guidelines for employers guidelines for employers f… · journey. thank you to the pmks for their...

Guidelines for EmployersSupporting Young People into

Employment

Lauren AlessiRobyn MunfordJackie Sanders

Robyn LentellWill Johnston

Ruth Ballantyne

Massey University in partnership with Youth Connections, Auckland Council

GUIDELINES FOR EMPLOYERSSUPPORTING YOUNG PEOPLE

INTO EMPLOYMENT

Lauren AlessiRobyn MunfordJackie Sanders

Robyn LentellWill Johnston

Ruth Ballantyne

2018

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We thank all the young people who participated in the Pathways to Resilience and Youth Transitions research projects and gave us their time and commitment, generously sharing the details of their lives with us. Many of the young people also nominated a Person Most Knowledgeable (PMK), someone close to the young person who knew about their journey. Thank you to the PMKs for their participation in the research projects.

We thank all the people and organisations who supported the research. A special thank you to Kapiti Youth Support (KYS) and Youthline Auckland.

We thank the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment (MBIE) for funding this long-term research programme.

TABLE OF CONTENTSAcknowledgements ............................................................... 2Table of Contents ................................................................... 2Introduction ............................................................................ 3Why these guidelines? .......................................................... 3Background ............................................................................ 4Challenges facing employers and young people ................ 4What do we mean by vulnerable young people? ............... 5How was PARTH developed? ............................................... 6PARTH: Guidelines for Employers ....................................... 7Passion, Perseverance, Persistence, Perspective ................ 8Adaptability, Agility, Agency, Action-Oriented ................. 11Relationships, Respect, Reciprocity, Relevant, Responsive ........................................................................... 15Time, Trust, Transparency, Thresholds, Transitions ........ 18Honesty, Humility, Hopeful Orientation ............................. 22Bibliography ......................................................................... 25Relevant Journal Articles and Reports .............................. 26Actions Plans for putting PARTH into your Employment Practices with Young People ....................... 27Guideline 1 ........................................................................... 28Guideline 2 ........................................................................... 30Guideline 3 ........................................................................... 32Guideline 4 ........................................................................... 34Guideline 5 ........................................................................... 37Template Action Plans ........................................................ 39Contacts ................................................................................ 45

© Youth Transitions Research Programme, Professor Robyn Munford and Professor Jackie Sanders www.youthsay.co.nz

GUIDELINES FOR EMPLOYERS: SUPPORTING YOUNG PEOPLE INTO EMPLOYMENT 2

INTRODUCTIONWhy these guidelines?

These guidelines are for employers seeking to employ young people. In particular, they will assist employers to better

understand the experiences of vulnerable young people and to develop effective strategies for working with youth who are not involved in education or training. The guidelines are informed by two Massey University research projects – the Pathways to

Resilience and Youth Transitions studies led by Professors Robyn Munford and Jackie Sanders (see www.youthsay.co.nz). These

guidelines draw on the key elements of the PARTH model, which promotes effective engagement with young people.



BACKGROUNDChallenges facing employers and young people Employment matters to young people because it provides the opportunity for them to learn new skills, build confidence in their abilities, contribute to their communities, and create financial security. Employment offers the opportunity for young people to make decisions, to contribute to a team, and to set goals. Through work, young people can experiment with career pathways, and identify future jobs or skills they would like to acquire. Young people also develop new identities related to work—as a worker, employee, contributing member of society, and financial provider. Ideally, young people’s transitions into employment allow for the development of positive identities, however, research shows that employment can often be quite fraught for young people.

Entry into employment and/or finding employment as a young person can be a challenging endeavour. Starting a first job means taking on a new responsibility, interacting with the community in a different way, and making lifestyle changes in order to meet work requirements. When young people are also enrolled in school, educational or vocational training, challenges associated with joining the workforce may be compounded due to additional time commitments and managing the logistics of these. Many young people also juggle familial obligations and extracurricular activities (for example, church or sport) on top of work. While young people’s involvement in multiple activities and systems like school, family, and community activities, can provide great opportunities for improved wellbeing, it can also lead to conflicting goals and values. For example, having to navigate two divergent spaces such as church and the workforce might produce challenges in balancing different expectations, norms, and practices (for example, language, rituals, and ways of

relating to one another). Employers and other trusted adults can support young people to transition into paid work and assist them to develop strategies for balancing work with their other commitments.

Young people experience setbacks at various stages of their employment journeys: when preparing to enter the workforce, throughout the application and recruitment processes, adjusting to life with a job, staying motivated and progressing down a career path.

The process of applying for jobs and learning about workplace culture can be confusing. Many young people do not have adequate resources, either from family, school, or community, to orient them to the world of work. Employers can assist young people by showing that they understand this phase in life can be daunting and confusing, by providing constructive feedback to young people who seek work with them, and by sharing their networks and contacts.

They may not know what to expect when looking for a job or even a proper strategy for getting started on submitting applications. Recruitment practices often make it harder for young people to apply for work. Young people may not have a work history or relevant training so are unable to provide these for employers. Some young people also note racism and discrimination in the hiring process; many feel unfairly labelled and stigmatised because of their background and educational achievement. If offered a job, young people encounter unfamiliar language, practices, and norms or guidelines, often without guidance or mentorship on how to navigate these new spaces. Likewise, businesses and employers are sometimes unfamiliar with youth culture and do not know how to harness the cultural strengths and diversity of young people.



In these situations, when young people enter the workforce and find themselves struggling to adapt or without proper supports, it becomes more likely that they will disengage from work altogether.

Though young people experience challenges with employment, they overwhelmingly express a desire to find and maintain employment. This highlights the need for tailored attention and support for young people in the workforce.

Given that employment is such a crucial stepping-stone for young people into adulthood, independence, and self-sufficiency, employers are uniquely positioned to influence young people by playing roles as mentors and supervisors.

While employing young people does involve challenges since they require more attention, guidance, and flexibility, there are also great benefits for employers who hire young people. Young people bring with them cultural connections, fresh ideas, and will be connected to different parts of society than their older counterparts in the workforce allowing for increased diversity of perspectives and greater representation within the community. Employing young people is an investment in the future of your workforce, industry, and community. It is a way to tap into talent and culture in your neighbourhood. Young people are often technologically savvy and can keep employers up-to-date with emerging platforms and communication styles. In training young employees, businesses and employers are able to stay on the cutting edge with developments in their industry as well as refine their coaching and mentoring skills for managers and leaders.

What do we mean by vulnerable young people? While these guidelines will be of interest to employers in general, they have a specific focus on the employment of vulnerable young people. The Massey University research explored the experiences of young people who experienced chronic exposure to adverse childhood experiences. The young people taking part in the research were multiple-service users and were involved in one or more service spanning the education, employment, mental health, child welfare, and youth justice fields. Being involved with multiple services highlights young people’s increased vulnerability and the need for extra support, supervision, and intervention, when compared to other young people in the general population. Multiple-service using youth tend to report higher levels of stress, more disadvantages, and fewer protective factors, and they have limited material, environmental, and individual resources available to manage adversity. The young people in these studies were less likely to live with one or both biological parents, experienced a relative absence of enduring, positive caregiver presence in their lives, reported higher levels of emotional and physical disengagement from mainstream schools, and higher health and wellbeing risks (Sanders et al., 2013).



How was PARTH developed?The PARTH model is a set of practice orientations that lead to better outcomes when working with vulnerable young people. These orientations were developed from the findings of the Pathways to Resilience and Youth Transitions research (Massey University, see www.youthsay.co.nz). PARTH can be used in any support, service, or intervention to guide interactions with young people on immediate issues and in developing long-term goals. PARTH focuses on “how” practitioners (or, in this case, employers) can work with young people to achieve better outcomes and can be applied in a variety of practice settings. These orientations are being used in practice by social workers, teachers, counsellors, psychologists, youth workers, support workers, and with the development of these guidelines, employers. PARTH is youth-centred, meaning young people are at the centre of decision-making. PARTH-focused services and interventions build on the resources and capacities young people bring to the support relationship or service experience.

