An Employer’s Guidefluencycontent2-schoolwebsite.netdna-ssl.com/FileCluster/... · 2018-10-03 ·...

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An Employer’s Guide:

Preparing and delivering an engaging work experience

programme to help develop employability skills and build talent

pipeline

By CA Technologies

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Contents:

• Why is work experience important?

• Checklist: Ingredients of a high-quality work experience

programme

• Getting started: 8 things to consider

• Template: Your work experience planner (example)

• Template: Student rotation schedule (example)

• Template: Placement agenda (example)

• Template: Student Work Experience Log Book

• Case study: CA Technologies

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Why is work experience important?

For school students, the opportunity to do an industry placement – work experience

– is often their first interaction with a business and can have a powerful impact on

harnessing their employability skills and helping them make their future career

choices. For employers, the value of providing a work experience programme helps

promote skills in demand while contributing towards building future talent pipeline

and creating authentic brand awareness.

According to the recent Labour Market Information report for Berkshire, 27% of

Berkshire employers who recruit school leavers believe they are poorly prepared for

work. Of these, 12% say they believe young people have a poor attitude and lack

motivation. High-quality work experience programmes can play a significant part in

addressing these challenges by guiding young people through various types of jobs

and making them aware the skills needed to do them.

VALUE OF WORK EXPERIENCE FOR EMPLOYERS:

• Employee engagement – giving employees the opportunity to make a difference

in their local community helps strengthen workforce engagement and loyalty.

• Responsible business – contributing towards economic development in the

local community builds positive brand awareness.

• Employee development – involvement in managing and delivering a work

experience programmes gives employees development opportunities, from

coaching and mentoring to project management and line management.

• Talent pipeline – offering a work experience programme helps build connections

with the next generation of talent in the local area.

VALUE OF WORK EXPERIENCE FOR STUDENTS:

• Enhanced employability – work experience can positively impact young

people’s future employability as it is the first step to building a portfolio of work

experience to help stand out to potential employers.

• Skills development – awareness of essential skills needed in the workplace like

communication, teamwork, problem-solving, analytical thinking and adaptability.

• Reality of work – the understanding of how a company is structured and what a

typical working day is like.

• Making informed choices – insights into the various jobs and skills needed

helps students make informed decisions about their future careers – as well as

helping them choose the sector they might be inspired to work in.

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Checklist: Ingredients of a high-quality work experience

programme

Developing a work experience programme that brings value to students and

employers requires a clear set out inputs and outcomes – what employers put in and

what students should get out.

Here’s an overview of the key ingredients that make up a high-quality work

experience programme. Consider how your company can incorporate these into your

programme to deliver impactful outcomes:

o Leadership buy-in

Getting buy-in from your company’s leadership team to endorse and support the

work experience programme is a critical part of its success. There might be an

opportunity to connect the programme to the company’s corporate social

responsibility agenda or to an employee volunteering or company culture programme

– however it connects, it needs to show business value and engage employees.

Tip: Invite the CEO or company leader to welcome students when they arrive and

give an overview of the company. You can also arrange for students to have lunch

with the leadership team during their work experience placement.

o Employee engagement: mentoring and support

Delivery of a positive and high-quality work experience programme is largely

dependent on employee volunteers. The programme must appeal to their hearts and

minds – it needs to show how their involvement can bring value and make a

difference.

Leverage your company network to invite employees to get involved in helping to

shape and deliver the programme. Outline specific roles for each step of the

programme, these should include the overall programme owner; student key contact

(an employee who is the students’ point of contact during their placement and who

ensures smooth running of each step of the placement); department project leads (or

mentors to support students during their department rotation); HR project lead (for

company skills insight); facilities lead (for health and safety risk assessment if

needed); and your communications team to help promote the programme internally.

For each employee who plays a part in delivering the programme, ensure they are

fully briefed on expectations – what they need to deliver to achieve the outcomes

expected.

Tip: Host a working lunch session to introduce employees to the work experience

programme and to get their feedback and commitment.

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o Company purpose & culture

When students begin their work experience, give them an overview of your

company’s purpose in the market and a real feel for the culture. Be engaging and

interactive – ask them questions; show them short informative company videos; let

them see the great things your company has achieved and how it is making a

positive difference in the world.

Tip: Have an ice-breaker session with the students on their first day after arrival–

ask them what career they want to do after school and get them to share what they

know about your company and what they’re looking forward to during their

placement.

o Career types

Give students insight into the different careers and skills within your company by

drafting a department rotation schedule, where each department provides an

overview of what they do; the key technical and soft skills needed in their teams; and

a project for students to do with time allocated to then review results and provide

constructive feedback.

Tip: Invite department leads to appoint members of their teams to support the

placement and ask them to provide a clear overview on outcomes expected – use

the work experience planner to prepare this.

o Skill development

Identify key skills the students will learn during their work experience placement with

your company. These could be a mix of technical, transferable and soft skills –

encourage students to outline these skills in their “log book” which is their personal

development plan during the work experience placement (further information below).

