Career appreciation - Part 2

Dear Caroline,

My organisation recently developed a corporate social responsibility programme focused on working with schools to support young learners in thinking about their careers as they complete their academics. This is an exciting program that can make an impact in building the next generation of responsible working adults. Please advise how to set up the programme for implementation.

Sheila

H ello Sheila, now that you have completed part 1 of your programme, we look at the second part. Based on the data and the thematic areas of careers, we now look at potential partners who want to work with us. Remember, these are school-going children, so while it is essential that you support them and appreciate future careers, it should also be fun, exciting, and engaging enough so that they attend your programme. Your partners may include corporate organisations that are specialised in the professions. You could entice them by presenting your programme as an opportunity where they, too, get a platform to contribute to developing young people. Another area you may want to look at is bringing social groups that work in these professional areas on board. Whoever you decide to be part of your programme must be ready to give the learners a good experience. This may include allowing them to play a musical instrument if they wish to be a musician; if they want to be a carpenter or engineer, it will enable them build something if it is cooking, let the experience of cooking a dish. These days young learners are tech-savvy and want to develop games etc. You may want to partner with an organisation that can teach coding.

Importantly,   decide when these learning experiences will take place; depending on the area, you may want to think of them as an after-school club, or it can be an activity club that you run during the holidays. This is likely to be the preference of parents and schools; it will certainly keep the children engaged during holidays. Of course, as you set it up, you must ensure that the people you work with have clearance checks to work with children. That is key as it builds trust and confidence in your programme; you’ll want to work with your legal team to protect you and the children and follow statutory regulations that speak to this arrangement.

Lastly, consider how you will sustain the programme for the long term so that it is not just a one-off. Also think about how you will measure the programme’s success. It would be good to follow the children as they progress from the start to the end of their academics into their careers and draw a link between your programme and their future.  Good luck

Caroline Mboijana,

Managing Director, The Leadership Team (U) [email protected]