Each of the five orientations was developed in response to what young people described as positive/facilitative factors and negative factors/barriers to engagement with services. Some of these stories are presented in the discussion of each of the orientations in order to highlight the PARTH principles. For the purposes of these guidelines, we have adapted the PARTH principles to have relevance to employment and other work-related services and situations. PARTH reflects elements of practice that young people spoke of as being most advantageous to their engagement, success, and overall wellbeing.

RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN PRACTITIONERS AND YOUNG PEOPLE ARE BASED ON RESPECT AND RECIPROCITY; THEY ARE RELEVANT AND RESPONSIVE

R

HONESTY, HUMILITY, HOPEFUL-ORIENTATIONH

PASSION, PERSEVERANCE, PERSISTENCE, PERSPECTIVEP

ADAPTABILITY, AGILITY, AGENCY, ACTION-ORIENTED A

TIME, TRUST, TRANSPARENCY, THRESHOLDS, TRANSITIONST

The PARTH Model



PARTH: GUIDELINES FOR EMPLOYERSThe following sections describe the PARTH model and

its application to employment practices. It discusses the many components of practice that young people identified

as being particularly facilitative of positive engagement. While PARTH was initially developed for practitioners working with young people in social service settings, there are clear translations of these practices into the

employment sector. We see many opportunities for the application of these orientations to employment practices

and highlight the versatility of PARTH in being able to be adapted to each employer or organisation’s unique

setting, goals, and available resources.



PASSION, PERSEVERANCE, PERSISTENCE, PERSPECTIVEEffective work begins with employer passion.

When employers demonstrate passion for working with young people this helps young people to succeed. Because young people can be disengaged from school or other community supports, employment can be a crucial network and opportunity for them.

Passion entails a focus on understanding how risk and resilience shape young people’s experiences and behaviours—the “whole person” and their context. When employers listen carefully to the young person and respond to their practical and emotional needs they make it easier for them to remain in the workforce.

Young people know when employers and practitioners are just “going through the motions.” They also know when someone is inspired, committed and happy to be working with them.

Inspire passion in workers by demonstrating passion for your own work as well as passion for keeping young people employed and for finding ways to support them.

A supportive employer-employee relationship is based on perseverance and persistence. Perseverance is a commitment to the young person over time. Since many young people live tumultuous, chaotic lives, the stability of adult commitment and support is highly valued and promotes a sense of wellbeing and belonging while also helping to build resilience. Young people appreciate working with dedicated adults who are willing to stick with them through tough times; they do not back away or disconnect when young people are having a rough time or when young people might

be distancing or disconnecting themselves. Young people appreciate regular communication and persistence in staying in touch with them as well as following through with plans and expectations. Perseverance and persistence compensate for practical and emotional supports that are otherwise missing from young people’s lives. It means that employers/supervisors/workers will endure through the hard times.

Long-term, unconditional commitment counteracts disrupted attachment, fractured relationships, emotional distress and exposure to harm and provides a way of keeping the young person engaged in employment.

Understand that there will be hard times for the young person, either work-related or more generally. Be willing to listen and offer support, be patient with the young person. Hiccups and slip-ups are to be expected. If this happens, show compassion and explain that these are normal. Help them to develop a plan for moving forward and for resolving the problem if it occurred in the workplace.



A young person’s perspective can bring value to the workplace when it is heard and respected; for example, in setting expectations, performance standards, and in providing supervision and support. It is important to understand that young people may have traumatic, violent, and unstable pasts, which will influence their current behaviour and decision-making.

Perspective highlights the importance of understanding these circumstances and of adopting positive youth development and strengths-based approaches to employment (Sanders and Munford, 2016). Having paid work is crucial for young people, particularly those not engaged in other education or training, since it connects them to prosocial, positive networks and enables them to meet and build relationships with adults and other young people. Employment can provide opportunities for training, skill development, and the trialling of different jobs or career paths. Being in work offers an opportunity for young people to access financial resources, build a resume, plan and set career goals, and form an identity around themselves as “employees” and “workers.”

It helps when employers consider a young person’s situation, their needs, strengths, and challenges. Understand that young people might have extra challenges getting to and from work; therefore be patient and understanding with regard to punctuality. Young people may not have the proper clothes/uniform to wear to work. Be clear about the dress code but also help them plan what they can wear, where to shop, or how to acquire appropriate clothing.

Employers express challenges and frustrations in hiring young people, particularly around not understanding young people. Employers share experiences about younger employees who do not seem motivated, who do not understand the importance of work, or who lack an understanding of professionalism and decorum. The Attitude Gap Challenge (see Bibliography) highlights these issues and the challenges employers face in understanding young people’s motivations, their personality and interests and the way these things impact on work performance. Employers may not dedicate resources and time to helping young people adapt to a new job or work environment. Employers may dismiss young people as viable employees or do not think they would get a return on investment for training younger employees. It is important for employers to appreciate young people’s perspectives; many young people’s families, schools, and communities do not have the knowledge or networks to adequately prepare young people for employment. As a result, young people need employers who will exercise persistence and perseverance in supporting young employees. When employers are passionate about helping young people learn they are better able to integrate into work culture. There will be an adjustment period and employers can help young people by being sympathetic to them if they are not familiar with certain professional standards, such as making eye contact.



EMERE’S STORY1

Emere spoke of the powerful impact her practitioner had on her feelings and experiences. When Emere transitioned out of care, her practitioner kept in contact with her and checked in regularly to see how she was doing. She provided emotional and practical support:

I thank [practitioner] for being there to talk to…coz I thank her for also trying, coz she tried …how many years, she’s still trying, you know, she’s still trying to get me to go on the course and do this and that. We communicated now she knows that’s where my head’s at now but she wasn’t like she tried and she tried and she tried but she didn’t give up…She didn’t just chuck in the towel and walk away just coz I said no. She come back the next day or a couple hours, when I calm down, try it again.

Even though at times Emere resisted her practitioner’s involvement because she was not in the space to start a course, her practitioner persisted in helping her. Honouring where Emere was at emotionally, meant that her practitioner backed off when she needed space; she did not push her own agenda and rather let Emere direct the services she received. With young employees, remember the importance of listening to them in terms of what they want to learn, what their capacity is for fulfilling work obligations or taking on new tasks. If they seem resistant or distant, do not give up but rather give them some space and check back in regularly. Find the right time to bring up issues and support them in exploring these. Help them to keep focused on the employment goals they want to achieve. Mei’s story emphasises the importance of ongoing support from an employer.

1 These quotations are taken from the Youth Transitions and Pathways to Resilience research studies. Pseudonyms are used.

MEI’S STORYMei was working seasonally on a farm but ended up leaving before the season ended due to physical exhaustion and feeling left out among her co-workers. At first, Mei said she got along with her co-workers, who were mostly male, but over time, started to feel out of place:

I would rather be getting paid a lot less, $300 week even to be doing something that I like to do and that is a lot easier especially for a female. A lot of guys don’t mind working around lambs and stuff like that and like doing that kind of stuff. But there was only three other girls that I had worked with and they’d all worked on farms before and they were used to it. Whereas I was just like, feeling like I didn’t know what to do.

As Mei describes, she lost interest in the work over time because of how hard it was physically but also because she didn’t feel connected to or supported by her co-workers and her lack of background knowledge made her feel that she could not do the work properly. Mei’s story highlights the need for employers to provide consistent support and supervision to employees, to ensure they are adapting to a new work space well and that they are given opportunities to build their knowledge.



