Establishing a Youth Friendly Workplace in Honour of World Youth Day
The youth will inherit the world.
World Youth Day is a day dedicated to addressing global concerns and promoting sustainable development amongst youth. This day is devoted to the role that young men and women can play in bringing about change, and also provides a chance to increase awareness about the difficulties and issues that young people face worldwide.
At QG Group — and in the advertising industry in Uganda in general —the youth make up the majority of workers, owing to the fact that Uganda’s youth population is 81%. Young people — more at home in the digital era than their predecessors — are nurturing a new culture of extremely distinctive beliefs, attitudes, and expectations in the workplace, a prospect that is equal parts initially jarring and exciting in the ways it can facilitate and enhance Uganda’s untapped potential.
Indeed, this segment of the population are revolutionising the workplace to the extent that the maintenance of a youth-friendly business and internal culture is desired and often required, as it is essential for luring in and sustaining the greatest talent and capacity for innovation that will shepherd companies through the mercurial, constantly evolving landscape. We’ve compiled a few tips that can be used in the workplace to make it more welcoming to the youth we should be hiring.
Pass it on.
Firstly, there’s the use of the mentoring and reverse-mentoring technique. Agencies need to have a strong mentorship program that develops young talent, and that includes having an eye for potential that can be tended to until fruit is borne.
Fortunately enough, the young people who are entering the corporate sector do so with a strong desire to learn and develop their skills. Mentorship programs for young employees are an excellent way to recruit the eager, porous industry leaders of tomorrow.
Corporate executives stand to benefit greatly in return from a mentorship that is actually reciprocal in nature. Reverse mentorship allows millennial and new entry Gen Z employees to teach senior executives who are more experienced how to use emerging technology (such as social media, artificial intelligence, etc.) to their advantage.
There’s an “us” in “trust.”
Secondly, we can implement self-managed working schedules. There is a perception that unmonitored workers are less productive, which is why set working hours and locations are put in place. However, this isn’t always effective and the pandemic disproved this misconception entirely.
When the focus is on accomplishing the assigned responsibilities, not on showing up for a predetermined period of time, that encourages a dedication to the work and not the job, essential in encouraging engagement over obligation.
Author Michael Beckmann found that “Employees with broad control over their working hours actually work more and typically have a greater degree of happiness, inventiveness, and job performance” in his study titled “Self-Managed Working Times.” Your business will undoubtedly experience more productivity if you allow the youth to self-manage their working hours.
Safe zone.
Lastly, it has been shown that managers frequently fail to foster work cultures where workers feel free to voice their thoughts, especially when those perspectives are in opposition to the status quo. In order to maximise production from the youth, there must be maximum involvement at work, and they must feel secure enough to do so.
Young people — often recognised for their vigour, curiosity, and enthusiasm — naturally seek an environment that encourages the freedom that fosters their innovation, a place where their ideas and contributions are heard and valued. Young people are open to communication, be it kudos or criticism, and prefer to work in an environment that is receptive to such feedback and room for improvement.
Through implementing these few tips, your workplace will be bursting at the seams with creative, enthusiastic employees that will buoy your business to the next level. QG Group wishes you a productive World Youth Day!
Maya Mitala is a Content Creator at QG Group.
