The Cooperative Start-Up: A New Kind Of Agency

To elaborate on my last comment about helping the adult unemployed, here are a few thoughts of mine, as to how we should help. A lot of people are about to lose their jobs. Some are in the process of being cut even as I write. So right here and right now, those of us in full time work need to take decisive action to help them, while we still have jobs of our own. And here is one way that we can do it.

I propose that we create a free agency that anyone can join, for people wanting to start a business or to be part of one. While innovative agencies like Staff Bay are now offering new ways for applicants to connect with employers; the difference is that in this case, is the applicants are the employer.

The start-up agency could work like this this: anyone who wants to start a new business signs onto the new online agency, and can then select any of the other members to work with. The applicants, in effect,  becomes the recruiters. It is they who decide who to hire, and who connect with whom. They will have a wide selection of many laid off, resigned and long term unemployed members; among whom there will be those from all walks of life, who can come together to form new companies.

Again, this differs from an employer's online resource; by allowing people at ground level to use it: anyone who becomes part of the agency can come together to form companies, without preference. The agency itself could be a Co-operative: an enterprise owned and run by all participants for the mutual benefit of all. As with online forums, we could group the users together by area of interest: those with technical interests could be put together, as could those with sporting ones, to form the kind of companies they like. It is true that schemes and agencies like the one I propose do exist in some form already. Linkedin itself can be said to be a vehicle for this kind of start-up networking.

But, in the face of mounting redundancies, we need to redouble our efforts, because a lot more people will lose their jobs if we don't/. We can adjust and modify existing networks to do this, but no punches should be pulled in the drive to get capable people out of work to start businesses of their own. Many such people helped me out when I was down, and I'm sure that other professionals could say the same. It is time for us to return the favour, and give those who are facing challenges a chance to overcome them.

The challenge to this is of course, industry itself. What would these new companies work with? Well as I have argued elsewhere on these blogs, there are many new innovations from the universities and colleges that they could use to make new products or to provide new services. Think of the Industrial Revolution. Did the entrepreneurs here in Britain have social media, cellphones or cars to assist them? No. They had sound business sense, and the insight to apply it. From the mineworkers, to the weavers to the farmers, people worked the land and refined their resources, to build our industry. I believe that we can do this again.

My Manifesto for Change/An Opinion Poll

Something I would like to propose to you all, and to the wider community of working professionals. Originally, this project was to focus mainly on student-Alumni networks as a way to create opportunities. I know we must walk before we run, and there is a lot still to discuss about the networking between students and Alumni in higher education.

But it occurred to me that this is only the first part of the process. The question has been raised: what about the young people who didn’t get the chance for higher education? And what about the adults who are now facing redundancy from a great deal of professions? With these people in mind, I gave the issue some thought, and this is how I propose we structure Let’s Build Bridges:

1. 1   Student-Alumni networking for graduates and employed professionals. Students of all professions are connected to Alumni in their chosen profession, to allow mentoring and coaching of students by Alumni; and innovations and ideas for the Alumni in their professions by the students.
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3. 2. On the job assessment for non-graduates.  All 16-24 year olds not in full time education should be assessed for all skills they possess or have learned, and should be qualified accordingly, by an assessor.
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5. 3  Start ups, led by unemployed professionals. All adults aged 25+ who are unemployed professionals, are empowered to go into business together, and start their own small to medium businesses.

Several points need to be made here. While working on the student innovations’ side, it was clear to me that we would need someone to implement them. While larger organisations would be excellent for this, a new product or service may need to be trialled on a smaller scale first. At the other end of things, I know that there are adults with the opposite problem. Many are facing redundancy, or have lost their jobs, and need something to work with. The solution to both problems is: put the two together and they will help each other.

The graduates’ innovations can be allocated for groups of unemployed adults to set themselves up as teams to make that product, provide that service, or implement that concept. The start-up side would work a bit like Staff Bay. Part agency, part start up, unemployed professionals would be encouraged to sign onto a network as normal, and then given the choice of which student product they wanted to work with, and which other professionals they will need to do this.

When we think about it, there are ex managers, accountants, manual labourers, computer programmers, and HR staff among those laid off. These are highly capable people: who have run the companies, made the products, and provided the services. If they are brought together correctly, they can build companies of their own. All they need are the right contacts and innovations to work with. And the newly qualified non-graduates would have many skills to offer them as well.

I realise that this plan is jumping ahead of the original somewhat, when there is already a lot of work to do on student-Alumni networking. But at the same time, this project is about creating opportunities, and we need to make sure that everyone facing the challenges of this Recession gets his or her chance.

Therefore, I have put an opinion poll on the blog, to see what people think. If there is enough support for the other 2 options, then these will be added to the project. After all, we need to be fair to those whose who want opportunities. So I would like to see what can be done.

The opinion poll will stay on the blog for about a week, and I will collect you votes after then, if you would like to cast your vote.

I look forward to seeing your ideas.

Let's Give People Opportunities

No Regrets

Don't Play It Safe, Go For What You Want

Opportunity is something that is easily missed. Those of us over the age of 30 should know this all too well. If you ask us what is our single biggest regret, our answer would be: we regret what might have been. All too often, we were persuaded to take the 'safer' option for our career, which seemed like the good idea at the time. We gave up our dreams, in favour of a stead pay check. But then quite a few years later, as this classic Star Trek clip shows (see video), this is what can happen.

That is why, no matter how uncertain a career path or industry may be, today's students MUST be given the chance to pursue the career of their choice. No job is for life, and you only live once. We must make sure that students of all professions are given the chance not to play it safe, but to go for what they really want.