ADAPTABILITY, AGILITY, AGENCY, ACTION-ORIENTEDEmployers can demonstrate adaptability and agility by responding to the unique needs of each young person. Young people may lead chaotic, unstable lifestyles. Understand that they are juggling many demands, emotional struggles, and transitions into independence. While employment plays a crucial part in transitioning into and establishing independence and autonomy, there will undoubtedly be complications for young people. Young people are constantly having to adjust and adapt to their changing circumstances, including changes in: living situations, financial stability/circumstances, relationships, family obligations (for example, caring for siblings or other family members), education (switching schools), health (illness, addiction, mental health), foster or care placements, and justice involvement.

Adjust interactions with young people, look for alternatives and reflect on what they are doing. Reflective and adaptable practice responds to the changing needs of young people while demonstrating commitment to meeting their needs and building a supportive relationship.

Involve a mix of training opportunities based on the young person’s needs, skills, and desired areas of learning, including agility in supervision and mentorship.

While it may not be necessary or appropriate to ask the young person everything they are struggling with, it is important to be available and willing to listen should the young person want to confide in you. Offer flexibility to the young person in meeting their work requirements such as flexible work schedules or transportation assistance.

Allow flexibility in setting expectations and consequences for young people. Understand that they have many additional, compounding factors affecting their work.

Allow some flexibility in the rules as a way to recognise the pressures and challenges young people may face. It is very important to take into consideration the young people’s lives and circumstances, as this will help foster resilience-building and employment success.

Employers foster agency in young people by keeping them at the centre of their work. Agency is about being heard and being supported to make decisions (Munford and Sanders, 2015b). Employment offers an important opportunity for young people to develop skills, work experience, as well as autonomy. The work environment offers young people space to try out a new identity as a worker and employee. Through work, young people learn new and different degrees of responsibility, independence, and capability.

Provide opportunities for young people to test out and develop new skills. If appropriate, pair young people with mentors.

Highlight the importance of trial and error and support young people to learn how to make decisions and choices. Show compassion and support when young people make mistakes, highlighting areas for growth or learning opportunities; help them strategise how to do things differently moving forward. When young people are supported through struggle and “failure,” it creates a safe and enduring environment for young people to thrive in and exercise autonomy.



Recognise those times when young people contribute their skills and knowledge to the enterprise.

Employers strive to be action-oriented when working with young people. Research from the Pathways to Resilience and Youth Transitions studies found that young people’s involvement with services might not always lead to improved wellbeing. Engagement with services is a complex process and requires that practitioners take the time to understand how young people experience their involvement with services. Some young people experienced service providers being unresponsive, not following-through, offering conflicting information from other providers, and even causing more harm. It is important that employers work in partnership with young people to identify potential challenges, setbacks, and areas of opportunity.

Employers work with young people to find solutions to any challenges the young person might be experiencing in the workplace, drawing up action plans, setting goals, and checking in on their progress.

Ensure that performance reviews, action plans, career/work goals lead to meaningful change and delivery of training or other meaningful support.

Offer practical as well as emotional support. If the young person is experiencing challenges outside the workplace, employers can also help in finding solutions and connect young people with the right resources and support.

While employers may have concerns about how young people manage themselves in the workplace (The Attitude Gap Challenge (see Bibliography)) young people also report confusion about how to manage in the workplace. They

may struggle around the interview and performance review processes and interviewing may feel intimidating and uncomfortable for young people. They are not necessarily used to interacting with adults in a professional setting, may be nervous about making a good impression, and uncertain of what to say, how to prepare or how to present themselves to employers in interviews. They may also not have had many positive encounters with adults in positions of power over them and so may struggle to know how to interact positively. To alleviate the pressure young people feel around interviews, employers can communicate clearly their expectations prior to interviews and can adopt a warm and welcoming demeanour while doing this. Let the young people know that you want to get to know them and their personalities. Some employers have found group interviews to be a good way to gauge how well young people would fit in. Employers also talk about assessing young people’s performances and how they sometimes do not meet performance standards typically used for other employees. Due to the life experiences of vulnerable young people, it can be hard for them to perform in the same way as adult or more stable youth co-workers. Employers can remain adaptable and agile by setting expectations and reviewing young people’s performance.

Give young people time to adjust to their new roles and be clear and proactive in offering support and guidance for how they can better meet expectations or grow professionally.

Younger employees also benefit from more training, particularly on the job training that builds competence in particular roles. Although employers might prioritise training and professional development for the high-performers,



training is equally an opportunity to re-engage employees who are struggling. Finding ways to offer training not only empowers young people with new skills and confidence on the job but also conveys an employer’s investment in building them up and keeping them around.

ANARU’S STORYAnaru worked on a farm for nearly eight months. He started out milking and then progressed to driving a tractor by the end of his time there. While he loved the work and how profitable it was for him financially, he ended up quitting. At first, his mate also worked there which contributed to him liking the work. When his mate stopped working there, Anaru’s problems with his boss and co-workers got worse. He described his co-workers as lazy and that he had to carry the brunt of the work. His boss would also give him very short notice about needing to come into work, which was inconvenient and interrupted his other plans. After a night of partying with his mates, Anaru didn’t go in to work the next day, the only time this ever happened. Anaru described what happened after this incident:

Anaru [Employer] told me I had to come in for a meeting, I said: “nah don’t worry about it.” So before I got fired, I quit.

Interviewer Did it piss you off?

Anaru That was a mean [good] job.

Interviewer If you had the chance would you go back there?

Anaru Nah I already asked him if I could go there, nah.

Interviewer Would he be prepared to give you a reference so that if you wanted to you could do that work again?

Anaru Yes I just got to ask him.

Interviewer So do you think one of the things that was hard was that you were so young and you were thrust into that then and you know you said that sometimes you had to work by yourself? Did anyone help you learn work skills and what it was like?

Anaru Ah yeah.

Interviewer So what would it take for you to stay in a job like that?

Anaru I don’t know just, I don’t know really.

Fearing that he would be fired for missing a day of work, Anaru quit pre-emptively despite enjoying the work. His story highlights the need for adaptability in working with young people, being willing to adjust expectations to accommodate what young people are going through. This story also points to allowing young people to make mistakes and learn from them and for employers to intervene when they sense young people going through a hard time, such as Anaru did after his work mate left. Since Anaru was so passionate about the work, his employers could have capitalised on this by offering more training or advancement opportunities. Birdie shares a different experience; that is, the positive things that can happen when young people are well supported.



BIRDIE’S STORYIn reflecting on her work with a practitioner, Birdie shares how she appreciated the practitioner’s flexible approach to delivering services:

[…] my probation officer, [name of probation officer], she’s really good though she like coz I used to explain to her you can’t put too many things on me all at once otherwise I won’t do them. I mean I’m the type of person that has to do one thing at a time. I need to do this today and do this and complete that and do this and complete that. I can’t go trying to do all three of them like you know. If I go to do three courses a week, I can’t do it I won’t make it to all of them, I will forget about them or I remember five minutes before and I turn up half an hour late, failing because you know I haven’t got the right time efficiency or you know whatever. I just coz I can’t have too many things on otherwise it just goes into the unconsciousness part of my brain and then it’s like conscious right, right I’m meant to be doing it.

The practitioner listened and understood when Birdie told her about her working style and what she needed in order to be more successful. While her practitioner was motivated to keep Birdie engaged with courses, she was also adaptable in her approach and remained committed to finding workable solutions. She did not pressure Birdie but rather trusted her instincts, validated her decisions, and honoured her autonomy by listening to Birdie’s reflections on what worked for her and how she could be supported to move forward.



RELATIONSHIPS, RESPECT, RECIPROCITY, RELEVANT, RESPONSIVE

PARTH practices are based on the development of strong, enduring relationships between young people and practitioners.