The skills captured can also be shared with students and the school ahead of their

placement, so they are aware of what to expect.

Tip: Connect with your HR team to identify key skills needed in the business – both

technical and soft skills – and then share these with the departments involved so

they can use it as a base to prepare projects. This will help them plan their projects

effectively and will streamline the overall placement outcomes.

o Introduce a student log book

A log book will help students capture key learnings from their placement by

identifying skills they have learned and how they demonstrated them; specific skills

they may want to develop and personal highlights of the day. Their log book can also

include reviews by department leads after each project is completed. Allocate around

15-30 minutes at the end of each day during the placement for students to update

their log books.

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Getting started: 10 things to consider

When building your workplace experience programme, use this handy guide to

check you have considered all key steps in preparing your programme.

1. Work experience duration

Most work experience placements generally run for a week as this fits well with most

school schedules, however a one-day placement that is thoroughly prepared to

achieve quality outcomes can be far more impactful that a week-long placement that

is poorly planned. Placement duration depends on the time your company can allow

and how many departments will be involved. A placement from between three to five

days is ideal.

2. Timings

Work with the school’s career adviser to establish suitable dates to run the

placement. Often for many companies, the summer holiday season is best as it can

be a quieter period and allow employees more time to dedicate to the student

experience. For schools, allocating a date for a placement during term-time can be

difficult due to teachers’ schedules and school activities – however schools often

have time allocated for students to go out on work experience.

Once you and the school have agreed a date, define the times for students to arrive

and leave the workplace each day.

3. How many students?

The number of students you have on a work experience placement depends on the

resource within your company to accommodate them. If you decide to have a group

of 20 students, it is a good idea to allocate them in small groups during the week and

run a rotation plan between departments. For example, if you have five departments

taking part in the work experience placement and each department has capacity to

accommodate a group of four students, then you can have up to 20 students in a

single placement.

For small businesses, two to four students might be a manageable option. Since

there may not large teams in multiple departments, you can draft a rotation schedule

that involves shadowing employees in various role – with a project for students

relating to each role that learn about.

4. Choosing students for the placement

Before connecting with a school to offer the opportunity of a student work experience

placement, outline the skills and job roles within your organisation that students will

learn about. Provide a short outline of these together with the number of days, times

dates and student numbers your company can accommodate. The school can then

work with their students to allocate those who are best placed and interested in

placement opportunity your company is offering. Once students have been selected,

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it is useful to prepare them for the placement beforehand. Send the school’s career

adviser an overview of the skills and job roles students will be exposed to.

5. What does a good project look like?

When preparing projects for students to complete, the ideas are limitless. However,

keep it simple and link it back to the key skills they will learn. Think about

opportunities for students to work together and independently – can they solve a

problem or work on an activity where they will see the result of their efforts? For

example, if students are working in a communications department, they can learn

how the company runs its social media campaigns with the option to create their own

posts to support a real campaign. Hopefully with guidance they can have the chance

to share the posts in real-time. If the opportunity allows, include them in team

meetings and give them results-oriented actions to follow up.

6. Preparing employee volunteers

Once all employee volunteers have been identified to support the work experience

placement, it is important to ensure they are fully briefed on what is expected of

them. In your briefing document or conversations with them, include the following:

- Skills and job roles outline – each department taking part should provide a

list of skills and job roles students will learn about (use the work experience

planner template below), and an overview of the project they will work on.

Ideally, you would have provided a list from your HR team on the essential

skills – technical and soft – required in the company that the departments can

use to identify where they can support.

- Employee-student guide – identify an employee who can be a key point of

contact for the students during their placement. A friendly “guide” who can

meet the students when they arrive; introduce them to each department; help

them complete their log books at the end of each day and answer any general

questions they may have during their placement.

- Department rotation schedule – once timings have been agreed, share a

full schedule of the student work experience placement agenda with all

employees involved. Allow time for any final changes to take place – and work

with a degree of flexibility in case urgent items come up and plans need to

change.

7. Health and safety

Check with the school if a health and safety risk assessment must to be prepared,

usually the school or your facilities contact at the workplace can guide you with this if

it is required. It is also useful to have a clear code of conduct in place for employees

– the school should be able to provide one. Alternatively, see the European

Schoolnet’s industry-education code of conduct here for guidance.

http://www.eun.org/resources/detail?publicationID=301

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8. Student feedback

At the end of the placement, ask students to share feedback about their experience.

You can create a short online survey or give them a feedback form to complete. Ask

what they enjoyed the most; what skills they learned; what jobs/departments they

found most interesting; and if they have any suggestions to improve the future

workplace experience placements.

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Template: Your work experience planner

Once you have a list of departments that have confirmed they will take part in the

placement, use this department planner to start planning your work experience

schedule. Share it with the department leads so they can complete it.

The idea is that each department commits to an agreed time slot each day during the

placement to host a small group of students. Once all departments have completed

the form the rotation schedule can be prepared – and you can capture the key skills

students will learn and share it with the school.

