I recently attended an employer engagement session on the subject of work-related learning. The group was made up of a selection of interested parties from apprenticeship scheme managers through to education liaison officers. The aim of the session was to encourage employers to contribute to the planning and delivery of activities and learning programmes for young people in schools and colleges; intervention which has proven to be valuable in motivating young people and preparing them for the opportunities and challenges of adult life.What struck me about the attendees was that they were all passionate advocates for greater integration between businesses and education. Many of them in fact, were involved in mentoring, governing or committee roles in their personal lives. Whilst this display of commitment was impressive, it only served to highlight the lack of involvement from employers without a personal passion for the topic. Many businesses are quite rightly focused on the business of, quite simply, running their business, and interventions from education can appear at best time-consuming and at worst tiresome.
It occurred to me that representatives in education need to be smarter in their approaches to business. Rather than asking businesses for work experience for their students, perhaps they could do some research in advance and match the skill-set of a particular young person to the needs of the business e.g. “We have a really talented young person on the Mac, she has a real creative flair and may well be useful to you in the advertising work you do for our local FE College, she’s available for work experience in June if you’re interested?” Alternatively, schools could position themselves as a lean, keen resource to input into new briefs – and education representatives can proactively promote their classes based on projects that they have read about in the business press or online. This changes the focus completely. Education can bring talented new blood and fresh ideas to employers, and employers can bring work-related experience and advice to young people. It’s a win-win situation that could make collaboration more appealling to both parties.