Throughout the research, relationships were highlighted as one of the most consequential factors to building resilience and positive engagement while, concurrently, negative relationships were quite powerful in disengaging young people and creating barriers to their overall wellbeing and participation in services. Relationships that were enduring, positive, encouraging, warm, and empathic were cherished by the young people (Sanders and Munford, 2016). Relationships help to shape the narratives young people construct about their identities. When young people have strong, supportive relationships, these serve to reinforce and influence the development of positive identities as well as increase self-confidence and self-worth.

Building positive, supportive relationships with young people affirms their strengths and coping strategies.

Consistent interactions create stability and build strong relationships.

Employers can take account of the challenges young people face and promote relationship building and connect young people to other sectors—including community organisations, other businesses or partner organisations, and education (training and skill building organisations).

The foundation of work with young people involves relationships that are based on respect and reciprocity.

Relational practices are rooted in an appreciation for the life of the young person, a whole-person approach.

Employers can promote respectful relationships in the workplace.

Employers can seek out opportunities for young people to develop reciprocal relationships with others in the workplace; for example, mentoring relationships where young people are mentored, but in turn support other young people as they enter the workforce.

Employers working with young people can offer relevant and responsive supervision, training opportunities and performance standards.

Young people want to be active participants in decision-making and be part of setting the agenda for employment plans and activities.

When services are relevant to their needs and goals, as well as responsive to their priorities, young people are more engaged. While the relevance of a young person’s job to their overall career goals or interest may be harder to align, employers can work to determine what learning opportunities young people are interested in pursuing.

If resources allow, employers can connect young people with relevant training or mentorship or refer to organisations that might be better equipped to work with the young person.



Connecting young people to other organisations or resources also allows for employers to demonstrate advocacy and negotiation on behalf of the young person, which fosters relationship-building and demonstrates respect. Young people value practitioners who liaise with other services to better meet the needs of the young person, including help accessing transportation, clothing, budget advice, setting up bank accounts or driver’s license administrative assistance.

Employers can harness the coping capacities of young people and enhance their support networks to make the most of the resources available (for example, facilitating pathways back into education, addressing housing needs, providing access to material resources).

When it comes to developing relationships, many employers express that they may not have the time or resources to give younger employees adequate attention and supervision. However, because relationships are foundational for helping young people integrate into the workplace and remain motivated and engaged, it is important that employers find ways to connect with young people. These can be small acts such as tea breaks with all employees, awards or recognition, and other events outside of work. Initial training and induction processes are also optimal times to start building relationships; they should not focus solely on job skills but also on organising mentorship opportunities for young people. The Attitude Gap Challenge (see Bibliography) cites how marking key events such as birthdays and achievement awards, build positive workplace relationships. Taking the time to build relationships with young people and promote camaraderie among staff helps create a culture of reciprocity where employees can support and look out for each other. Having strong relationships in the workplace also allows for relevant and responsive supervision and intervention.

REBECCA’S STORYRebecca was working her dream job at a child care centre. However, over time, the job became too stressful and she eventually quit. While she loved working with children, she found the rules of the child care centre too strict and intrusive to her priority of spending one-on-one time with the children. She was tasked with changing nappies, which often meant she only spent a few minutes with each child:

It’s obviously all the philosophy is free movement and obviously based around spending a lot of time with all the children, but it just doesn’t work that way. It’s as simple as one person calls up sick and then they’ve got relievers coming in, and you as the primary care teacher for each child, you’re the only one that is allowed to do nappies and put them to bed and things like that. So if somebody was away sick, you ended up with 10, 12 children all to yourself. You’re the only person that’s allowed to do any of the main care.

Despite feeling over-worked and unable to do her job the way she preferred, Rebecca stuck it out because she did like spending time with the children and still felt committed to her goal of working in a child care centre. However, she started having issues with other co-workers regarding her course of study and lack of qualifications compared to other teachers, which compounded her stress:

Obviously I’d had a few run-ins with a couple of the girls who I was working with. It was kind of like a power kind of a battle, kind of thing. I don’t know, I didn’t understand it. I think because I didn’t have all these qualifications and stuff, they just felt, well, one person in particular, constantly just telling me exactly how to do everything from, you know, something as simple as pouring a bottle, comments would be thrown in there, and like I, you know, approached her about it, and we kind of sorted it out between ourselves. But then it just continued going on and on, and I was, I got to the stage where I was not happy working here. And I went to the head teacher about it and she was absolutely gutted.



With tension building among her co-workers, Rebecca decided to quit. She describes this as one of the hardest decisions she ever had to make because of her career goals. Her employer tried to persuade Rebecca to stay but, unfortunately, these efforts were too late. Rebecca’s story highlights the importance of building relationships in the workplace rooted in respect and reciprocity. While Rebecca felt supported by one of her supervisors, she found the other teachers to be disrespectful and condescending. Her co-workers didn’t seem to value her contributions or experience which led to her feeling unwelcome and unhappy. Rebecca’s conflict with her co-workers was an opportunity for her supervisor to intervene and promote greater teamwork, as well as recognise Rebecca’s knowledge and value in the workplace. Employers can also be responsive to tension in the workplace, addressing it before it builds to the point of employees leaving. Ari shares a story about the support he received from his social worker and how this made him feel that his experiences were respected and valued.

ARI’S STORYAri reflects on his relationship with his social worker, noting how it was extremely positive:

Ari I don’t know what it was about her she was a really nice lady and she’d been through a lot herself from what she told me, stuff like that and how she was always there for me. She was just a fun lady really.

Interviewer So she was fun and she could kind of relate to what you’re going through and she shared with you about her stuff and was consistent always there and reliable yeah.

Ari And it felt like it wasn’t just a job for her it was something real.

Interviewer Ah there was something more...

Ari Yeah it felt like she actually cared not just was doing it for the job and to keep her job and stuff.

Ari’s practitioner worked to build an enduring, supportive relationship with Ari. She genuinely cared about him and spent time building a relationship based on respect and reciprocity. This in turn led to Ari finding support and resources that were responsive to his specific needs and that enabled him to make plans and identify short and long-term goals.



TIME, TRUST, TRANSPARENCY, THRESHOLDS, TRANSITIONSTime is needed to build trusting, supportive relationships. Young people speak highly of practitioners who dedicate time to get to know them. While the quantity and quality of time spent with young people varies, it is important that practitioners and employers are open and willing to put in the time and to give attention to the young person’s needs. Young people know when practitioners are rushing through things, are not really dedicated or invested in their work, or do not genuinely try to get to know or understand the young person. When practitioners are present and engaged during interactions, show dedication and commitment to working with the young person, and demonstrate agility with their service approach and time commitment, young people are more likely to be engaged and feel supported.

Since a “one size fits all approach” is not effective in working with vulnerable young people, practitioners need to be flexible in terms of how much time they spend with young people, as well as how they spend their time (for example, adapting practices and service delivery to best suit the young person).

The length of meetings, supervision, or interventions with young people will vary based on their needs. Try not to rush when working with a young person; they will sense this and might become disengaged or disinterested as a result.

Planning and reflection time with the young person, with your co-workers, and on your own, can be useful for ensuring positive encounters with young people. This can also help to find possibilities for critical learning moments for young people; for example, making the most of the relationship a young person has established with a more experienced employee who can provide mentoring and support.

Time also highlights the need for predictability, routine, and structure. These help create stability for the young person as well as clarifies expectations for their employment.

Trust and transparency are foundational to meaningful practice with young people. Because vulnerable young people have experienced challenging, unstable, and potentially violent relationships with family, community, and peers, they often have difficulty building relationships and trusting other people. As a result, it may take time for a young person to build trust with you as their employer. Spending time with the young person, going out of your way to help them, keeping structure and routines, are strategies you can use in the workplace to help build trust and create a space where the young person feels comfortable and supported. Connected to trust building is transparency. It involves taking the time to make sure young people understand how and why decisions are made as well as involving them in the decision-making process. Young people need to be kept informed and included in planning.