Work Experience: Department planner (example)

DEPARTMENT NAME: (for example, “Finance”)

SKILLS TO BE LEARNED (a

list of skills can be provided, and

departments can mark the ones

they will focus on – and add any

not included in the list)

PROJECT OUTLINE (a couple

of sentences explaining the

project students will complete –

how they will put into practice

the skills outlined above)

EMPLOYEE VOLUNTEERS

(people in the department who

will be involved in the

placement)

PREFERRED TIME SLOTS (in

the template rotation schedule

we have suggested a three-hour

time slot each day for each

department)

Day 1 [DATE]

Date 2 [DATE]

Date 3 [DATE]

Date 4 [DATE]

Date 5 [DATE]

DEPARTMENT PROJECT

LEAD (person in each

department who will oversee the

students/project – key contact)

LOCATION (where will the

students need to go – a specific

meeting room or the actual

department?)

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Template: Student rotation planner

Once all departments have completed the department planner (above), use this

template to schedule the student rotations. In the example below, 20 students have

been placed into five groups of four and allocated a department over a five-day

placement. As a result, each student will spend a few hours in a different department

over the five days.

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Template: Student placement agenda

When the rotation schedule has been completed, a full agenda can be drafted for the

week or duration of the placement – and this can then be shared with all the

employees involved and the school too.

Note, in our example below we allocated a workshop for all students each day.

Consider what in-house trainings could be relevant to the students and who can host

them.

Student placement one-week agenda – template/example:

Introduction to the World of Work – Day One

Student work experience agenda

TIME ACTIVITY LOCATION & CONTACT

9am Arrive at office Employee who will meet and

greet students / Reception

9:15am Health & Safety induction Employee who will run session / meeting room name

9:30am Introduction to CA Technologies

and the world of tech

Employee who will run session / meeting room name

10am Tour of office and brief

introduction of each department

Employee name / meeting room name

10:30am Break / refreshments Employee name / meeting room name

11am Unconscious Bias workshop led

by HR team (with all students)


12:30pm Lunch – option for students to

have lunch with a member of the

leadership team


1:30pm Department Rotation 1:

• Overview of department

• Project outline

• Project review

Department representative leading the project / meeting room name

4:30pm Complete log books Department representative leading the project / meeting room name

5pm Close Work experience programme lead

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Introduction to the World of Work – Day Two



9am Arrive at office; sign in and get

your badge

Employee who will meet and


9:30am Department Rotation 2:


• Project outline

• Project review




leadership team


1:30pm Personal Branding workshop

(all students)


2:30pm Break / refreshments Employee name / meeting room name

3pm Employee networking session

(all students are split into small

groups and each have 10

minutes with an employee to ask

questions about their career

journey)

Employee names / meeting room name



Introduction to the World of Work – Day Three




your badge





• Project outline

• Project review




leadership team


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1:30pm DevOps Simulation Game (all

students) – this game introduces

students to how CA’s DevOps

products help customers in their

organisations




(students split into small groups

and each have 10 minutes with

an employee to ask questions

about their career journey)




Introduction to the World of Work – Day Four




your badge





• Project outline

• Project review




leadership team


1:30pm How to Build Your CV

workshop (all students)










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Introduction to the World of Work – Day Five




your badge





• Project outline

• Project review




leadership team


1:30pm Getting Started on LinkedIn

workshop (all students)









4:30pm Complete log books and final

presentation – students to share

key learnings achieved from the

week / celebration

Department representative leading the project / meeting room name – invite all employees involved in placement to attend


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Template: Student Work Experience Log Book

Use the template below to provide a daily log book for students to record their

learnings during their work experience placement. This will be useful for when they

return to school and apply what they learned.

Work Experience Log Book DEPARTMENT: Projects I completed today:

Skills I used and how I demonstrated them:

Brief description of what [DEPARTMENT] does:

What I did well and am proud of today:

On reflection, I would have done differently:

Other notes:

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Case study: CA Technologies Introduces Students to the

World of Work

During the summer of 2018, CA

Technologies UKI introduced

the World of Work programme

to give secondary school

students insight into how a

global technology company

operates – while highlighting the

essential skills needed to thrive

in the technology sector.

The programme was designed

by one of CA’s interns, who

worked with leaders across the

business and education partners to build a high-quality programme that would

inspire and motivate students to consider future careers in technology.

In the first placement, a group of 12 students aged between 14 and 16 spent three

days CA. They worked in various departments – from finance to software

engineering – learning how each operated. As part of this, they completed multiple

projects aimed to develop various skills including problem-solving, analytical

thinking, communications and creativity.

What students said:

“I had only ever done

computing in school, but never

got the chance to learn about

coding. Software engineering

was definitely my favourite

department to rotate into as we

got to code a doctor's

appointment website."

"I really enjoyed learning about how women at CA found their jobs and their career

journeys from education to [working] in a large business."

An Employer’s Guidefluencycontent2-schoolwebsite.netdna-ssl.com/FileCluster/... · 2018-10-03 ·...

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