Putting community, equity, dignity and pride at the centre of work
We are ready to partner with others to replicate our approach to providing exciting employment opportunities to different communities and bring in unique perspectives. read on to find out more about the impact this could have within your organisation.
Two people talking while sitting in a warm-coloured conference room
One of the hardest things to confront when we first launched our internship programmes for unemployed or underemployed young people were the hiring managers who said things like
"..if they are that good why are they unemployed?"
The rhetoric around unemployment and benefits has changed somewhat with furlough and income support during the pandemic, but prior to this, we'd often spend many hours confronting people on their ignorance around why brilliantly talented people might need to claim benefits. We were exhausted having spent so much time fighting people that hold the harmful belief that unemployed people need to justify themselves.
But the brilliant thing about our internship programme is that we don't have to do anything to prove our young people's capabilities and "employability". We simply make space for them to demonstrate that for themselves. Starting with the work task we set in the interview process, through to the variety of projects they deliver among our community of small businesses - our programme creates multiple different opportunities for our young people to show their potential.
One thing we'd always aimed to change with our paid and flexible internships was opening up opportunities to people who weren't able to do tonnes of free work experience simply to "get their foot in the door". Aside from the fact that we shouldn't be expecting anyone to work for free, there are also so many people who don't know what door they should be trying to get their foot in, or perhaps the doors they are trying aren't quite the right shape for their unique skills and interests.
We live in a world where work is seen as a signifier of someone's value. And because of this many of us race to squeeze ourselves through a door that doesn't fit just so that we can prove to everyone that we are worthy. And while we might be earning ourselves a pay cheque we're cutting out important parts of ourselves to keep going on the work treadmill. Whether that's dropping our passion for what feels like security, or sacrificing our mental health for the cultural norms in an organisation that wouldn't hesitate to replace us.
In most situations, there is an extremely unhealthy power dynamic between employers and employees. We are meant to feel so grateful for having a job that some level of poor treatment is accepted by all of us. Alongside our internship programmes, we provide a lot of consultancy and training around diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace. Throughout this work, we've heard so many people say
"..yeah but our company is much better than other employers!"
as if being a bare minimum employer who is not overtly trying to take advantage of us is something to strive for in this day and age. And many of us know we stick out much worse than this. Because we feel indebted to the people that 'gifted' us a job. Because it'd be too scary to say no to the comfort of the devil we know, it'd be too shameful to give up a "good career" for our health and happiness.
Three people laughing while sitting at a table with laptops and notebooks (Photo by Brooke Cagle on Unsplash)
The beauty of what we are creating in our paid and collaborative internship programme is that it gives space and time for organisations and individuals to mutually explore what they have to offer and learn to value each other in the process. We believe that this builds self-esteem and a more equal power dynamic between employer and employee. We focus on unique individuals (both our interns and the managers we work with) who we encourage to bring their whole selves into their work together and create space for open, honest conversation from day one. When a young person is hired by an organisation on our programme, we know that organisation is choosing to hire the whole person, and that individual is accepting the role because it truly makes sense for them and what they want and need.
And if people and organisations don't find a good match through the programme it has not been a wasted journey. The collaborative aspect, with multiple people and organisations coming together to work and learn, builds resilience and connection for everyone. Even if those connections don't immediately turn into a new job or a new hire, we've seen that there is a powerful support network growing through Collaborative Future where people champion each others work. And finally the individual coaching and spaces for group learning that we provide to both young people and businesses has the power to transform people's relationships to one another, themselves and their work.
We think our model of collaborative internship programmes - that put community, equity, dignity and pride at the centre - has the power to change the world of work. And we are ready to partner with more organisations, networks and communities to replicate our approach - not just for young people, but for a diverse range of talent across a wide variety of industries. We want to work together with more people to deliver programmes like ours, ultimately discovering more ways to transform employment and empower everyone to thrive in work.