Trust can be built through time spent with the young person during different activities in the workplace; for example, during training, orientation to the work environment and working alongside the young person completing work tasks.

Display confidence in the young person’s capabilities and give them opportunities to practice their skills and decision-making. Scepticism and doubt about their abilities might send the message to the young person that they are not capable, trustworthy, or worthwhile contributors to the workplace.



Be open with young people about work expectations and consequences. If you have to make a hard decision, show compassion and be up front about the steps you are taking. If appropriate, work with the young person to identify areas for improvement or develop strategies for handling things differently in the future.

Keep young people apprised of changes in the work environment. Create an inclusive space where they feel they are part of the team and are acknowledged for their contributions.

Thresholds correspond to certain conditions that need to be met or exceeded before an intervention or programmatic response comes about. Thresholds are important for identifying points of service intervention or support for young people. With set entry criteria for services, practitioners can be looking out for certain behaviours, events, or experiences that indicate young people need services. However, this model of setting thresholds for entry is often seen as limiting and generally reactive rather than proactive for young people. Early intervention is critically important for building resilience and facilitating resources and support before (more) harm is done.

Be vigilant about changes in young people’s behaviour and offer support or inquire about what might be going on. Do not expect that young people will always ask for help or share when they are going through a challenging time; be proactive in checking in with them. If there are resources and support networks you can provide or connect the young person to, do so with their permission.

If your organisation sets performance standards, remain flexible about what standards you hold the young person to and how you might intervene if they are under-performing or not meeting requirements. If you need to create an action plan for the young person to get back on track, be sure to involve them in the process. Treat the process as one of potential for growth rather than retribution and punishment.

Moving into employment is one of the many transitions for young people and is an important part of their overall development. Given their challenging circumstances, vulnerable young people have already experienced compressed and accelerated transitions before coming to employment. Compounding all of these changes is the fluctuating involvement in services. While employment can be seen as an exciting prospect, it also carries challenges simply because of it being new for young people and therefore requiring additional emotional and material resources and support.

Appreciate that this might be the young person’s first work experience. Show compassion and understanding as they figure it out. Perhaps even share your own anecdotes about starting out in work.

Give young people time and space to ask questions as they are starting out. Also, give them time and space to stumble. When this happens, normalise making mistakes but also celebrate the opportunity for young people to try out new skills and make decisions in a new environment.

Remind the young person that it is a journey of personal development and improvement.



If appropriate, pair the young people with a mentor or work buddy when they are starting out so they can better acclimatise to the work environment and feel supported by co-workers.

Since young people often struggle transitioning into the workplace or maintaining a job, it is important for employers to spend adequate time inducting them as well as developing relationships with them. While some employers struggle to find strategies for motivating young people to remain in the workplace (The Attitude Gap Challenge (see Bibliography)), finding ways to do this will have long term benefits. Spending more time training young people at the start of employment and being transparent with them about expectations and employee culture can help build trust and ensure more stability and comfort during what is already a transitional period. Although it might feel time-consuming and daunting for employers to provide emotional support, this is important for younger employees to feel included, cared for, and invested in their employment. As a result of life challenges and exposure to multiple risk factors, it can be hard for young people to juggle employment with other obligations. Having additional support from employers, as well as positive relationships in the workplace, are both beneficial for young people’s professional development but also their general wellbeing. These things enable young workers to contribute fully to their workplaces.

PAETA’S STORYPaeta had been working for the same company for over a year, including taking a second job to make extra money. During this period, she had to move house several times and was struggling financially to make up for the costs of moving; she mentioned being turned down by landlords because they thought she was too young to rent even though Paeta had a stable job and income. She enjoyed her job and was continuing to take on more responsibility. In the year since starting, her employer had given her more administrative duties to take on. Paeta liked learning new skills and appreciated getting to switch up her standard work day. When asked about supportive relationships in her life, she spoke of her employer:

Ah I suppose work’s helped me quite a bit, I’ve been sick over the last two weeks and my boss knows that I am like financially trying to sort everything out with my situation. So he just said that he would just pay me and I can just work it off wherever I can. If you like just do a couple of extra hours every week then that will take care of it. My work’s been like my boss and stuff has been real good.

Paeta’s experience highlights how trust and transparency can contribute to stronger relationships in the workplace. Paeta’s employer knew she was struggling financially—that she was in a transitional period with her living situation—and made adjustments to support her through the difficult time. Her employer clearly trusted her to make up the extra hours and also demonstrated this trust by giving Paeta opportunities to take on new roles at work. Arona also shared a story of receiving support from a trusted adult.



ARONA’S STORYArona ended up living with her school counsellor when her home environment became too challenging. She credits her counsellor, and being able to live with her, for helping her finish school:

I was living with my counsellor. I couldn’t have finished school otherwise. I still keep in contact with her; she still makes the time for me. It is incredible.

While this is certainly an atypical response and often not feasible for all practitioners, it nicely illustrates the power of practitioners in being responsive to young people’s needs by utilising innovative solutions and resources, maybe even bending the rules or conventions a little, to help young people. By going out of her way, and beyond her professional duty, to help Arona the counsellor reinforced her commitment to an enduring relationship based on trust.



HONESTY, HUMILITY, HOPEFUL ORIENTATION

Honesty is crucial to building strong relationships with young people as well as fostering an inclusive workplace.

In the Pathways to Resilience and Youth Transitions studies, young people spoke of practitioners often letting them down by making false promises, not being transparent, and providing conflicting information. Whether it was promised services not being provided, practitioners obscuring information or not being upfront about what is happening, or making decisions without them and leaving young people to deal with the consequences, young people felt betrayed and discouraged due to these interactions. Young people speak highly of practitioners who are honest and realistic about the support and services they can provide, acknowledge organisational constraints as well as admit when they make a mistake or overlook something. This honesty contributes to a sense of security and reliability for young people as well as fostering respect for the practitioners working with them.

Keep your word, tell young people what you are doing and what your limitations are.

Keep young people informed of processes, challenges, and decisions that affect them. When difficult decisions have to be made, be honest about why this is and offer support as the young person works through the decision. Strive to always involve young people in decision-making processes which strengthens their autonomy and buy-in.

Humility requires employers to put themselves in young people’s shoes and acknowledge they might make similar decisions if they were in similar positions. Connected to the need to exercise transparency, humility means sharing your own shortcomings, failures, or past challenges. This not only serves to humanise you as an employer in a position of power, it can also offer encouragement to young people to persevere through hardship.

Acknowledge when you have made a mistake. Look for opportunities to share your own experiences

that might relate to the young person’s experiences; for example, talk about your first job, the transitions you experienced, or other relevant life journeys.

Working with vulnerable young people requires a hopeful orientation and vision for the future. Due to past trauma, challenges, instability and inconsistency, young people often feel discouraged about the future. Young people’s past experiences with things not going well and not receiving support to manage these challenges, means that they may feel like giving up when things go wrong. Compounding the many hardships are counter-productive or unhelpful participation in services including education. Young people’s negative interactions with school, employment, child welfare, youth justice or health services can compromise their hope for the future and lead to a bleak outlook. In light of these negative experiences, employers play an important role in interrupting these grim views of the future.

By holding the young person’s story and their hope, employers can work to promote promising futures. In fact, employment can be the place where young people gain the confidence to talk about their dreams.



Employment can also be where they are supported to work toward their goals, to access resources, and develop skills to realise these dreams and goals.

Inspire hope and positivity in young people. Try and find the silver lining and help young people strategise about how to move forward through hardship.

Celebrate the small victories and do not focus on the negative. Acknowledge when the young person has accomplished a task or learned a new skill.

Assure young people that failures and mistakes can be learned from and moved past; they are not the end of the world. If something goes wrong, respond with patience and reassure young people that they have the skills and knowledge to work through challenges. Seek out meaningful support and resources that can assist young people to address these challenges.

