What Is International Youth Day?
August 12th is an internationally celebrated day for youth. They are the future citizens of the world, CEOs of your company and decision makers of the country. Therefore, awareness and respect of what the young world has to offer is conclusively relevant to everyone.
Why Should International Youth Day Be Celebrated?
At Red Swan Partners we try to appreciate and respect the youth as much as possible and not just on International Youth Day. We listen to their ideas, appreciate their work and make sure they know they are equally important in our team.
According to the United Nations, there were 1.2 billion people and rising categorised as youth in 2019, which accounts for the majority of the entire population. International Youth Day allows the world to acknowledge the challenges the young generation are faced with, empowering them to do good and celebrating how far they have come; but remembering there is long road ahead.
People of authority in all fields need to proactively support and act upon the ideas brought to their attention, which will help shape the future. This day is a reminder of exactly that.
How We Should All Celebrate International Youth Day?
On our 5th Anniversary Celebration at Red Swan Partners are going to connect with different universities to support the youth through offering internships and including them in our research projects. We are excited to start on this journey and build a future team.
General ways to celebrate International Youth Day in your company:
Support: There are many ways to support young initiatives. One of them could be to raise money as a company, family or community for a project that supports young people. Also, offering them opportunities and guiding them through support, to make sure they do their best at any task. Finally, companies need to make sure they recognise and celebrate their successes.
Discuss: Take the opportunity to sit, discuss and listen to members of the youth. This could be management with interns, parents with children or ministers with young advocates. This opportunity will allow different points of view to be taken into consideration, plan of action for important matters to be set in place and necessary steps to be taken.
At Red Swan Partners we make sure we have consistent meetings with our entire team to make sure the young people have opportunities to voice their opinion and to discuss company operations.
Participate in an event: There are usually marches, speaking events and most likely due to the pandemic there will be online conferences. These will display achievements, inspire others to be part of the movement and set goals for the year.
Challenges Faced By Youth in the Business World Today
Expectations: Companies are expecting a lot out of the youth as they enter the business world. It is common to have a young person recently graduated with excellent degrees in a certain area still have to meet and the company criteria expecting more than 2 years of work experience. This forces the youth to do both at the same time causing stress and potential lack of fulfilment in either.
Equal Opportunity: First priority at a job offer is often given to the local students of that country over international students; however, this should be based on equal opportunity and potential. Some leadership roles are often not given to younger students even if they show perfect capability. Youth should be a part of every possible sector of work as they offer a fresh pair of eyes to every situation. With our specialized human resources team we make sure that opportunities are given out not just based on qualifications but also looking at passion and eagerness to learn.
Wages: Some workplaces offer lower wages for the same job role for younger candidates. It is important that companies pay wages based on performance not age and invest in tomorrow’s generation. By means of correct training given to youth they can flourish in a short period of time.
Bullying/Harassment in the Workplace: Due to age difference, sometimes youth face discrimination and lack of respect of their work from older employees. The management need to make sure that they consistently convey that the youth are appreciated and to keep an open channel of communication. Also, train staff to be able to spot and report any injustice to Human Resources.
Benefits of Having Youth in a Business
Overall fairness and youth acceptance are what we consistently value at Red Swan Partners; not just the professional services we offer. We have most certainly benefitted from having youth be part of our team and will continually do so.
Perspective: Young people bring different ideas to the table. Growing up in a different generation, with a new level of technology, different business strategies and world outlook is beneficial to prosper in the ever-changing market. The young people in our company remind us of the power of social media and the importance of content creation, in the digital world today.
Development: Youth stepping foot into the working world after completing their education are often able to absorb training more successfully. We are proud of our company and recognize its potential to be run by the youth of today, in the future.
Reputation: Supporting the youth and causes related to them will build on the positive reputation of the company. It demonstrates to investors and customers alike that building for the future is an important value of the business.
Red Swan Partners Youth Perspective
David Olugboye, 19, London, Accounting Intern “The change I want to see in the world regarding youth is more opportunities whether through internships or placements so they can attain experience of employment which cannot be taught in school or university so it's easier to understand their skills and weaknesses. The opportunity to intern at Red Swan Partners has been an amazing experience to work with professionals and to be able to understand how to apply my skills to add value to a company and ensure I fit within the company's culture where I can continue to develop myself.”
Kavita Thaker, 22, Malawi, Marketing Intern “For youth, opportunities for work experience are usually based on where you are from and similar factors which ties into the challenge of equal opportunity. After many years of trying and being rejected by companies in the UK, I came across RSP who gave me the opportunity to do an online internship to allow me to gain necessary experience as part of their initiative to include more youth in their company.”
Youth Empowerment Books
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens by Sean Covey
Master Your Destiny: A Practical Guide to Rewrite Your Story and Become the Person you Want to Be (Personal Workbook) by Thibaut Meurisse
