Employer engagement, Recruiting
What works for recruitment and retention
With our trailblazing partners, we’re trialing real-world practices to uncover what works in recruiting and retaining young people.
The systems challenge
1 in 8 young people are not in work, education, or training. And employers are struggling to build future-ready workforces in the face of growing skills shortages, shifting workforce demographics, and increasing difficulty attracting the right young talent.
While many employers want to improve how they recruit and retain young people, these ambitions are often held back by a lack of clear evidence about what works.
The opportunity for employers
With increasingly stretched resources, employers need to invest in initiatives that are proven to deliver meaningful outcomes.
With the robust, evidence-based recommendations we generate in this programme, employers will have the opportunity not only to transform outcomes for young people across the country, but to build diverse, thriving talent pipelines for their own long-term sustainability and growth.
What are we doing?
We’re working with innovative, socially aware partners to test a range of recruitment and retention practices that have the potential to improve outcomes for young people.
The interventions we evaluate might include things sharing interview questions with candidates in advance, or bespoke training for line managers.
Through Randomised Controlled Trials – the gold-standard method for assessing what works – we will build much-needed evidence on the real-world impact of these interventions, for young people and for employers.
Equipped with this evidence, we’ll share practical insights to drive change at scale – in policy and employer practice – to transform England’s youth employment system.
“Generating and curating high-quality evidence is at the heart of what we do at Youth Futures Foundation. Through these trials, we will develop a more detailed picture of what really works for both employers and employees, enabling informed decision making that creates real change for young people.”
Barry Fletcher – CEO, Youth Futures Foundation
Collaborate with us
We have a number of exciting partnerships underway, but we’re still looking to conduct trials in partnership with more employers.
We’re keen to partner with employers across all sectors who:
Recruit in large volumes
We’re looking to partner with employers with 10,000+ employees, although this isn’t a hard and fast rule.
Have buy-in from senior leadership
Have time to commit
Typically, our partners appoint a project manager to work closely with us.
Are willing for learning from the trial to be shared publicly
Benefits for participating employers
Bespoke support
Receive a free, expert-led review of your current recruitment and retention practices.
Expert analysis
Benefit from expert analysis to help achieve your recruitment and retention goals, and bring diverse talent to your workforce.
Build your reputation
Strengthen your brand as an inclusion-focused, evidence-based innovator.
Social value
Demonstrate a meaningful commitment to social value and Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion.