Spend time talking about the future with young people—what are their dreams and aspirations? How can you as an employer and/or this job help them move toward that? Are there any resources (for example, material or connections to other people and organisations) that you can facilitate access to for the young person?

Employers may feel deflated or discouraged about hiring young people because of prior experiences. They may find it more resource-intensive and logistically challenging to manage young employees. This may result in employers feeling less motivated to hire young people in the future. Employers may need support to maintain a positive orientation to young people (The Attitude Gap Challenge (see Bibliography)). While young people do require additional support and supervision, these resources can have a significant positive impact on young people.

When young people feel supported, believed in and empowered, they are likely to be more engaged and motivated in services or activities. This investment in young people also helps instil hope and positivity for the future, especially as it pertains to their employment prospects.

MASON’S STORYMason was working at a fencing company for about a year, which was very profitable – he was “stockpiling” money as he says. He really enjoyed the work and seemed excited to be involved in the business plan with his boss, helping him develop a new type of fencing:

Interviewer Oh, it’s so cool. Now, the other thing I wanted to ask is just thinking…say if we banged into each other here in three or four years’ time, what do you think you’d be doing? Just if you were still here, or if I banged into you anywhere. What do you want to be doing?

Mason I don’t know. I’ve got to be honest with you, I haven’t planned that far ahead. Just having a job at the moment is going to be enough to solace me. But I put zero thought into a career or anything like that for the next few years. I’ve got no future plan. I’m just stockpiling money at the moment.

According to Mason, he wasn’t thinking about future plans or career goals, despite being really engaged with his current job. Stories like these highlight the opportunity to talk with young employees about their career goals, inquiring about their dreams, what jobs they enjoy, and what skills they want to learn. Talking about the future helps instil a hopeful orientation and shows young people that they are capable and valuable. Matiu’s experience demonstrates the importance of authentic and genuine relationships between young people and trusted adults.



MATIU’S STORYMatiu appreciated how his practitioner shared part of his life story with him. He felt this helped build rapport and pointed out similarities in their upbringing:

You know ever since I met [drug and alcohol counsellor], I wanted to be a Social Worker/Youth Worker yeah.…coz he told me like, he never passed in school. He never succeeded but he still became what he wanted to become, first he was a Security Guard or something in the prisons. And then he realised ‘I want to become a Social Worker’ so he went back to school and studied and showed me his certificates and everything. I was like ‘oh man that’s so cool’ and yea ever since then I was like ‘that’s what I want to do’. Yea. He was just a cool fella. Like he wasn’t trying to get out to me ‘don’t go to school’ like don’t go to school and you’ll still become one’ but his story kind of related to mine and you know what we were doing and whatever.

Because his practitioner was willing to be honest about his background and shared some of his struggles, he was able to gain Matiu’s respect. This encouraged Matiu to talk about his challenges and struggles and to start to think beyond these and to imagine a more positive future. By demonstrating honesty and humility in discussing his own background, the practitioner was not only able to instil hope for the future—because he was once struggling and living rough—but was also able to create a safe space for Matiu to ask for help and share his story.

At the end of this document the ideas discussed here are translated into action plans for putting PARTH into employment practices with young people with examples of ways of doing this in workplaces. Following this is a set of blank templates for use in your workplace.



BIBLIOGRAPHYThe Attitude Gap Challenge: A South Auckland Employment and Skills ChallengeThe Attitude Gap Challenge is a multi-agency co-design challenge led by the Auckland Co-design Lab (the Lab), a place-based collaboration between central government and Auckland Council which is based in South Auckland. The challenge was designed to test this perceived ‘attitude gap’ between young people and employers in South Auckland in terms of their respective knowledge, skills and expectations of one another. While these challenges are framed in South Auckland, the insights may have wider applications to other parts of New Zealand. https://www.aucklandco-lab.nz/attitudegap/

Employment New ZealandInformation to help employers to employ young people and resources for young people in transition from education into employment. https://www.employment.govt.nz/starting-employment/hiring/hiring-young-people/

Food for Thought: A Youth Perspective on Recovery-oriented PracticeThis video illustrates some of the core principles of recovery-oriented mental health and addiction services. While this video is not employment-specific, the video and accompanying discussion guide pose questions and provide helpful guidelines for working with young people. https://www.mentalhealthcommission.ca/English/media/3975

Inspiring Communities Resources on community-led development and working together in a place to create and achieve locally-owned visions and goals. Rather than being a model or service, community-led development is a planning and development approach. The website (add it here) and regular newsletters provide useful information on how to connect with communities of support. http://inspiringcommunities.org.nz/resources/about-cld/

New Zealand Mental Health FoundationResources on holistic mental health and wellbeing. https://www.mentalhealth.org.nz/

Pathways to Resilience and Youth Transitions ResearchBackground on the research studies informing these Guidelines including publications, PARTH overview and additional resources. http://www.youthsay.co.nz/

Youth ConnectionsAn Auckland council initiative focused on youth employment. Find information on JobFest, the Youth Employer Pledge, youth-specific resources, and other community projects serving youth. https://www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/grants-community-support-housing/Pages/youth-connections.aspx

Youth Employment SuccessYouth Employment Success is Dunedin-based but offers resources applicable to all businesses and employers looking to hire young people. They help raise awareness and create conversations about youth employment and build employer knowledge and confidence in hiring young people. They offer resources on career planning, recruitment, and tips on how to get the best out of youth employees. https://youthemloyer.nz/resources



RELEVANT JOURNAL ARTICLES AND REPORTSAlessi, L, Munford, R., Sanders, J., Johnston, W., Ballantyne, R. (2018). Young people’s experiences with services. New Zealand: Resilience and Youth Transitions Research Programme, Massey University (www.youthsay.co.nz).

Johnston, W., Sanders, J., Munford, R., Alessi, L, Ballantyne, R. (2018). Precarious Employment Experiences and Uncertain Futures. New Zealand: Resilience and Youth Transitions Research Programme, Massey University (www.youthsay.co.nz)).

Munford, R. & Sanders, J. (2015a). Components of effective social work practice in mental health for young people who are users of multiple services. Social Work in Mental Health, 13 (5): 415-438.

Munford, R. & Sanders, J. (2015b). Young people’s search for agency: Making sense of their experiences and taking control. Qualitative Social Work, 14 (5): 616-633.

Sanders, J., Munford, R., Liebenberg, L., Ungar, M., Thimasarn-Anwar, T., Johnston, W., Youthline New Zealand, Osborne, A.M., Dewhurst, K., Henaghan, M., Aberdein, J., Stevens, K., Urry, Y., Mirfin-Veitch, B. & Tikao, K. (2013). The human face of vulnerability. (Technical Report 3). New Zealand: Resilience Research Programme, Massey University (www.youthsay.co.nz)).

Sanders, J. & Munford, R. (2016). Fostering a sense of belonging at school—five orientations to practice that assist vulnerable youth to create a positive student identity. School Psychology International, 37 (2): 155-171.

Sanders, J., Munford, R. & Liebenberg, L. (2017). Positive youth development practices and better outcomes for high risk youth. Child Abuse and Neglect, 69: 201-212.

© Youth Transitions Research Programme, Professor Robyn Munford and Professor Jackie Sanders www.youthsay.co.nz© Youth Transitions Research Programme, Professor Robyn Munford and Professor Jackie Sanders www.youthsay.co.nz


ACTION PLANS FOR PUTTING PARTH INTO YOUR EMPLOYMENT PRACTICES WITH YOUNG PEOPLE

The following section provides the opportunity for you and your team to consider how you might already be putting PARTH into practice and what you can do to better implement the practice orientations outlined in these

Guidelines. Use the following plans as guides and feel free to be creative with how you apply each principle to your own workplace. For instance, maybe you

have different ideas of what a practice orientation might entail. Capture that here and map out how you might go about implementing and tracking that

practice. You might choose to work on just one element at a time or you could select some aspects of each element to focus upon.



