What is The Careers & Enterprise Company's mission?
The Careers & Enterprise Company is a national body for careers education, and our mission is to ensure that every young person in education can find their next step. That could be becoming an entrepreneur, setting up their own business, going on to technical education, apprenticeships, or higher education.
Young people are prepared - they have the information, the inspiration, and the skills. They just need to find their best next step.
Abdul Bathin, Business and Skills Manager, The Careers & Enterprise Company
Why is work experience and careers engagement so important in today's economy and society?
When work experience is done really well, it makes a massive difference to young people. During this conference, we talked about almost a million young people being Not in Education, Employment, or Training, which is devastating.
Work experience and careers education is a solution. It helps young people make informed choices and understand what the world of work actually looks and feels like.
Abdul Bathin, Business and Skills Manager, The Careers & Enterprise Company
We know that if a young person has four or more encounters with the world of work, they are 86% less likely to need unemployment support. Exposure to the world of work makes a real difference in how young people make choices, progress, and see the opportunities available to them.
We also know that businesses which develop strong careers education, outreach programmes and engage with schools and colleges over the longer term receive real benefits in return: reduced recruitment costs, access to the right skilled young people, and more diverse talent entering their businesses. And of course, there is a broader cost saving to the economy. Our latest data shows that when careers education is delivered well, the estimated saving to the taxpayer is around £300 million a year.
What can employers do to help young people take that next best step?
There are three things employers can do.
First, we have a free tool and framework called the Employer Standards. If you're an employer unsure where to start, or you've been involved in careers education but aren't sure where you're making the most impact, you can complete a free self-assessment. It will show you where your gaps are and where your strengths lie, and give you access to a range of resources to help improve your careers education outreach.
Second, you can sign up as a Cornerstone Employer - the flag bearers of careers education. You'd work strategically with one of our 44 careers hubs to advocate for high-quality careers education in your area.
Third, you can sign up as an Enterprise Advisor. It's a voluntary role where you'll be assigned to one or more schools and work quite strategically with them. That might mean helping design work experience and working with the leadership team, or it might be more practical, connecting schools to more employers in your region.
So: number one, Employer Standards. Number two, sign up as a Cornerstone Employer. Number three, sign up as an Enterprise Advisor.
What brought you to the Social Value Conference?
I was really excited to join the conference, it was my very first time. My primary reason for coming is that while there are a lot of barriers people are talking about, here we have colleagues who are talking about solutions, collectively coming together and thinking about all the different challenges around delivering good quality Social Value. But they're solution-oriented. So I'm coming away having learned a little more about what we can do and how we can support employers to deliver Social Value.
What are you hoping to achieve with your partnership with Social Value Portal?
We are experts in careers education. Established for over a decade and well-versed in this space. But what we're not experts in is procurement and Social Value. We see a massive opportunity to engage our careers hubs with their procurement teams, and to direct Social Value to where there is real, genuine need. Our partnership with Social Value Portal is focused on developing training and resources for careers hubs and teams to work with local authorities and combined authorities around public procurement.
How are you finding our partnership together so far?
Honestly, working with Social Value Portal feels like a genuine partnership. So I would say the partnership is going really well. We're learning from each other and Social Value Portal is getting closer to understanding what good quality careers education looks like. Also, we as a team are learning a lot more about public policy and public procurement.
At the moment it feels like a partnership - we're working in collaboration, we engage on a regular basis, and one of the reasons I'm here today is because of that partnership.
Abdul Bathin, Business and Skills Manager, The Careers & Enterprise Company
Learn how to deliver Social Value
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