As parents and caregivers we would all agree that one of our primary goals is to prepare our children for their future life, to instill a set of values and work ethics that enable them to live a successful and meaningful life.
To prepare teenagers for a future that sets them up for success, it’s important to understand what life skills are needed to be developed and to find a way to encourage these in our children by exposing them to opportunities that develop these skills.
Currently in business, it is well known that 9 life skills are vital for adults to be ahead of the game:
- Problem solving
- Critical thinking
- Communication skills
- Decision-making
- Creative thinking
- Interpersonal relationship skills
- Self awareness building skills
- Empathy and
- Coping with stress skills
One way for teenagers to start building these skills is to be given employment opportunities where they can learn and grow in a safe, inspiring and encouraging environment.
When teens choose to have a job, employment teaches:
- Responsibility and good work habits
- Time management skills and organizational skills
- Company culture by understanding the rules of the workplace
- Good timekeeping, reliability and responsibility
- Team building skills, by working as part of a team.
- Self-confidence, with a clear understanding of their skill sets
The added benefits for the teenagers and for us with them at the helm as our future leaders, is that they are better prepared for what the world has to offer, can create more effective solutions and therefore can contribute to society by making a more considered and powerful impact.
- Financial Footprint: Teens learn how to manage and value money by saving
and understanding personal finance and helps them to transition from
youth into adulthood with real life experiences outside of a school and
home environment. - Career preparation: With teens skill development and experience, it will
open up future job or business opportunities by establishing contacts with
adult employers that can serve as a future references or partners. 'Some
young people build a career out of their part-time job. - Learner mindset improves school grades: This type of learning and
applying skills on the job helps teens improve at school. If they work a
reasonable amount of hours—less than 15 hours a week—they get better
grades than teens who don’t work which opens more doors to what they
choose to pursue in life.
Pro tips for Employers to hire teenagers
For businesses looking to fill their skill gaps in a tight labor market, qualified teenage workers may be the perfect solution. Driven, hardworking teenagers can be a great asset to any business, especially during the busy summer holiday seasons:
- Teens are eager to work and earn money or experience
- Its an efficient and more affordable way to expand the companies workforce in peak times
- You are shaping the next generation of working professionals- in most jobs teenagers will learn soft skills such as responsibility, organization, time management and creative problem solving that will serve them well through high school, continuing education and the work force.
However, hiring teen workers doesn’t come without challenges or special considerations. As part of this consideration, Cascades has developed a "Preparation for part-time work” course as part of their 21 st century Life skills programme to help teens learn the basic skills needed to be prepared and be an asset for your company.
Some tips for recruiting, hiring and managing teen workers include:
- Post your jobs where teens are ‘hanging out’ online
- Communicate transparently and showcase your values
- Be patient during the interview and onboarding process
- Set clear expectations in the job interview process regarding punctuality, call-off procedures, customer service basics.
- Build relationships for your long-term seasonal employment needs
- High school years are formative and crucial to development, so it’s important to be respectful of prior school commitments.This also allows you to develop a strong working relationship so that teenagers continue to come back year after year.
If you are looking at hiring teenagers, be it as a part-time worker, intern or volunteer please reach out to Leila at Cascade Education. We would love to see how we can connect one of our teenagers with your company and to see if it’s the right fit or understand what you are looking for and find you a solution.
To set up a meeting to discuss how to be part of developing the next generation, please email me on leila@cascade-community.com
Looking forward to hearing from you,
Leila