GUIDELINE 1 – Employers show passion, perseverance, and persistence, in supporting the young person at their workplace; they understand the young person’s perspective and are empathetic towards their life experiences.

Questions to consider

What we are already doing?

What we can do better?

Areas of opportunity, training?

How can we track our progress?

PASSION How can we express our passion for our employees?How can we help support the passion of our young employees?

We talk in staff meetings about what we enjoy about our workplace.We support young people to talk about what motivates them and encourage them to talk about their expectations of the workplace.

Spend time getting to know what the young person’s passions are. Is there any way we can tap into their passions or help them work toward them?

Learn from youth organisations about how they work with young people.

During employee orientation/training and regular check-ins, be sure to include some time to talk about personal matters, if appropriate. Include questions in performance reviews about how they are working toward other goals and how we can help.

PERSEVERANCE How can we demonstrate our commitment to working with young people? How can we better respond to their needs?

Employees take part in a two week training period where they are paired up with a mentor. The mentor checks in with them at the close of each shift, or when able, to see if they have any questions.

We could set up mentor partnerships to extend beyond the initial two-week orientation period. Link the young person up with other organisations or resources that might help meet their needs outside of our capacity; help facilitate their wellbeing whenever possible.

Building relationships and networks with other businesses and youth organisations. This will help us liaise on the young person’s behalf.

Start to brainstorm/develop a more long-term employee mentorship programme by the end of the year.








PERSISTENCE How can we demonstrate persistence in supporting our employees and making the workplace as comfortable and positive as possible?

When employees start work, we set a performance standard/goals. This is a collaborative process where the employee tells us what they want to learn or accomplish and we layout our own expectations for them on the job. We check in on this after their first month, then again at three and six months.

We could hold staff meetings once a month to discuss what we are doing well as a company, what is holding us back and where we may not have persisted with an issue, and set goals for us as a team. We can check in on these monthly.

We need to get better about conflict resolution in the workplace. When concerns are raised with management, we need to be more diligent in following up and handling these concerns.

Ensure regular check-ins with employees.Carry out anonymous employee satisfaction surveys where we ask about what management is doing well, how the job could be more enjoyable or the workplace more supportive.Set a goal of introducing monthly staff meetings by the end of the year.

PERSPECTIVE How can we better integrate the young person’s perspective, needs, and strengths into our work policy and performance standards?

We are quite good at recognising the cultural diversity in our workplace and have regular events that celebrate this.

Learn about the young person’s culture and other values and beliefs that are important to them. Check in with young people about any challenges outside the workplace that might impact on them at work: for example, problems with transportation or getting a uniform.

Connect with other organisations or services to get transportation assistance.Adjust our expectations and understand that young people might need more support in the workplace. Make better use of mentoring so that we can do this but also give young people opportunities to be mentors to other young people as they start work in our workplace.

Have we provided opportunities for young people to share their views in staff meetings and in other forums?



GUIDELINE 2 – Employers and agencies are adaptable and agile in responding to and meeting young people’s needs; they encourage young people’s exercise and development of agency, and remain action-oriented in terms of finding solutions, following through on promises, and offering meaningful support.






ADAPTABILITY How can we remain flexible and open to accommodating young people? How/what can we change in order to help them succeed?

We have regularly scheduled check-ins with our employees to see how they are going.

Ask more targeted questions during these check-ins about what they are struggling with and what we as an employer can provide to better accommodate them. Recognise that all young people will have different needs and we will do our best to address them individually.

Build social networks in the community in order to link young people with other organisations, if their needs cannot be met by us.

Pursue training for management (and other staff) about how best to communicate with and mentor young people.

Employee survey about work satisfaction and focus groups to discuss workplace practices.

AGILITY How can we respond quickly to young people’s needs? What needs to be put in place so that we are better able to support young people?

We have an Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) already established that offers resources and outside support to employees.

Though we have an EAP, this resource is not always appropriate or sufficient for all our employees. We require more knowledge of outside resources so that we can at least facilitate our employees getting connected to the right people.

Social networking with resources in the community.

Develop strategies for including young people in decision-making about work practices.

By the end of year, we will have created a section in the Employee Handbook that includes community resources.








AGENCY How can we provide young people the opportunity to make decisions, test their skills, and acquire new knowledge?

We have clearly established pathways for employees to progress or get promoted.

Don’t always step in to correct young people if they are doing something wrong (unless dangerous); let them figure it out but be there to talk about it afterwards.

Ask for young people’s opinions on projects, give them space to be creative and to contribute in ways that might not fit into their job description.

We need to find ways to support young people in decision-making processes not only about their own career pathways but also about workplace practices.

We can immediately start changing our performance reviews by asking young people to set goals and identify how they want to be monitored; allow opportunities for self-evaluations.

Employee satisfaction surveys.

ACTION-ORIENTED

How can we promote more practical and solutions-oriented employment practices?

We have a clear process in place for handling employee concerns or issues through our HR department.

We can tailor this to our young employees by being more proactive rather than reactive--frequently checking in with them to see how they are doing rather than waiting for them to come to us with an issue.

Depending on young people’s concerns or needs, we may need to build relationships with other organisations in the community.

We need to give young people opportunities to give us regular feedback in staff meetings. We will facilitate focus groups that explore specific employment practices and how well they are working for young people.



GUIDELINE 3 – Employers and agencies are committed to building strong, supportive relationships based on respect, reciprocity; support is relevant and responsive.






RELATIONSHIPS How can we emphasise relationship-building in our workplace and in our management practices?

We try to create strong relationships among employees by holding morning and afternoon teas.

We offer some social events for employees to attend.

We could run more social events and have young people organise these.

Establish a mentor or “buddy” system so that new or younger employees can pair up with older or more experienced employees.

Encourage relationship-building across the hierarchy of employees; find opportunities for more interaction among employees who don’t usually work with each other.

Training or research on how to establish an effective mentorship programme.

Begin researching the mentorship programme (by the end of the year).

Hold a holiday party and fundraiser dedicated to a charity that is voted on by employees.

Run employee surveys about relationships at work.

RESPECT How can we better demonstrate and encourage respect for young people?

We actively try and model respect, non-judgement and appreciation for all employees.

Encourage others to step-in when they see or hear hurtful, disrespectful behaviour towards employees or customers.

Training on conflict resolution.

Hold diversity training for employees.

Bring in other organisations who facilitate employment practices that promote diversity in the workplace.

Plan conflict resolution and diversity training for employees at next year’s companywide meeting.

Write an article in our workplace newsletter on diversity training and programmes. Seek out the views of young people and include these in the article.








RECIPROCITY How can we ensure that our young employees feel that their efforts and contributions are acknowledged and appreciated?

Regular performance reviews where we share what the employee is doing well, their strengths and areas of improvement.

As part of the yearly review process, we can ask other employees to contribute positive testimonials for the young person’s work.

Encourage positive reinforcement, gratitude and praise among employees.

Support the development of mentoring relationships including supporting young people to mentor other young people as they enter the workforce.

In staff meetings we will provide an opportunity for young people to share their stories of mentoring and monitor how this is working for young people and their co-workers.

RELEVANT How can we make work and the requirements set for young people more relevant to their goals and dreams?

In meeting with their team leader young people are asked for their feedback on their work including opportunities for skill development and how well they are being supported in learning new skills and managing their workload.

Ask young employees what particular part of the job they are interested in, if they have any career goals or skills they want to develop. Connect them with opportunities to explore these including with other organisations or educational resources.

Social networking so that we remain connected to community resources that are relevant for supporting the young people in our workplace.

