Young People and Employability – What’s EI got to do with it?

Ask any employer, what they are looking for when they employ a young person and chances are they will use these words when listing the qualities and attributes of employability –

• Team player
• Good communicator
• ‘Can do’ positive attitude
• Motivated
• Initiative
• Flexible
• Versatile
• Persistent
• How can I help attitude
• Self aware and self controlled
• Good relationships

In fact this same list came out of a survey commissioned by Business in the Community only last year, and in my capacity as a personal development trainer in the corporate world it is something I hear constantly from employers. They say, give us the right ‘raw material’, a young person with the right attitude; we can do the rest in terms of training.
Whilst I do appreciate that some employers can speak with forked tongues, in that they may talk about attitudes but measure by academic grades, it is also true that many companies are changing the methods for screening selecting and interviewing candidates for jobs in their organizations, away from the qualifications and more towards behaviors and values.

Looking at the bigger picture, a report released a few years ago by Industry in Education not only flagged up the consequences to the economy of young people’s lack of employability skills, they put a price on underperforming and it ran into millions of pounds. Furthermore, looking at the even bigger picture, we can see that low employability skills also has a profoundly negative knock on effect on the budgets of social services, health and crime, taking the total bill into billions of pounds.For that we all pay a price.

Now if you look back at the list above, and in particular if you are a fan of Daniel Goleman and his book Working with Emotional Intelligence, you will no doubt be struck by the similarity between his list of EI attributes, and the very qualities employers are looking for. He defines EI as –

• Self-awareness
• Optimism,
• Taking responsibility for and managing emotions
• Self Motivation
• Persistence
• Empathy

He further claims that over eighty per cent of success at work is attributable to EQ not IQ. In a nutshell then, if you want a young person to be really employable they need to be EI smart. But just how do you achieve that?

For the past 10 years I have been involved in writing programmes for young people [from infant to undergraduates] on themes connected with EI and the development of potential, and for the past 3 years I have also been running the Discovery EI project in Paulsgrove, Portsmouth. Over that time it has always seemed incredibly important to build bridges between the world of education and work, but it has its challenges.

If you are a teacher, tied into the heavy demands of the National Curriculum then you might be forgiven for putting little focus on what happens beyond your lessons in terms of employability. Even if you do want to get business involvement you might not know where to begin the process or have the time to do so. If you are in business, you might know what you want to see coming out of the school or university gates, you might moan about what you are not getting, but have very little notion of what you can do about it, if anything.

We know that increasingly schools will have to pay more attention to the importance of employability, with particular reference to work related learning. Many business want to do something, there is indeed plenty of transferable knowledge and good will out there. I am interested in how the two can be brought together in practical and meaningful ways.

Coffin Mew and Clover are a regional legal firm in the South of England. They are all too aware of the consequences of young people failing to thrive at school. “We see it carries a high price not just for the individual and their families, but for society as a whole.” So says Ray Cobb the company’s marketing manager. “ If we want society to flourish we need young people to take their place in the world as contributors not takers, assets not liabilities. We need them to be positive and motivated with a ‘can-do’ outlook. We need them to take responsibility for themselves as well as having a helping attitude towards others. As a company we are totally committed to helping improve the society we work in. We see the results of individuals who are not able to function effectively and with integrity in our everyday work, and we wanted to make a positive difference. How better than working with the next generation. We were also hugely attracted to the ethos and vision of the Discovery Project and wanted to be part of it”

To that end the company commissioned a life-coaching programme for Year 10 and 7 pupils. The aim is that a cascading process will begin to embed the very employability and responsible citizenship qualities that are so much needed for young people, businesses and society at large. Called WorkSmart, the programme puts its focus initially on training Coffin Mew and Clover staff in life coaching skills and gives them a knowledge base in the themes of EI. Those members of staff then take Year 10 students through the programme to enable them to coach those who are just beginning their time in secondary school. As a result the skills, confidence and self esteem of the older pupils increase and the younger ones become more empowered to tap into their potential, so EI levels increase all around! There are other by-products too. Staff benefit from CPD training by taking part in the programme [after all EI is for life not just for those about to go into work] and the everyday issues that can blight the school day such as bullying, fear, arguments, demotivation, negative peer pressure and lack of purpose can be substantially reduced when pupils become more EI smart.

So why focus on life coaching? Well it is a vehicle for personal growth increasing in popularity in the corporate world and in schools. King Richard School in Paulsgrove, the pilot school for WorkSmart, is already committed to the coaching process for its staff and has been for the past couple of years. It is a great tool for EI development particularly because it actively requires the coachee to develop the key competencies of self-awareness and personal responsibility. It also dramatically enhances skills in the coach such as intuitive listening and reflective questioning techniques. It is also great for developing relationships.

The WorkSmart programme consists of a guide to the essential ‘dos’ and ‘don’ts’ of coaching, techniques for developing positive thinking, and a series of themes to develop EI knowledge. These include –

• Understanding the thought, feeling reaction loop.
• Tackling fears.
• Stress busting.
• Building aspirations.
• Assertiveness techniques

The Year 10 coaches receive their own training manual and will be given ongoing support from both Coffin Mew and Clover staff and adult coaches from their school. Importantly they also receive certificates endorsed by the Chamber of Commerce and Education Business Partnership who recognize the steps they have taken to improve their employability ‘qualifications’ There are several local schools waiting to become involved in this initiative including a beacon school and a business and enterprise college, and I anticipate the demand for WorkSmart will be high. It is intended to train adult coaches from other local, regional and national business in the near future so that the scheme can spread its wings.

If there is a message in this story it is this. Businesses want to so something to help, they want to contribute knowledge and skills and give ‘value added.’ for the benefit of both the business world and society as a whole. Very often schools do not know how to involve businesses beyond making requests for financial contributions and help with such things as interview skills and work experience. I know too that mentoring schemes are
working well in some areas, but only where there is really good communication and collaboration between the school and the provider.

After 3 years of the Discovery Project, we took stock and saw that involving local and national business had been well worth the effort. The contribution came to over 170 thousand pounds worth of gifted time or resources. You just have to come up with a good idea and network and ask, and hold on to the EI qualities of persistence, motivation and optimism!

If you would like more information about WorkSmart, the Discovery Project, and other business related programmes for both secondary and primary schools, please feel free to contact Cheryl Buggy on 02392 386663 or e-mail Cheryl@cherylbuggy.co.uk or david@discovery-project.com