Student Societies: An Untapped Resource

Something else I'd like to put for your consideration. While student-Alumni networks should be first and foremost the students and Alumni of each profession, I believe that the networks will also benefit from one untapped resource: the student societies.

The addition of student societies with the same are of interest as the students and Alumni, has been used to great effect in schemes such as New York State University's 'Constituent' scheme, which I believe is a brilliant idea for several important reasons.

When we think about it, who are the best professionals in the world? Chances are, they will be the ones who wanted to be in that profession. The best doctors are the ones who wanted to be doctors, the best plumbers wanted to be plumbers.

There are many so called 'amateur' societies: amateur sports clubs, amateur dramatic societies. But although the word 'amateur' is often used as an insult, it's literal meaning is indeed 'for the love of it.' After all, what is it that we love about athletes? Their passion. Passion goes a long way. A group of people who are passionate about what they do will always achieve much more, than a group who were simply paid to do the same.

This is the potential that we have with student societies. There are many young people who had a passion they had to give up, in favour of a more stable career, but they continue their interests through a group of like minded young people who are also doing the thing they love.

I believe that these societies can bring a lot to the student-Alumni networks. Their members have a genuine interest, and may have original ideas to contribute to developments in each industry. For example, members of the universities' sports clubs may not be qualified athletes, but they will bring a fresh perspective to the development of student Alumni knowledge transfer within professional sport.

Another very good example I'd like to use, is one of my old student societies, the Guild Musical Theatre Group, at the University of Birmingham. For over 25 years, within GMTG (as it is known), student volunteers from all schools of study have come together to perform shows to a very professional standard. The society has built up an organised operation, and its Alumni have gone on to do great things throughout the performing arts and other industries.

A group like this could bring some very interesting ideas to the student-Alumni networks of music, drama and dance, to name but a few. The genuine passion of GMTG's members would make all the difference, were they to discuss with performing arts students and Alumni who perform for a living. I can guarantee you that they would bring some original insights from the raw, original work they have done. And of course, this approach could be tried for all schools of study.

I once heard of a student technical society who spent their passion by rigging and assembling the gigs for all other societies on campus. It was an ingenious idea, and obviously helped them to do the thing they loved, by providing a worthwhile service to others.

There are many such examples of successful student societies, where young people come together as volunteers, to do the thing they love. I believe that their original insight would make an important contribution to existing student-Alumni networks, and I strongly recommend that it be considered as an integral part of each school of study.

Opportunity Let's Do It

On the Job Training: Giving Non-Graduates Their Chance

I’d like to take time out for a moment, to consider one group of people, who need opportunities the most: the Non-Graduates. While this project is focussed on young people in higher education: who will have the means and influence to create opportunities for others; it has been pointed out to me, that there are plenty of young people who are smart and talented, but whose families could not afford to send them to college or university. Add to this the rising cost of tuition fees, the massive overheads of student accommodation and food, and we see that higher education is becoming increasingly off limits, to all but all but a privileged few.

The all too familiar scene I see around me now, is that people have to keep their heads down just to pay their bills. Between long hours, low wages, and responsibilities to family and home, there is very little time or resources left to study for full time education. The result is, that while there are some employees who are overqualified for the jobs they have; there are also those who are underqualified, because they have learned through experience on the job, new skills for which they may receive a grade.

Some solutions like home learning, have been tried to good effect, and I myself am lucky to have had one qualification through an out-of-hours diploma. But again, these cost time and money. For those in full time work: especially the Non-Graduates, who may not have the option of full time study, there is I think, a more practical solution.

A number of years ago, there was a very interesting role that I applied for. The government had responded to a damning report by an international survey, about the relative skill levels of each nation’s workforce. Britain was ranked lowest in the survey; but this, as government ministers argued, was unfair, because a lot of skilled employees were working to a level they had not been graded for.

So a scheme was introduced, to appoint special assessors, to find talented young people, who could be given on-the-job training. It was an exciting idea: after all, there are plenty of young employees who are learning on the job through experience, and it would be interesting to see how many deserved to be given qualifications on what they had learned.  Sadly, I didn’t get the job, but it showed me how important it is, to discover hidden talent. So here’s how it could work.

The government could create a scheme, where special referrals can be made, by employers, teachers, and parents; for on-the-job assessments: similar to past schemes, but this time for employees within all professions. I earned a QCF (formally NVQ) in Customer Service this way, so it can certainly be done. Once a Formal Recommendation is made, an assessor could be appointed, to check the candidate’s progress. The assessor would determine what grades the candidate would qualify for; and if the candidate needs to sit an exam, what further training or preparation is needed for this. The candidate would then receive the grade(s) from the assessor, or be referred to sit the relevant exam.

This kind of assessment has been used in the past, but I argue that it should now be made universal: if an employee’s line manager, or a student’s teacher can see that he or she possesses an ungraded skill, then a candidate in any profession should be referred for assessment.  

What this will do, is to reveal a wealth of hidden talent, right across our workforce. It will allow talented employees to rise in their profession, and help them overcome the frustration of feeling held down or held back, because they will be given new opportunities for career advancement. For Non-Graduates especially, it will allow access to on-the-job qualifications, that will reflect their true ability, and overcome a great many social disadvantages they have had to endure. On-the-job training may seem a poor substitute for higher education, but I believe that it is a practical way to nurture the talent of Non-Graduates, and to give them the break they deserve.

Who You Know Not What You Know