We spoke to Talent Coach Samantha Maunder from Manchester Young Lives who supports young people in Manchester as part of Greater Manchester’s Hidden Talent. Our Talent Coaches provide one-to-one and holistic to support to young people who feel they need guidance to ultimately find training, education or employment.
The role of a youth worker
In terms of providing this support, Samantha emphasised the importance of engaging with young people on their terms.
“We arrange to meet up and try to do it in a place that’s comfortable for them, whether it’s at home, the local park, a local cafe, McDonalds – somewhere completely comfortable for them.”
She noted that the first conversation is very informal. She initially seeks to find out where they are up to and what kind of support and help they need. The young people that get involved with the programme tend to be known to the organisation because of their close links to the local community.
Manchester Young Lives commonly works with young people who have experienced care and often have negative views of support services. Samantha noted that the approach of a youth worker is to build up trust with young people.
“For those that are in care, which is a large proportion of our young people, they’ve worked with or have social workers, youth justice workers, and the honest answer is that they have lost respect for them.”
Samantha highlighted the importance of prioritising needs in order to overcome issues such as housing, finance and benefit entitlements, mental health issues, or drug or alcohol misuse, before they begin to provide employment support. This is important because the role of a youth worker should be to support young people with whatever they need, and employment is not always the best start point.
For example, Samantha recently started to work with a young person who was without permanent accommodation. She helped Alex* to find semi-supported accommodation through the organisation’s links with Shelter. Samantha detailed how she worked with Alex to get in touch with Shelter and begin the process of housing support. She also supported him to sign up for Universal Credit, and continues to support him to navigate the benefits system and job searching. She is also working with the housing team to ensure he will not lose his home if he is able to find work.
“A young lad we worked with was sofa surfing between friends, so he was safe, but we ensured that he had food, clothing, bedding, that he was comfortable until he was able to get semi-supported accommodation.”
Samantha spoke about the pressure that young people feel to do well from their peers on social media, from parents and from society. She noted that a lack of opportunities for young people from schools and employers to develop skills, confidence, and an understanding of what it’s like to be in a place of work are impacting young people’s wellbeing. Samantha highlighted the value of work experience opportunities for young people;
“…it might be that they lack even the basic skills within any employability area. It’s already looking at what they can do, what they can’t do and where they want to go and taking it as a step by step process. So work experience and volunteering is key.”
Samantha gave an example of a young person she supported after her employment in a nursery wasn’t what she expected after years of training, so Samantha supported her to find experience in a field she was passionate about. She was able to secure a work placement work with animals and was soon offered an apprenticeship; she is now a qualified dog groomer!
“It just goes to show, having that support and little bit of work experience, getting that understanding of what it is, makes a big difference.”
The role of employers
Samantha spoke about the role of employers when it comes to offering opportunities to young people. She noted that a young person with no experience but willingness to learn can be a great asset to a company because they can be given the right skills and experiences and, with the right support, could progress very quickly.
“It’s teaching employers that if you take the steps and are a little bit flexible, then actually, once that young person is in, they could be really hard working.”
She noted that it is important for employers to be flexible. For example, one young person supported by Manchester Young Lives had learning needs as well as other mental health issues. When Samantha started to work with him, he hadn’t left his home in months. She was able to support him to the point of finding a work experience opportunity, and worked closely with the employer to help them understand the needs of the young person who struggled to always communicate effectively. With some flexibility and support from the employer, the young person eventually moved into a permanent position and, years later, is still in post.
“Even that feedback from the employer was really positive that, by us giving him those steps and helping support, they were able to sufficiently support him as well.”
It is so important that employers are willing to adapt their recruitment policies and be more flexible in their approach to ensure they are being inclusive and fully exploring the labour market. A typical recruitment system can exclude the right candidate.
We encourage employers to review their recruitment systems to ensure young people who may be lacking in skills and experience have a chance since, with the right support, they could perfect for the role.
“We’re just grateful we have the opportunity to be able to support young people, and for young people to know that there are organisations out there that will help and support… At the end of day, they’re the future aren’t they.”
Read our toolkit for employers on adapting recruitment to get the best out of young people, here.
For more on Greater Manchester’s Hidden Talent visit here.
For more on Manchester Young Lives visit here.
*Not their real nameGreater Manchester's Hidden Talent is funded by the UK Government through the UK Community Renewal Fund, and led by GMCVO.
The UK Community Renewal Fund is a UK Government programme for 2021/22. This aims to support people and communities most in need across the UK to pilot programmes and new approaches to prepare for the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. It invests in skills, community and place, local business, and supporting people into employment. For more information, visit here.
