectly with HSBC's global policy of supporting the education of young people.''

Phil Smith, Chief Executive of Cisco UK said: "Young Enterprise is a charity that allows schools to run business programmes within schools. The pupils can set up businesses, create their own profits, issue their own shares and so on. It is amazing the sort of transformations that you see."

More than 180 companies, organisations and individuals have signed up to support the 'Young Enterprise Charter' campaign. Among other things it calls for enterprise education to be placed within official school curriculum.

To find out more and sign up please go to: www.young-enterprise.org.uk/about_us/charter

For more information about Young Enterprise please visit: www.young-enterprise.org.uk