Employee satisfaction surveys and focus groups on specific topics.

RESPONSIVE How can we best respond to the needs and goals of young people in the workplace?

We have an Employee Assistance Program and accessible HR department to handle any disputes or questions.

We need to be more proactive in reaching out to young people to offer assistance and support. This could be done by a mentor or at regular check-ins with the young person.

We will not always have the resources to help the young person. We can develop other community connections to help facilitate meeting their needs.

Develop a list of outside resources for employees and include these in the Employee Handbook.



GUIDELINE 4 – Employers and agencies dedicate time to working with young people, including building trust, demonstrating transparency in communication, adapting thresholds to best serve them, and being thoughtful about transitions in young people’s lives.

Questions to consider What we are already doing?




TIME How can we spend more time with young people understanding and supporting them? How can we optimise the time we already spend with young people?

For new employees, we provide a 3-hour orientation training, usually done in a group.

We can allow for 1-on-1 time so that we can get to know our young employees, figuring out what they enjoy, what they hope to get out of work, what challenges they might be experiencing that may impact on their work (for example, lack of transportation, having to care for siblings or grandparents).

Training on how to optimise supervision time with employees; how to better supervise and support teams of employees.

By the end of the year, have a list of training opportunities or resources for better supervision.

Run a focus group that canvasses employees’ feedback on supervision processes and how we support new employees.

TRUST How can we build and show more respect toward young people? How can we gain their trust?

We model and acknowledge good behaviour toward others.

We could give young employees more opportunities to shine and demonstrate to their co-workers what they know and bring to the workplace.

We need to provide opportunities for young people to share what makes a positive difference for them in the workplace and generates trust in their employers.

Provide opportunities in staff meetings for workers to share their feedback on both the positive aspects of the workplace and also the factors that are barriers to creating a positive work environment.







TRANSPARENCY How can we be more open with young people and work to ensure they understand the decisions being made in the workplace?

We send out an end-of-year report to all employees detailing business achievements and other high-level changes, as well as decisions, initiatives, and policies that relate to them and their areas of work.

We could hold more regular staff meetings to talk about business operations and any changes taking place.

Offer opportunities for young employees to get involved in planning – either on work projects, policies or social events.

Training on how to develop a young leaders’ programme or some equivalent where young employees are given leadership opportunities and are involved in decisions on employment practices.

Employee satisfaction survey – questions about how involved young people feel in decision-making; how informed they are about company policies and news.

THRESHOLDS How can we apply or adapt thresholds for intervening with and supporting our employees?

We have performance reviews and action plans for when an employee is under-performing.

We could be more proactive in supporting young people before they might meet the criteria for under-performance; more frequent check-ins with young employees.

Remain flexible with performance standards and action/correction plans.

Training on how to develop meaningful action/correction plans with employees.

Develop better relationships with community resources so that we can provide opportunities for young people to receive meaningful support.

We need to hold meetings with young people that give them an opportunity to provide feedback on the support they are receiving from their employers. Young people could run these meetings.







TRANSITIONS How can we be more considerate of the transitions young people have and are currently experiencing? What role does employment play in their transitions?

We work closely with a skills development programme.

Spend more time getting to know the young person and what else is going on in their life outside of work. Consider how work might be impacting on the rest of their life and what we can do to better support them.

Since many young people might be working with us as their first job, pursue training on how to work with employees on their first job – special considerations and supervisory needs. We can work more closely with the skills development programme to achieve this.

Start researching training or resources by the end of the year. We could do this in conjunction with the skills development programme and ask them to be involved in monitoring and evaluating our progress.



GUIDELINE 5 – Employers and agencies demonstrate honesty, humility, and a hopeful orientation.






HONESTY How can we show more follow-through on what we say we will do? How can we be more upfront about our limitations?

We encourage our team leaders to be honest with young people and to keep them informed of new developments in the workplace.

We encourage our employees not to over-commit and to tell their team leader about the challenges they may be facing at work and outside work that impact on them while at work.

We talk to them about managing their time between work and outside activities.

We can do a better job keeping young people informed of processes and decisions that affect them.

When working to help young people with challenges outside of work (for example, connecting them to mental health or other community resources), we must be open about our capacity to help and what role we can play.

We could do better at ensuring that all of our team leaders are supported to work well with young people.

We need to ensure that we have regular forums for young people to provide feedback on employment practices. These could be both formal meetings and social gatherings that support young people to feel more included in their workplace.








HUMILITY How can we better acknowledge when we have made mistakes?

We try to remain light-hearted and positive at work, especially when something unexpected happens or someone makes a mistake. We share stories about our mistakes and how we overcame these.

Especially for managers, it is important that we encourage employees to acknowledge when they have made a mistake and/or ask for help when they are unsure of what they are doing and we need to respond in a positive and proactive manner when they do.

Find resources on how to create an inclusive, open workplace where employees feel comfortable asking for help and support.

We need to enable young people to help other employees learn about what is important to them. Young people could facilitate staff meetings and training opportunities that enable other employees to learn about the everyday lives of young people.

Employee satisfaction survey – questions about how comfortable they are asking for help and with workplace practices.

HOPEFUL ORIENTATION

How can we inspire more hope for the future? How can we better acknowledge the hopes and dreams of young people and support them to come to fruition?

We try and inspire commitment and dedication in our employees by making clear the potential for advancement for them at the company.

We can spend more time with young employees to learn about their hopes for the future and how we might be able to help facilitate these (for example, through providing resources). We can show support and enthusiasm for young people working toward their goals and, in general, holding hope for their future.

Build social networks in the community to connect young people with others who might help facilitate their dreams and goals.

Provide opportunities for young people to learn new skills and take on leadership roles in the workplace.

By end of year, create a Resources section or Tool Guide to accompany the Employee Handbook

Provide opportunities for young people to share their workplace experiences including how these have given them more confidence and helped them work towards their life goals.



PUTTING PARTH INTO YOUR EMPLOYMENT PRACTICES WITH YOUNG PEOPLE

The following template provides the opportunity for you and your team to consider how you might already be putting

PARTH into practice and what you can do to better implement the practice orientations outlined in these Guidelines. Use the following plans as guides and feel free to be creative with how you apply each principle to your own workplace. For instance, maybe you have different ideas of what a practice orientation might entail. Capture that here and map out how you might

go about implementing and tracking that practice. You might choose to work on just one element at a time or you could

select some aspects of each element to focus upon.



Guideline 1 – Employers show passion, perseverance, and persistence, in supporting the young person at their workplace; they understand the young person’s perspective and are empathetic towards their life experiences.






PASSION

PERSEVERANCE

PERSISTENCE

PERSPECTIVE



Guideline 2 – Employers and agencies are adaptable and agile in responding to and meeting young people’s needs; they encourage young people’s exercise and development of agency, and remain action-oriented in terms of finding solutions, following through on promises, and offering meaningful support.






ADAPTABILITY

AGILITY

AGENCY

ACTION-ORIENTED



Guideline 3 – Employers and agencies are committed to building strong, supportive relationships based on respect, reciprocity; support is relevant and responsive.






RELATIONSHIPS

RESPECT

RECIPROCITY

RELEVANT

RESPONSIVE



Guideline 4 – Employers and agencies dedicate time to working with young people, including building trust, demonstrating transparency in communication, adapting thresholds to best serve them, and being thoughtful about transitions in young people’s lives.






TIME

TRUST

TRANSPARENCY

THRESHOLDS

TRANSITIONS



Guideline 5 – Employers and agencies demonstrate honesty, humility, and a hopeful orientation.






HONESTY

HUMILITY

HOPEFUL ORIENTATION



CONTACT Pathways to Resilience and Youth Transitions Projects

[email protected]

[email protected]

www.youthsay.co.nz



mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

guidelines for employers guidelines for employers f… · journey. thank you to the pmks for their...

Documents