From a sponsored post in Crain's Business Cleveland.                                     October 17, 2021 04:00 AM

Youth Opportunities Unlimited (Y.O.U.) has been advocating for young workers since its inception in 1982. A strategic initiative for the organization is including the voices of our youth in programming and seeking their feedback to improve services.

As part of this initiative, Y.O.U. participates in Generation Work Cleveland|Cuyahoga (Generation Work CC), along with Towards Employment, Cuyahoga County, The Centers for Family and Children, OhioMeansJobs|Cleveland-Cuyahoga County, The Fund for Our Economic Future, OhioGuidestone, and the Advanced Technology Academy at Cuyahoga Community College. The Generation CC provides a framework for local policymakers and providers of workforce services for young people to share new learning, strengthen referral relationships, improve data accessibility, and promote racial equity efforts. The partnership’s framework is designed to improve current practice, connect, and align systems actors and institutionalize change across the young adult workforce system.

In the fall of 2020, Generation Work CC interviewed 32 young adults who were engaged in workforce development services and training with partners. The purpose of the interviews was to learn about the employment experiences of young adults and to gain insight into how they would improve workplace culture and practices.

The interviews were conducted as the nation was experiencing protests, a global epidemic, and economic turmoil. Discussions of equity and opportunity were foremost on the minds of the racially diverse group of Young Adult Advisors who participated in interviews. Some shared their ideas about what an equitable work environment would look like.

One young woman, who had just welcomed her first baby, said, “If employers really wanted to promote equity, they would have a deep understanding of:

• how young people conduct themselves, and knowledge that some inner-city kids may make mistakes because of traumas they have faced, but with help will be great employees;

• the childcare and home-schooling challenges that parents of young children face because of COVID-19; and

• the need to have practices in place to welcome women back into the workforce and their previous job after they have a baby.

You can read the full report here, and the messages are consistent. Young people want to work in a company where their employer is empathetic, committed to providing a healthy and safe environment, understands workers’ point of view, and is open-minded. Young Adults are more likely to succeed at companies where their supervisors have the same kind of background as the young adults they supervise. These supervisors should take time to explain roles and responsibilities carefully and take young people seriously, especially young people from potentially different backgrounds. Finally, young adults want to be in frequent contact with their supervisors. They want to get (and give) feedback about the job and workplace, especially when it’s positive!

The majority of young people had a list of criteria they saw as positive characteristics of a good company. In addition to good pay, healthcare, and 401K, they are looking for dependable employment and steady schedules; transparent communication from employers regarding schedules, work duties and work hours; information about the whole company at orientations and tours of the whole company to get an idea of where they fit in. They are also interested in what opportunities are available if they stay with the company but want a different job; time off to take children to appointments and go to school meetings; and career mentoring opportunities to help plan and build the skills needed to get promotions.

Given this feedback, it’s imperative that employers, workforce and economic development partners, and others who are striving to develop strong, equitable and inclusive talent pipelines pay attention to the needs of our young adults. Companies should listen to young voices if they want to build a thriving and increasingly competitive workforce in Cuyahoga County.

About Generation Work

In Northeast Ohio, the Generation Work partnership, funded by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, aims to support the development of a coordinated and accessible workforce system that blends positive youth development and demand-driven strategies to build quality career pathways for young people of all backgrounds. The initiative is designed to address the needs of young adults 18 to 24 years old who are enrolled in federal workforce development programs and eligible to receive public benefits.

Generation Work at a Glance

The Annie E. Casey Foundation launched Generation Work in 2016 to explore new ways of connecting young Americans with the knowledge and experience they need to succeed in the job market. The initiative, which includes partnerships in Cleveland, Hartford, Indianapolis, Philadelphia and Seattle, weaves together best practices from the adult education and training field — in particular, a focus on demand-driven workforce development strategies — with positive youth development practices, such as mentoring and work-based learning, to better prepare young people ages 18-29 for work.

Why?

Traditional education and training models are failing to equip young people, especially young adults of color, in Greater Cleveland and surrounding Cuyahoga County with the skills and credentials necessary to land jobs that pay family-sustaining wages. Read more at Policy Matters Ohio: "Cleveland youth face barriers to good jobs".

Black Greater Clevelanders are less likely to find employment, and when they do secure work, on average earn lower pay than their white counterparts. At the same time, employers in the critical sectors of manufacturing, healthcare, information technology (IT), and other areas of economic growth, have difficulty filling job openings.

The Generation Work partnership in Northeast Ohio is working to address the systemic and institutional barriers to work that young adults of color and other youth from low-income families face, and helping them attain the necessary education and training to secure meaningful careers.

Northeast Ohio's Approach

The Generation Work partnership in Northeast Ohio provides a framework for local policymakers and providers of workforce services for young people to share new learning, strengthen referral relationships, improve data accessibility and promote racial equity efforts. The partnership’s framework is designed to improve current practice, connect, and align systems actors and institutionalize change.

Key Partners

In Northeast Ohio, the Generation Work partnership is made up of nonprofit youth service providers, workforce development organizations, local government and funders.

Youth Opportunities Unlimited helps teens and young adults succeed by providing educational and workforce opportunities, skills development courses and access to career pathways. It partners with Towards Employment to provide services at the YRC.

The Centers for Families and Children offers integrated health care approach, 5-star early learning programs, and workforce training to underserved individuals, families, and children.

Cuyahoga County administers state Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) funding and workforce development programming through its offices of human services and economic development.

Cuyahoga Community College Advanced Technology Academy (ATA) program offers training at no-cost to students ages 18-24, and industry recognized certificates in demand driven occupations. The ATA program is workforce driven, designed to increase occupational skills, employment opportunities, and retention.

The Fund for Our Economic Future is a collaborative of foundations, corporations, universities, health care systems, private businesses and civic agencies that focuses on advancing economic growth in Northeast Ohio.

OhioGuidestone, one of the largest behavioral health agencies in the state, has been helping individuals reset their paths, reclaim their autonomy and restore their purpose for more than 155 years through community counseling, substance use disorder treatment, early childhood services, psychiatric care, workforce development training and more.

The Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Workforce Development Board operates OMJ|Cleveland-Cuyahoga, which houses the YRC and administers Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) funding.

Towards Employment is a workforce development organization that builds career pathways to successful, long-term employment while creating a talent pipeline for local businesses. It partners with Youth Opportunities Unlimited to provide services on behalf of the public one-stop career center, OhioMeansJobs|Cleveland-Cuyahoga County (OMJ|CC), at the Young Adult Resource Center (YRC).