What we offer is personal. We need it more now than ever.   

Twenty years ago, I knew a young man who finished sixth form college and suffered a personal crisis. While his mates had gone off to Uni, he badly needed to find work but didn’t know what to do. His family was lumbered with spiralling debt.

He was ashamed of his A-level results, his CV and his bank balance. Some days were spent tossing a coin to decide between lunch or a train journey with a ticket.

Fortunately, he was able to stumble upon a Learn Direct Centre (remember those?) who helped him untangle the mess. It was inviting, flexible and teased out strengths. He was left to make the most of things and offered help when needed. He can’t remember an eligibility check, a pathway or a CV-clinic. But all their help had an impact.

Fortunately, he found an employer who would take a risk and seemed keen to put him through training. He had the room to make mistakes and the flexibility to grow. They rewarded the effort with more responsibility and a little more pay with every step. He was surrounded by people who had started with a broom and ended in the boardroom.

He was on his way.

Unfortunately, much of what worked from that time both structurally and informally has either gone or has been damaged. Last year, the Social Mobility Commission found that more than half of the UK feels we are not doing enough to raise life chances and provide opportunities.

Over a decade of different failed versions of the Work Programme, an explosion in expectations for many ‘entry level’ roles, a change in fundamental skills and the reluctance of organisations to take risks have done little to counter these trends.

We’re between two worlds 

People need flexibility and a personal approach more now than ever.

Before Covid-19 there was a tendency to respond to the megatrends of the fourth industrial revolution with more pathways, more control and more criteria. The thinking wasn’t coping with the pace of change. The keynote speaker talked about pandemics as a portal to the future. Covid-19 has sped up what was already changing.

Metropolitan Thames Valley (MTVH) abandoned performance-based employability contracts a while ago. They didn’t seem to work for residents or us. We’re proud to partner with Clarion and others in the second phase of Love London Working. However, we see this as a bridge between the past and the future and a chance to work together rather than the finished article. Now is a great time to think about that future.

Rather than new pathways or better performance management, we need to couple the best of the future with a sprinkle of human touch that brings out the best of us. Rather than a better map to navigate the maze, we might just need to smash the odd hedge down.

In education, anyone who has visited Edx or Coursera will see that a revolution has started. In a digital world, the dividing line between academic and vocational learning is being obliterated by the need to constantly learn and adapt. By the time we build a pathway, it may be redundant.

This year MTVH will be trialling some Community-Led approaches to employment where we are a guide, connector, and encourager rather than a builder of pathways. We will add to the contacts, expertise and initiative of people themselves and only when needed. This might be a better way to keep up with change and make the most of everyone’s strengths. I would say that. That young man at the beginning was me.

This time last year, I was approached by Sam, a young MTVH Resident who was about to leave sixth form and didn’t know what to do. We talked. Sam was interested in big finance but didn’t know anyone. We put Sam in touch with partners at a large firm of Investment Managers who spent time with Sam and took her seriously. They offered work experience and support to apply to Investment 2020 and sit CISI exams. None of which I knew was even possible. In one short conversation, Sam left knowing what opportunities were available and had a friendly contact to guide her.

Sam is on her way.

Dominic Briant, Head of Funding, Research and Contracts, at Metropolitan Thames Valley.

You can watch the Housing, Learning and Work Conference here.