Business benefits for participating businesses in the Fr James Grant Foundation Mission Engage Youth Unemployment program

The Business Benefits From Partnering With Mission Engage

The Father James Grant Foundation’s strategy of partnering with real business is designed to arm prospective young workers with real skills, but according to the corporations taking part, it’s not just job seekers enjoying the benefits.

The initiative allows business to give back to the community while enabling their staff to hone people management skills, see prospective employees in action, and find their own inspiration from job seekers along the way – those are some real business benefits.

Here’s how Mission Engage works and the business benefits our partners are noticing.

How it works

Each year the Father James Grant Foundation runs a series of four-week Mission Engage programs. The aim is to furnish young job seekers with the workplace and life skills they need to find meaningful employment in an increasingly challenging employment landscape for youth.

To do this we partner with real businesses, who willingly share their time, skills, and resources imparting workplace training, guidance, and advice.

The Foundation is fortunate to work with some of the biggest names in the corporate sphere, including Myer, Crownbet, Crown Casino, Dentsu-Mitchell, Southern Cross, and Federation Square. And these businesses note the benefits to them are just as real as any enjoyed by the job seekers.

Here are just some of the reasons business values the opportunity so greatly.

Giving back

Myer has been one of the Foundation’s most committed partners since the program began over two years ago, and one of the prime reasons they continue to take part is because the initiative encapsulates the community focussed ethos of their organisation.

“To be able to give something back is a key value for the Myer business,” they explain. “The Father James Grant Foundation really resonates with what the human resources function can offer to a charity such as this.”

Staff fulfilment

But it’s not just about corporate ethos, Myer notes the program is particularly fulfilling for the staff involved.

“Being able to engage with a group of people that are so eager to learn is a real highlight for me,” a Myer employee notes.

“…the participants are always engaged and have such a positive attitude that is really infectious to be around. I think I get more out of it than the participants do.”

Meanwhile, another staff member adds: “I have run the ‘Making a Great First Impression’ session three times. It is always such a great opportunity to spend time with a group of enthusiastic and passionate people who are all really driven to forge a meaningful life and career for themselves. It left me feeling really inspired”.

Human resourcing

According to Crown, the program doesn’t just facilitate a business’ desire to contribute, back but also performs the very real purpose of talent spotting and staff management training.

“The (Mission Engage) program is like a month-long interview where we get to see employees under a number of different circumstances where we’re both learning.

“Management gets to learn techniques whilst our human resourcing team was able to spot young talent and take the opportunity to mould them to be a perfect asset for our business, and for themselves.”

A positive experience

Mission Engage is not just about skills and employment numbers, it’s about real people, passion, and confidence, and Myer notes this is an infectious environment to be involved in where business showcases its workplace passion while participants share their enthusiasm.

“The team in store that assists me for the day always comment on the positive first impression that the participants give them. Our store team members and managers love to be able to talk about the wonderful environment they all work in; as they love to inspire action in others, and hope they can leave the participants with a positive impression of the Myer Business.”

Become involved

The Father James Grant Foundation is fortunate to work with a stellar line-up of corporate entities and organisations, and willingly welcomes any business looking to participate in our programs.

We tailor each program to the business involved; working with them to impart the skills they require and instil the employee ethos they seek.

If you are a business looking to participate, there are two ways to become involved. Like Myer and Crown, you can assist through workplace training or mentoring, or alternatively, assist the program through sponsorship.

Either way, the businesses involved are helping to change Australia’s employment landscape at a time when the youth jobless rate is at its highest in years.

Learn more about our programs or contact us directly to become involved.

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