Youth Development and Leadership— Employer Section
In today’s continually evolving workplace, employers know that employees who are actively engaged
in on-going professional development and leadership opportunities are more productive. They also know
that employees who feel respected and valued in the workplace tend to stay in their positions longer.
These opportunities and experiences are important for all workers, but especially for young workers
who have not yet acquired high-quality work habits and a strong work ethic.
The most important thing an employer should know about including youth with
disabilities in leadership opportunities in the workplace is that youth development and leadership are not isolated events and they can be provided within
the workplace. Employers can provide valuable insights about what is necessary
to be a valued employee and how to learn from other employee role models who
exercise leadership qualities.
Questions
1. What is
the relationship between workplace skills and youth development areas?
In 1991 the Department of Labor’s Secretary’s Commission on Achieving
Necessary Skills met to discuss “the demands of the workplace and whether
our young people are capable of meeting those demands.” The Commission,
comprised of 16 business representatives, seven educators, four union members,
and three government officials including the Secretary of Labor, identified
five basic competencies and a three-part foundation that workers need to perform
in today’s highly competitive global workplace. Most of the elements that
the Commission identified are closely aligned with the five developmental areas
in which young people need to learn and grow: thriving, leading, connecting,
learning, and working. (See
Outcomes and Activities Table.)
There are a variety of ways in which employers can provide developmental and
leadership opportunities for youth in the workplace that will promote a pipeline
of qualified new workers. Providing supportive adults through role modeling;
supporting youth development through goal setting; and offering opportunities
for leadership development are but a few examples.
Secretary’s Commission on
Achieving Necessary Skills
Ferber, Pittman, and Marshall (2002) identify nine critical tasks for state
policymakers in creating an aligned youth development system. They are:
Competencies
- Identifying, organizing, planning, and allocating resources
- Working with others
- Acquiring and using information
- Understanding complex inter-relationships
- Working with a variety of technologies
Foundations
Basic Skills: Reads, writes, performs arithmetic and mathematical operations,
listens, and speaks
Thinking Skills: Thinks creatively, makes decisions, solves problems, visualizes,
knows how to learn, and reasons
Personal Qualities: Displays responsibility, self-esteem, sociability, self-management,
integrity, and honesty
2. How can an employer
effectively locate and work with a high quality partner when implementing a
work-based learning program?
Employers can partner with schools and other youth-serving organizations to
provide the following opportunities and expertise:
- Guests speakers from business and industry
- Industry mentors
- Mock employment interviews
- Work readiness workshops
- Job shadowing, workplace visits, internships, summer employment
- Workplace problem-solving activities
- Conflict management training
- Career planning activities
Additional activities that facilitate leadership development either through
on-the-job or group experiences for youth with disabilities include:
- Challenges based on new and/or complex tasks or problems
- Chances to learn new ideas, practices, insights
- Opportunities to apply and practice skills and knowledge
- Opportunities for encouragement and confidence building
- Opportunities to work as a member of a team
- Opportunities to work in project management
3. What should employers
know about including youth with disabilities in work-based learning programs?
For many youth, leadership skills are developed during extracurricular activities.
For some youth, including those with disabilities, this is not always the case.
Youth with disabilities need supportive adults, employers, family members, and
teachers to help facilitate their involvement in such activities. Leadership
opportunities can be enhanced through employment-related activities.
Employers can provide valuable insights about what is necessary to be a valued
employee and how to learn from other employee role models who exercise leadership
qualities. In fact, in a survey of five national youth development program initiatives
focusing on youth and leadership development, common program elements included
the following:
- Providing hands-on experiential activities
- Involving youth in developing and implementing activities
- Seeking opportunities for youth to experience success and to try new roles
- Emphasizing knowledge of self, strengths, and weaknesses
- Offering connections to community and other youth organizations
In addition, exposure to role models can be very important in helping youth
with disabilities consider future careers. Role models can be found in many
settings, including business and industry or professional or trade organizations.
Role models can help youth:
- Gain an understanding of occupations and requirements for entering specific
occupations or trade,
- Learn about the personal experiences of people who choose to enter such
occupations or trades
- Ask questions about specific careers
- Learn about the importance of leadership in employment
- Interact with successful adults with disabilities
- Make valuable reference contacts with people currently working in particular
occupations or trades of interest to you
4. How can an employer effectively locate
and work with a high quality partner when implementing a work-based learning
program?
One place to start is the Local Workforce Investment Board (WIB), the lead
strategic planning workforce development organization for local communities.
