Calling on employers to step up to the challenge

April 2016

Careers guidance and information is once again creeping up the agenda – as indeed it should; indeed it ought never to have fallen off it!

The Careers and Enterprise Company has been formed and is starting to operate throughout the country. The Company has just announced the partners with whom they intend to work on the Careers and Enterprise Fund and I am delighted that EDT’s Industrial Cadets programme is amongst them.

Sir John Holman backed by the Gatsby Foundation has investigated what makes for best practice careers guidance to young people and has produced some 8 benchmarks. Numbers 5 and 6 are all about employer engagement with young people in the process of careers guidance; “encounters with employers and employees” and “experiences of workplaces.”

These are the key elements that we at EDT are so passionate about and have been working on and providing to young people for over 30 years. It is precisely what Industrial Cadets has been focused at achieving, ensuring that quality outcomes are targeted and that all young people can be recognised for the workplace experiences that they gain.

Employers recognise that they have to engage with the next generation of talent if they want to grow their business and indeed in many cases just maintain it. Often, employers aren’t quite sure how to go about it, or what activities and experiences they can offer. Once they are providing workplace experiences, maintaining the relationship with local schools and communities can be a challenge, particularly when costs and time are under pressure. That’s where EDT/Industrial Cadets can assist employers to achieve this and to do so in a cost effective manner.

We have to find a way to provide these experiences to all young people and that will require many, many more employers to step up to the challenge. We are ready to support this challenge across the UK.