Employing young workers: how well are we managing them

This report is the result of researching how various employers induct, train and manage young workers, together with the observations of young workers on the quality of their induction, training and ongoing management. We talked with employers, young workers, parents and agencies working with young people to learn more about their thoughts and beliefs on managing them in the workplace. The report discusses the responses that employers and young workers made about their workplace experiences from a survey returned by 51 employers and 88 young workers, supplemented by interviews with parents and agencies, including the local group training company. Both surveys focussed on obtaining information about induction practices, workplace characteristics, skills in managing young people and potential improvements. The surveys revealed that most of the employers provide training, information or support to young workers on matters like pay, work hours, superannuation, tax and internal job training, but less than half of them provide mentoring, buddy systems, job rotation or external job training. According to the Australian Human Resources Institute, the right induction program can help to reduce anxiety, improve productivity and save money, however, nearly a third of the employers we surveyed do not provide a formal induction process. Large employers were more likely to provide information as part of a formal induction program, however, they were not as successful in delivering the information well, but on the other hand the small businesses that provide a formal induction process deliver it more than adequately. At a glance our research shows: (1) communication at all levels in the workplace is rated as important by both employers and young workers; (2) clear and regular communication is the one area that both employers and young workers rated equally as highly important; (3) over 90 per cent of young workers rated good rapport with supervisors as important, yet less than 40 per cent of employers rated building rapport as more important with young workers than with other employees; (4) the lack of information about occupational health and safety by some employers is alarming; (5) employers recognise the importance of providing opportunities for training and development for young workers, yet external job training was the least provided component of the induction process, of the ones we asked about; (6) young people need to be confident enough to discuss and establish award/enterprise agreements or contracts. Some employers are not being clear about this with their young workers, with around 15 per cent of young people saying that the quality of information that they received was poor, very poor or that they did not receive any.

Excerpt from the executive summary reprinted by permission of the copyright owner.

This report is the result of researching how various employers induct, train and manage young workers, together with the observations of young workers on the quality of their induction, training and ongoing management. We talked with employers, young workers, parents and agencies working with young people to learn more about their thoughts and beliefs on managing them in the workplace. The report discusses the responses that employers and young workers made about their workplace experiences from a survey returned by 51 employers and 88 young workers, supplemented by interviews with ...  [+] Show more