The WIBs promote leadership development skills and activities for youth of all
ages in their local communities. The WIBs do this by developing and improving
links between the employer community and the various organizations involved
in workforce preparation in order to encourage youth leadership and youth development
opportunities for all youth, including youth with disabilities.
Potential partnering agencies may include:
- One-Stop Career Center: A partnership between the U.S.
Department of Labor, state governments, and local agencies to provide a comprehensive
database of service providers accessible via phone or the Internet to the
public. Services may include job training, youth programs, leadership seminars,
disabled worker programs, etc.
- Business Leadership Network (BLN): A national business-led
initiative of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in concert with state Governor’s
committees and other community agencies that engage the leadership and participation
of companies to hire qualified job applicants with disabilities.
- National Mentoring Partnership: An ongoing planned partnership
where mentors agree to focus on helping another person reach a specific goal
over a specific period of time.
- Local industry organizations or employer networks: Many
employer networks already have in place opportunities to facilitate leadership
opportunities for the youth they serve such as the Society for Human Resource
Management (SHRM), the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), the National
Retail Federation (NRF), and the International Consortium of Hospitality and
Tourism Institutes (ICHTI).
Resources
American Youth Policy
Forum (AYPF)
http://www.aypf.org
AYPF is a non-profit, non-partisan, professional development organization providing
learning opportunities for policymakers on youth policy issues at the national,
state, and local level.
Community
Youth Development (CYD) Journal
http://www.cydjournal.org
CYD Journal is a leading publication for youth and community workers, educators,
administrators, researchers, policymakers, and other practitioners committed
to the development of young people and communities. CYD promotes youth and adults
working together in partnership and offers the opportunity to create just, safe,
and healthy communities by building leadership and influencing public policy.
The
Forum for Youth Investment (Forum)
http://www.forumforyouthinvestment.org
The Forum is dedicated to increasing the quality and quantity of youth investment
and youth involvement by promoting a “big picture” approach to planning,
research, advocacy and policy development among the broad range of organizations
that help constituents and communities invest in children, youth, and families.
Leadership
Online
http://www.leadershiponlinewkkf.org
Leadership Online provides information on leadership, including leadership studies,
emerging leadership resources, events, grants and awards, and more. The website
is aponsored by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.
National Association
of Manufacturers (NAM)
http://http://www.nam.org
The NAM is an industrial trade association representing manufacturers and employees
in every industrial sector. NAM is working toward the mission of enhancing the
competitiveness of manufacturers and to shape legislation toward economic growth,
and increased national understanding of the importance of manufacturing in America’s
economy.
National
Center on Secondary Education and Transition Web page on Youth Development and
Leadership
http://www.ncset.org/topics/leadership
NCSET creates opportunities for youth with disabilities to achieve successful
futures. This page contains frequently asked questions about youth development
and leadership for youth with disabilities, research, resources, and emerging
and promising practices.
National
Council on Disability Youth Advisory Committee
http://www.ncd.gov/newsroom/advisory/youth/youth.htm
The Youth Advisory Committee, consisting of 12 youth and young adult members
representing the interests of each federal region, provides advice to the National
Council on Disability (NCD) to make sure NCD’s activities and policy recommendations
respond to the needs of youth with disabilities.
National Retail
Federation (NRF)
http://http://www.nrf.com
The National Retail Federation (NRF) is a trade association with membership
that comprises all retail formats and channels of distribution including department,
specialty, discount, catalog, Internet, independent stores as well as the industry’s
key trading partners of retail goods and services.
National
Youth Employment Coalition (NYEC)
http://www.nyec.org
NYEC is a non-partisan national organization dedicated to promoting policies
and initiatives that help youth succeed in becoming lifelong learners, productive
workers, and self-sufficient citizens.
National
Youth Leadership Council (NYLC)
http://www.nylc.org
The National Youth Leadership Council’s mission is to build vital, just
communities with young people through service-learning. As an active supporter
of service-learning and national service, NYLC promotes efforts to reform education
and guide youth-oriented public policy.
National
Youth Leadership Network (NYLN)
http://www.nyln.org
The NYLN is a voice for young people with disabilities across the United States
and its territories interested in helping to shape the policies and services
that affect them.
The Society
for Human Resource Management (SHRM)
http://http://www.shrm.org
SHRM serves the needs of the human resource management professional by providing
the most essential and comprehensive set of resources available.
Workforce
Investment Act Youth Councils
http://www.heldrich.rutgers.edu/resources_youth.asp
Through this web site, the School of Public Policy at Rutgers University provides
materials to assists states and localities as they establish youth councils
and build their local youth workforce investment systems as part of the Workforce
Investment Act (WIA).
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